Had planned to drive to mall for an early walk yesterday. Instead, a huge drop into teens overnight brought with it a large layer of ice, sleet and heavy fog. Last yr. we only experienced one very light snow which had melted by day's end. This cold snap is predicted for several more days and is highly unusual for our community. My goodness, the calendar says it is still October!

A light snow added overnight plus even lower temps this morning had many schools closed because we lack neighborhood street clearing equipment. Overpasses were closed and my Tues. walk changed to setting the timer for a repeated stroll through the house.

Our neighborhood mailboxes are placed on the street and a neighbor called to caution me about going out for the mail. Hadn't planned to but her thoughtfulness was appreciated. A local newscaster was showing the thickness of ice on a stray shopping cart and that made me wonder what our poor postal carriers have to do to get frozen metal boxes open.

I think of our two years in Duluth while we were in our twenties and drove to work each day despite the snow. We did carry emergency supplies and snow clearing equipment made it easier than here where our limited equipment is used for highways and some main streets only. Interesting how aging can create much more caution. Osteoporosis and balance issues make a walk down the slippery driveway more daunting than I will venture.

The ice must be gluing the tree leaves in place but oh my what an avalanche we'll have once it thaws. One advantage of living in the southwest is that we do have a change of seasons but really inclement weather is usually of very short duration.