Viewing post #1018618 by Weedwhacker

"A Coast Guard friend has some great stories about his duty on Lake Superior on an icebreaker!" Wow -- I can just imagine . That winter of 2013-2014 was really horrible here, much colder than normal with extended periods below 0F. Whew, lots of broken water pipes everywhere, fortunately not ours, though. The upside was that with all the ice the levels of the Great Lakes actually rose (they have been decreasing in recent years), not only because of all the snow that year but because the evaporation was slowed by the ice cover.

Lin, my dad was raised in the Syracuse area; I never really knew his family, other than 2 aunts -- his parents had both passed away quite some time before I was born, and my mom had some kind of feud going with his entire family so... . But I'm hoping to take a little trip to that area next summer and maybe visit the cemetery where some of them are buried and -- I don't know, exactly, just sort of reconnect. They do seem to have pretty similar weather to what we have where I am now, must still be in my blood! Maybe you can find some warm clothes to rent for a cold-weather vacation!

Karen, I think all gardeners should be "weather junkies" ! Even if it does drive us crazy...