December 10, 2017

Brownsville Had Snow!  Again!

December 10, 2017

Snow on my ivy plants around the birdbath.

We live in a tropical area.  We had hot humid summers; we have hot humid springs; we have hot humid autumns.  Winter is different.  It is warm and humid.  Early last week the temperature was running in the high 80s.  Then Thursday turned cold (and wet) and by Friday morning the "wet" had turned to sleet and then snow.  Officially, Brownsville got 1/4" of snow.  To those of you in the northern parts of the United States, and the northern parts of Europe, Russia, and Asia, you probably think we are silly to even mention it.  But it has been 14 years since the last snow fall which came on Christmas Eve, so that we woke to a world of white with several inches of snow on Christmas morning.  Prior to that it had been about 100 years since we had snow.

Snow on our roof Friday morning

Schools delayed their opening times, some businesses closed, and those of us who were open had  little business as people were either staying inside watching the snow, or driving around to see the beauty.  Since it had been 88 degrees the day before the cold front arrived, the snow did not stick on the ground in most places.  The heaviest of the snow in Brownsville was from about 11:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. in the middle of the day where every one could enjoy it.

Our two youngest granddaughters playing in the snow in McAllen Friday morning.

The night before the snow, Ron and I were in McAllen with the grandchildren.  Our son and his wife had gone out to supper and a ballet, leaving us with 8 children.  What fun we had.  The youngest of the girls and I baked cookies after supper.  Some of the children watched a video of the McAllen Christmas Parade for a while.  They moved the three dogs into cages in the garage to keep them warm.  Later some went outside watching to see if the snow had arrived yet.  What an enjoyable evening we had.


These past few weeks have kept me busy.  I had a few Christmas projects in the works and they are just about done.  My shopping is not even started in any significant way.  Our oldest son will be 50 on his birthday a week from today and we plan to be there to celebrate with him.  I have shopping on my mind and Ron has hiking on his mind.  Lots of visiting is the main thing we will be doing.

One weekend after Thanksgiving, two of our grandchildren came to spend a few days helping me decorate our house.  I should say they decorated with a tiny bit of my help.  They did an outstanding job and I am so proud of them and thankful for their help.  Our grandson with long thin fingers was able to hang ornaments perfectly.  He did the sewing room tree by himself.  I taught our granddaughter how to bake an apple pie and sent it home with them, still hot out of the oven.

I continue to have some problems with Cochlear over an order I placed with them.  It is so frustrating for me to deal with any problems over the phone.  I need to call them tomorrow and see if we can straighten out a mess that was created as they tried to replace a unit that was not working well.

Thursday and Friday I had an ear ache (in the ear without the implant) so I went to the doctor Friday and got some medicine.  The fluid behind the ear drum started causing some dizziness Saturday, so I stayed in Saturday and Sunday.

May you all have a blessed Christmas and enjoy time with those you love.