It's Going To Be a White Christmas!

Winter has arrived in NH. In the past several years we haven't had much snow but this year promises to be a good, old-fashioned, north country winter. If it's going to be cold, it might as well be pretty. We had planned to do our usual snow birding excursion, heading to somewhat warmer climates (not FL) to escape the cold and snow. But we also wanted to stay in NH for Christmas and head south on the 26th. Somehow, the thought of leaving this late into the winter season doesn't appeal to either of us. So we've decided to spend the winter at home. We may question that decision when we get into Jan and Feb. But for now, we're staying put. We've already begun talking about a trip to visit family in MO, KY, and SC in May or June. Besides, who would want to leave the beauty of this winter wonderland? Looks like Christmas already.

View from my deck

Next day after the storm

Just to show you how different the weather can be from one area to another, and how fast it can change, several days after the storm it was partly cloudy at our house. Not too bad of a day. Meanwhile, only 8 miles north we ran into this.

White out conditions only 8 miles north of us

Another reason we like to be out of here in the winter, as if the cold and snow aren't enough, is because if I catch a cold or the flu it many times develops into bronchitis, or worse. I haven't had that happen in the 4 years we've been snow birding. But too late this year. We had a visit from 2 disease ridden, germ-laden petri dishes in November, also known as great-grandchildren, ages 4 and 6. I think they brought every virus known to mankind with them. It's a good thing those kids are cute!

Even though they didn't appear to be sick, a few days later I came down with a bad cold, which developed into bronchitis, which morphed into walking pneumonia. That led to a round of antibiotics and prednisone. After hacking up my lungs for a few weeks, I'm finally over that. The upside is that I'm now immune to whatever this winter's viruses are. So, no sense heading south to avoid them. I might be on to something though - doctor visits and drugs are covered by insurance, the travel south is not. Although that's much preferred to being sick.

Not much will be happening while we're hunkered down for the winter. I have my crafts to keep me busy, and Jim has shoveling, plowing the parking area, sanding, and general winter work to keep our place open and passable. He also does all the shopping and errands because I detest shopping, unless it's online from Amazon. Our neighbor kindly gives us a quick plow in and out on our long driveway. We're so grateful for his help. 

I'll keep you updated if anything interesting develops. Until then - Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Valentine's, Happy Easter, and so on.