April in Upstate New York

Snowstorms sweep across the Midwest and Northeast this week and dust upstate New York with enough of the white stuff for snowball fights and a winter romp for visiting Californians. I love the erratic weather of upstate New York, winter snowstorms followed in a few days by 77-degree Spring weather! For the first round – winter – flight cancellations add two more days of vacation for our extended family reunion and remind us that even when it’s bad, life is good. Susan invites us to her farm in West Bloomfield and the kids run wild in snow gear – snowball fights, snowmen, snow chase,…add a dog and it is an all-out frolic. My hands start to numb and my cellphone no longer recognizes my finger as the wind-chill lowers the cold weather to unbearable. Turkey dinner, with all the trimmings, real cranberry, apple dressing, gravy,… followed by real hot cocoa is the epitome of fond memories of Northeast winters. I bath my hands under cool water to reduce the pain from chilled joints, and stretch them out around the handle of my mug of hot cocoa, to warm me to the core.