When I woke up yesterday morning, this was the scene looking out into my parents' backyard once the sun came up. A winter wonderland!

When I was a kid growing up in NYS, on mornings like this we would listen to my father's radio to find out if school had been cancelled and shreek with glee when we heard it had been because it meant that we could play in the snow. We would build snowmen, make snow angels with our bodies, and if there was enough snow, build egloos at the end of our driveway once the snow plow had come down our street.

The cold did not bother us back then. Now, I prefer to spend snowy days inside looking out at the white stuff.

The snow is melting today and it may even get nice enough that after my sister Beth and her husband Roger arrive later this AM for a weekend-long visit, we will go for a walk along the beach. By tomorrow, I expect that all of the snow will be gone, but for the snow that fell in especially shady spots.