We're snowed in and not getting out anytime soon!

I took this photo of the swimming pool this afternoon and since then the snow has accumulated another four or five inches. When I last check with a ruler it was 17 inches, but when Larry checked it just now (8:30 p.m.) it was 18.5. It's pretty much flurrying now so I think that we are close to the Kreitzer official measurement. Now if only some brownie would come in the night and dig out our driveway.... There is no way we are getting out. It's about 100 feet long and the snow plows have left a mountain at the end. I think we will not be making it to Mass tomorrow. I can't remember the last time that happened. If we check out the road tomorrow and it isn't too slick we may walk. This is a good lesson in what things were like before the automobile.

This is the first year I remember two snowfalls in December. And winter doesn't even start for two days! Is this a harbinger or will it be like the summers when the hottest weather comes in June? Time will tell. One of my grandchildren (can't remember who) told me it would be a hard winter because the caterpillars were dark brown. Was that you, Brendan?

First Snowfall of the Season: The Kreitzer Cotton Plantation!

One of the things I love about living in Virginia is the change of seasons. Spring brings the glories of dogwood, daffodils, cherry blossoms and azaleas. The summer is filled with plenty of swimming pool and beach weather. Fall in the mountains offers the glories of maples in full scarlet and gold and orange oaks, and the winter brings (at least a little) snow!

Our first snowfall of the season (December 5) was significant for this area - five inches of the heavy wet stuff that clung to the trees and gave us a real winter wonderland. .Unusual though: it looked like cottonballs sticking to the trees just like cotton plants. We had our own virtual cotton plantation. And if you don't believe how similar it was to the real thing, here's a cotton boll to prove it. All I needed to make the picture more perfect was some grandchildren to be picking (and throwing or rolling) those balls. Anyone up for a cottonball fight?