We have been getting the lake effect here for a few weeks now. It has been hanging around on the ground because it will usually flurry a little bit every day if it is not heavily snowing. The rain yesterday helped to melt some so it is patchy on the ground, but the rain froze on the roads. I think they are ok now but it is supposed to snow some more this week :( I want spring to come! Shawn

Suzie, You never know, she might get a thundersnow storm. We've had a lot of them in recent years. I grew up in Texas just about 80 or 85 miles south of where we now live in Oklahoma, but I'd never even heard of thundersnow until we moved here. I won't say we have thundersnow here at our house every year that snow falls, but probably about every other year. We had it last year, and we've already had it this year. Jim Cantore was very entertaining the other night. I'm sure a lot of that is part of the "show" he puts on for the camera, but I also think he was shocked to see thundersnow that far north. The other weather phenomenon we have here that I don't remember having in Texas is derecho winds. The first one we experienced here came during the night with 60 mph winds and hit the house so suddenly and so hard while we were sleeping that we thought a semi-truck or an airplane had hit the house. I also had about 20 flats of plants on the screened-in porch (so it must have been April) and we had to run out and bring them all into the house because the temperature plunged probably 30 degrees in 10 minutes when the derecho wind hit the house. I think we've experienced 3 or 4 severe derecho wind storms at our house since then. The one I remember best, the local met on the TV news at noon told us it was coming and told us if we went outside 5 or 10 minutes before it was due to hit our area, we'd hear it coming like a "mighty rush of wind". Of course, Tim and I went outside 10 minutes before it was s supposed to hit and went down to the road so we'd have a clear view of it coming by looking up the roadway (too many trees around our house). Sure enough, a few minutes later it came roaring towards us like a freight train (we could hear it for a minute or more before we could see the blowing of the vegetation begin) and we went from clear skies to dark grey ones in about a minute as the wind blew through and the temperatures plunged. The other one I remember was a severe derecho squall line with multiple bow echoes accompanied by tons of lightning. This time, the TV met kept cutting into regular programming to warn that anyone working outside needed to get inside by a certain time. Our barn-style detached garage was being built then, and the buys working on it were welding steel beams together. I talked with them about the weather and convinced them to heed the warnings, get down off the structure, put up all their tools and head home. They literally were driving down the driveway when the derecho hit here and the first raindrops started falling, and we sure did have lightning! I was glad they weren't up on that metal framing when it hit. You've got to admit, Oklahoma's weather is never, ever dull. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Facts About Derecho Windstorms

I'm thankful for ... ...finally being able to have a full-time garden. No more traveling from NYC to MA to garden, then having to leave after a week and not come back for a month or two. ...being able to save shrubs and trees and plants that grew up with me, and seeing them thrive in a new setting. ...the >10' tall winterberry which is covered with red berries. The leaves are now gone and its feet are encircled with fuzzy seedheads from the white wood asters. The blue jays and cardinals fly in and out of the winterberry taking turns at the birdfeeder as if they know how pretty they look there with the red berries. All this is visible from my kitchen window too. ...having free rein to design and plant anything I want in a totally new garden setup. ...having planted everything in time (I think) and having the garden all buttoned up for the winter. Just have to wrap the new Osmanthus Goshikis with burlap. ...having the hope of a brand new garden exploding into life next spring. ...still being able to dig and carry and plant, even if the back grumbles a bit. ...the houseplants that stayed outside this summer and came inside when it got cold. All five of the Christmas cacti are at different stages of bloom. Claire

Well its still snowing on this side of Williamsburg! Just hoping my younger daughter gets back here from FL ok. She left there this morning and when I talked to her about an hour ago, she was somewhere in NC. The rest of the kids are supposed to come down here tomorrow for our Christmas.