SNOW!

Welcome February! Our first snow at Hill Haven! Galen is beyond ecstatic. Today he has discovered that snow is, in fact, ice, and I have discovered that he has a pretty good throwing arm for a four-year-old. Visitors from the North may scoff at calling this snow, I realize, but this is as good as it gets in Georgia, except for the occasional major storm which happens about once a decade (or at least it used to, before global warming started changing the local climate).

I am pleased to see the weather take this turn; for a little while, I can pretend things aren't changing too fast. Although I have often lamented the fact that I have never had a non-Georgia address, there is value in spending long periods of time in one geographical region. By even only mildly paying attention, one's consciousness absorbs nature's trends when immersed in the repeating cycles of just one place. Transplants complain of the unpredictable weather here; for me, it is highly changeable, but perfectly predictable, at least until recent years. Climate change is already underway, and this longtime Georgia native can no longer place high-stakes bets on her meteorological savvy. At this point, I can only wonder how far it will go before settling into equilibrium again.

But for now, at least today, all is as it should be.