Wow!

Thanks to unusual weather patterns, there's snow on the ground in 49 out of 50 US states, including Hawaii. Florida is the only state without the snow!

Amazing!

Early Morning Picture

I was up early this morning and I snapped a few pictures while the street lights were still on.

Here's one facing my back yard.

Snow of Jan 12,2011

It's almost 5 PM and it's still snowing. I went outside to knock the snow off the tall bushes and small trees and I soon found myself deep in the snow. It's kind of heavy and sticky stuff. I'm sure I'll lose a few bushes after this storm.

Anyway, I can't help myself. I have to post some pictures of the storm.

Back yard.

The bush by my front door is bent down so low it's touching the azalea in the front garden. I discovered this when I was trying to get the snow off of it. I was wondering what I was standing on under the snow. I was shocked to realize I was standing on my pretty azalea.

I thought we might loose power, but we've been lucky so far.

My house...

You can hardly see my house!

My front door is like a cave of snow.

Here is my neighbor's house The snow really coming down.

Thunder Snow?

OK...I remember once when I was little girl hearing thunder during a blizzard we were experiencing in New York. It really freaked me out. I didn't know that could happen.

Well, today the weather men are talking about "thunder snow" which may happen during the big snow they are predicting to start tonight. I guess, there was some thunder snow during the snow storm we had after Christmas recently. When there is thunder snow we could see as much as 3 to 6 inches of snow in one hour!!!! WOW!

So, what is thundersnow, really?

I found this explanation on the Internet:

As a storm cloud gathers up warmer air (such as air over a lake or ocean surface), the air rises in the cloud's structure and creates a churning of air masses within the cloud. This turbulence mixes snow crystals and supercooled water droplets in the cloud and the turbulence knocks off electrons from the water particles, causing positive and negative charges in the cloud to separate.

The negative charges collect at the base of the cloud and are attracted to positive charges either on the ground or in nearby clouds. As the negative charges rush toward the positive charges, the positive charges rise and meet them and this creates a bolt of lightning. The lightning heats the air to about 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, causing the air to quickly expand. The air then cools and contracts, creating a "clap" of thunder.

That's what scientists believe happens, anyway. It's roughly the same process involved in creating a regular thunderstorm.

Read more at: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=99629

Inner Excavation...

This Christmas was the first year my family decided NOT to exchange gifts. I will admit it was a wise choice, yet it felt kind of strange at the same time. Gifts aren't the most important part of the holiday, but I always enjoyed the exchanging a lot. It turns out that avoiding the Malls, spending almost nothing on gifts, and not having to do a lot of wrapping was a great idea.

Still - I'm the biggest kid in the family and I knew I'd miss the giving. (I've always thought of myself as sort of a "Mrs Santa.")
So, what did I do?

I gave myself a gift instead!!!

I decided to buy a book. It arrived before Christmas. The book is called "Inner Excavation - Explore Your Self through Photography, Poetry, and Mixed Media" written by Liz Lamoreux. This was a great choice. I've been doing some of the exercises. I already love to take photos, I write from time to time, and paint. The book is a nice boost for my creativity. Now, I plan to keep my camera with me whenever I can, and use the book often.

I think it's neat that Liz has my last name within her last name. Anyway, I'm sure I will benefit by looking more closely at myself and the world around me. What a special gift!

I guess, I can't get completely away from giving gifts! I did give my tree a special gift this season. It was a cool find from a Church rummage sale this fall. I rescued this adorable glass ornament made in Poland for my tree.