White Halloween

Meteorologically, 2011 continues its horrendous way. As if six feet of snow in January, a tropical storm in August, and 20 inches above normal precipitation weren't bad enough, we got a major snowstorm before Halloween. I never would've imagined such a thing. Much worse, of course, was the devastation it caused. The October 29-30 storm dumped loads of heavy, wet snow on tree limbs, causing many to break and wreck power lines. I saw this myself on my street. We lost power for a whole week. Loss of electricity meant loss of heat. What an ordeal--I had to wear a jacket and winter hat to bed! Mornings were so cold I was reluctant to get up, and often delayed breakfast for two hours.

Halloween itself was cancelled. Without electricity for streetlights, it wasn't safe for kids to go out. I did give candy to several trick or treaters who came before dark. Of course that wasn't enough to clean me out. I'm stuck with leftover candy, which I may be tempted to eat.