Snow Drift, Canandaigua

In a strange sort of way, the blast of ice cold Arctic air that arrived on Monday night and Tuesday morning of this week was a relief. I had been waiting for the cold and snow to arrive before Christmas, but all Santa brought was rain. Now that has changed.

The drift of snow that always piles up in front of my garage doors arrived with the swirling winds and 9 degree temperatures. Fortunately, most of the driveway was bare and I soon dispatched the drifted snow on the sidewalk and in front of the garage with the snow blower.

The arrival of wintry weather conditions in the Finger Lakes was a relief in that it’s what we usually expect to happen this time of the year. And when you don’t get what you expect to get, you start to feel uneasy. Now that winter has arrived, it's time to start looking at the seed catalogs which come in the mail (I have my first one already) and to begin planning next year’s garden. Or maybe get busy and make reservations for a winter vacation to Florida or Arizona. There’s a whole lot of planning to do before spring arrives and just thinking about all of those warmer weather projects is sometimes more fun that actually doing them!

James R. Bupp