According to the calendar, winter officially arrives on Wednesday, the 21st which is two weeks from tomorrow. Therefore winter arrived yesterday unofficially , creating the rare and absolutely perfect Christmas card day.

I awakened to a light sleety rain which changed within an hour or so to a fine snow. The snowflakes became bigger and then bigger and began to stick to the icy tree branches and leaves and soon the pine tree branches were bending down with the weight of the accumulated snow. 

Many of the deciduous trees have yet to shed their leaves and some of the red oak leaves were showing beneath the layers of snow. Those leaves were the only bit of color in an otherwise gray and white world. 

The snowflakes continued to fall and were unbelievably large. Usually that signals an end to the snowfall but that did not happen yesterday. It continued to snow all day long .. not heavily but steadily. It was incredibly beautiful outside and impossible to stay away from the windows. 

Schools dismissed by 10am because of the icy roads.

The power went out while I was preparing dinner so I ate a lukewarm meal by candlelight. No power means no water to wash the dishes so I stacked them into the sink and put the leftover food in plastic containers out on the porch. It was plenty cold out there. 

Now what to do? 

No power means no music and no TV. And lots of darkness. Well, by cracky, if Abe Lincoln could read by candlelight, so could I. I found a book with reasonable size print, wrapped up in a throw and settled in for the duration. No power means no heat, and while I wasn't cold, it is easier to conserve body heat by wrapping up than to try to warm up later after getting chilly.

Power was restored just as I was falling asleep so I got up and turned off the lights. 

However, the power went off again during the night and the house was chilly, when I awakened this morning. The real bummer was that there was no way to make coffee! There is absolutely no reason for getting out of bed in the morning if there is no coffee available. I went back to my warm bed to sulk and ponder the dilemma. 

Bingo! At 8am the heat pump announced the return of electricity and my world became rosy.

The next winter storm is due on Thursday night. Tomorrow I will get my little one burner camp stove and cooking pot from the shed and store it on the side porch in readiness. And brew a pot of coffee in advance so there is some ready to heat if need be. 

Yesterday and today were practice days.

And so goodnight,