Well, this new year started off with a bang! After about a year of drought, El Nino arrived last Fall and is wintering in South Texas. That pond is a long way from full, but we've got a good start. Weren't we in for a surprise this week when Old Man Winter stopped in for a couple of days? The winter storm was much worse in other states, but Texas shut down under sheets of ice all the way from Dallas down to Del Rio on the border. Interstate 10 closed from downtown San Antonio out to Fort Stockton. Snow fell throughout the Hill Country.

I had to leave the office early on Monday to avoid being trapped in San Antonio, and worked from home for the next two days. With temperatures in the twenties and thirties, the steady rain froze on contact. Our front door was sealed shut with about a half-inch of ice across the entire north side of the house. Once that was open, I had to de-ice the satellite dish to get on the internet!

All in all everybody here stayed warm, and we are looking forward to melting icicles over the next day or two. Thank goodness it won't come every year - and doesn't last long when it does - but it sure makes for some pretty pictures.