Snow and Ice......this is South Carolina .....correct???

"I have traveled the world over, but no matter where I go the Lowcountry still calls me home."

Pat Conroy

In September, we had a hurricane.  It wasn't tremendous in magnitude but was enough to flood roads. and lose power.  Roughly 10 miles down the road, there was mandatory evacuation. It was hurricane season so this was not a huge surprise.  Hurricane Irma......we decided to stay put and fortunately although there was flooding....we suffered no significant damage. I understood that where I was moving the term "hurricane season" would take on a new meaning.

Hurricane season ends and all is quiet until the heat starts to return in the late spring......

All is quiet.......

Until recently, that statement was true......

It has been colder than normal in South Carolina and definitely colder in the lowcountry.

Here are some of the signals how cold it has been.....

-I have been wearing a jacket on a regular basis

- I wore gloves each morning

- I wore a scarf covering my mouth (not to keep me quiet) in order to keep the cold air from burning   my throat and aggravating my asthma

- and the most shocking signal.....I traded in my beloved flip flops/sandals for closed toe shoes ( I did go without socks and the shoes had no backs on them) but my toes were covered

Then we heard the "S" word.......the word that raises panic like just about no other in the south......SNOW......the reports were varied.....we would get snow....it would miss us.....we would get ice, sleet and freezing rain (I know there is a difference in those three terms but am not sure exactly what the difference is.....for me they all mean a greater chance of my biggest fear......falling)....

I decided on Tuesday night to plan on staying put Wednesday and see what happened.

The ice started in the morning....ugh....ice.....

I will drive in snow but I do not screw with ice.  Then there was the switch over to snow.  It was so beautiful and went on for hours.  We ended up with about 4 inches of snow and a layer of ice underneath.  We lost power for a few hours.  The fireplace was put into service and provided great warmth all day and evening.

The most surprising part is the snow is still here 5 days later. There are still icy patches on the road.  I now remember what the term fishtail means. I can't remember another time in the almost 20 years I have lived in the south, where any snow wasn't gone within 24 to 48 hours max.

It is supposed to go into the 50's tomorrow so all remnants of the winter treat will be gone.

Was it an inconvenience ....yes......

Was it treacherous to drive in....yes due to the layer of ice underneath......

Did I hate driving the backroads in the dark for fear of not seeing a patch of ice......absolutely.....

On the plus side......I loved waking up to see it each morning......I am glad it didn't melt in a few hours......and I didn't fall on the ice !!

To me it was an extra Christmas gift delivered a little late but then again I am trying to keep my Christmas feeling all year round .....

See you next week.......

 PS I pitched all the holiday goodies.  Back to veggies and chicken and fruit.  Back to counting points and trying to get my steps in each day.......

Someone on TV said don't call it a New Year's Resolution...call it a commitment.  With the sale of the house, moving, packing, unpacking, job re-org behind me .....along with the other things going on in my life......the New Year gave me a chance to get back on track and that is where my head is at....let's hope the rest of me follows suit.....