BRRRRRR!

As is happening with much of the US, the coldest weather in years is upon us. Last night it got down to 7 degrees and today's high was only 28. It is supposed to get down to 4 tonight. Thank goodness for fleece and handwarmers! We haven't really had any snow this season--just a few flurries, enough to lightly cover the ground, but not the roads. We average 3 snowfalls per year here in Brevard, each with 4-6". The state of NC is really good about clearing the mountain roads after a snowfall. When snow is predicted, they park plows and sand trucks at the tops of the mountains and start clearing the roads before the snow has even finished. Most of the roads are cleared within 4 or 5 hours after a snow. The one exception was 4 (I think) years ago, when we had 6" of snow and Charlotte, North Carolina's largest city had 17". Every snowplow in the state headed there first, so it was about a day and a half before we had clear roads. Much of the time, it snows after we have had some warm temps, so it doesn't even stick to the roads, just on the mountainsides and valleys--absolutely gorgeous, but no problems getting around, then gone in a few days--my kind of snow!

(This is Hickory Hideaway, our 2 bedroom cabin during Martin Luther King weekend of 2008, in about 6" of snow)