Welcome to Florida North

 The weather this early winter is getting more and more bizarre.  Today the temperature rose to sixty degrees. And this is what happened to the poor old ski area.

Thursday's magical slopes are gone, replaced by ribbons of dirty white and mud and in the foreground, a flooded river. Heartbreaking for the owners - and the skiers - for this to happen just in time for Christmas.

 In fact, with all that snow melting at extraordinary speed,  a sizeable part of Western New York is under water.  These chaps are wondering what happened to their paddock.

And plenty of people have discovered an early Christmas present - a much coveted "inground" swimming pool in their back gardens.
  It was much much worse north of Buffalo. Here, with temperatures some 30 degrees below ours, an ice storm swept through, causing power cuts, power lines down, treacherous roads and all kinds of havoc. Whatever next?

But Then Again....

 Up at Holiday Valley this morning

 The words "winter"

 and "wonderland"

 came to mind.

 The crowds were out

The snowboarders too, falling over as usual.

 On Mistletoe, the prettiest run, (or "trail" as the Americans say), a fairytale scene, as the snow suddenly blew off the branches in a mini blizzard.

 There was plenty left, though, to make, when it stopped, a glimpse of pure glory

The trees weighed down

 In an almost underwater world of strange coral formations

 Or stalactites.

  I've never seen it quite like this.  Feast on it while you can. For who knows what the weather will do tomorrow.

Update: The Pleasures of Living in Snow

See below.......

The Pleasures of Living in Snow

  This is what things looked like at Thanksgiving and it hasn't changed. We haven't had this much snow in November and December for years.  Since Western New Yorkers talk about the weather even more than Brits, it was a vibrant topic of conversation at my Book Club. Do we like living in snow? The consensus was a resounding no. "I liked the novelty; I don't like the reality", said one gal who, like me, had come from eslewhere, in her case, North Carolina. Then things got a bit more upbeat - like Statler and Waldorf, the two grumpy old men in the Muppets, people started to look at the positive side, "It is like living in a Christmas card", ventured one optimist.
  The first time I visited hubby-to-be on his home patch, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. It was January and the Christmas decorations were still up, snow coated the trees, deer scampered along the snowy roadside. We went ski-ing and drank hot chocolate and sat by a log fire. I thought he'd laid on on all this wondrous whiteness special-like.  And when the sun comes out I still get a bit of that feeling. What I do not like is the dirt and the slush and the icy roads and grimy cars covered in salt and dropping my beautiful leather gloves in the garage and having them land straight smack in the middle of a pile of filthy, melting snow soup that's fallen off the car. And lie there unnoticed until they're saturated, slimy and beyond hope. It wears you down after a while and its only December.  Yet I hear there's a thaw ahead, just in time to spoil our white Christmas, so I'm off to try the ski slopes in case it's my last chance.

The Snowy Wastes of Siberia

aka Buffalo Airport on Sunday evening..

 Unlike Heathrow, these chaps know how to take a little of the white stuff in their stride.

Here are some snowploughs, discussing tactics.

The really scary bit was the drive home

The bright light was a sign warning of "severe weather conditions".

We didn't need to be told. There was a blizzard, nil visibility and crashed cars littering the roadsides.

We even saw a snowplough off the road. We got back white as sheets and shaking all over. Even hubby, who's been driving in snow for years. Welcome home to Western New York!

Another Un-American Experience

  Sitting in a well-known uber-touristy cafe on Piccadilly for half an hour before the waitress so much as brought a menu..
  "Are you actually a restaurant?" I queried.  I'm getting quite nostalgic for, "Hiya I'm Rochelle and I'm your server for today, how're you guys doing?... There you GO!.....Is everything OK?.... Is everything OK?.....Is everything OK?...Is everything OK?..........How's the salad dressing?.......Is everything OK?......Are you still working on that? ..............Is everything OK?......Is everything OK? ........Is everything OK?
You do have to tip her at least 20 percent for her trouble, though.
  Ah well, DV I'm back Stateside tomorrow. Watch this space....

London Fog

A real pea-souper this morning, just like the old days. At least British drivers have their lights on in the fog, unlike Western New Yorkers.