White stuff....

We fell asleep last night listening to the sound of sleet hitting the windows, and woke up this morning to about one-eighth of an inch of snow on the ground. Our joke here in this house, when we see pictures of snow in other states, is "What do you call all of that white stuff?"   No joke today..... the white stuff is right here.

The city of Houston has closed down many parts of the Gulf Freeway... when you mix ice and sleet and snow with people who aren't used to driving in winter conditions, the results are major traffic accidents.  Schools have been closed, people have been asked to stay at home if they can.  All of this makes me think of the 14 inches of snow that my cousins just got up in NY, and life went on as usual up there.

These small Hill Country towns are filled with people who have never seen snow. I'm sure the schools here are closed today, as well as many businesses.  Life goes on here as well, but in a different way.

I let Gatsby outside this morning, and he walked to the edge of the porch where some snow had accumulated and he wouldn't put his paw into it. He tried to get around the snow, but it had fallen by the steps going down to the yard.  Not to be out-done by the white stuff, Gatsby went around to the back of the porch and found that snow was blocking those steps as well.  Smart cat that he is, he walked around to the front porch.... no snow there by the steps, so that's how he got down into the yard. He navigated around the grass, staying out of the snow-covered parts, but his paws were still touching ice-cold grass and I'm sure he wasn't too happy.  Within ten minutes, Gatsby was by the back door and ready to come into the house. Last I looked, he was in his pillow-bed and very content to be an inside cat until the weather gets back to normal here.

The temperature was 70 degrees just the other day....... it went below freezing last night, and isn't going much higher than 40 today.  The television weather wizards are promising that we'll be up to nearly 70 degrees again on Sunday. I may just stay warm and cozy in the house until then.   I'm thankful today that I can just stay at home, and I'm on no one's time clock except my own.