As I type this entry, a frigid wind is driving a wintry mix of snow/sleet against the windows. It’s kind of a cozy sound, not much different than rain. Tap, tap, tap. Like grains of rice being thrown against them. It falls in blinding white sheets of frozen precipitation. BRRR. It’s now turning to ice and accumulating in piles that look like pillars of salt. Bizarre. I wish it was snow instead of this.

Rick is on his way home from work now at 12:30 p.m. I hope he makes it okay. Hopefully they’ve been out sanding the roads.

Uh, oh. The lights just flickered. Oh no.

I think the expression on this Blue Jay’s face says it all.

That seems to be the question tonight as be supposedly brace for our first real winter storm here in New Jersey. There is excitement in the air; from the weather forecasters, to the hardware store where snow shovels and bags of salt are finally selling, to neighbors starting up their snowblowers just to see if they still run. After all, predictions of about a foot of snow, maybe more, is big news.

But, as we all know, Mother Nature can be very fickle. Frankly, I don’t believe it until I see it. Too many false hopes. Of course, it’s supposed to snow the hardest while we are fast asleep, cozy in our bed. Robbing me once again of the pleasure of watching the snow fall. But, I’m not complaining. IF it does indeed snow as heavily as they are predicting, my hubby and I will have a nice snow day to enjoy together. That is, of course, unless the power goes out. Alas, we also have ice and freezing rain in that prediction. You know what that means: power outages.

Something really unheard of back in Colorado where all the power lines are underground. Not so in the East. Power lines vie for space with trees in our part of the country. Very, very vulnerable. So today I went to our local Sears Hardware store and bought a telescoping shovel with a smaller scoop for use on the deck and all the freakin’ stairs, and an additional lantern. Now, of course we all know because I am ready, prepared, and totally hoping for this first major storm of the year to hit, it probably won’t.

I’ll be ready just in case.

Whether the weather be fine,
Or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold,
Or whether the weather be hot,
We’ll weather the weather
Whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not.
—anonymous—

Jackson Square was established in 1721 as a drill field and has been known under many different names during French and Spanish rule. In 1848 it was given its present name, and in 1865 this statue of General Jackson on his rearing horse was erected. It was the first equestrian statue with more than one hoof unsupported.

St. Louis Cathedral is the oldest cathedral in the United States and the third church on this site. The first church was demolished by a hurricane in 1722, four years after New Orleans was founded. The cathedral was completed in 1851, and in 1964 Pope Paul VI made a visit and designated it a minor basilica.

The beautiful iron-fenced garden square in back of the cathedral is known as St. Anthony’s Square [or Cathedral Garden]. I couldn’t resist poking my camera in-between the fence rails to take this photo. It seemed as if the statue, with its arms raised in supplication, was asking for protection of the houses surrounding it. The square had a feeling of peacefulness that washed over me the minute I saw it.

The ironwork in New Orleans is fascinating. I tried to capture some of the variations in balconies and balustrades. This set contains the more simplistic ones. Hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I did seeking them out. It’s a wonder I didn’t twist my ankle on the brick paver sidewalks since I was always looking up instead of where I was walking.

... for a mid-afternoon bear visit. I was chatting away on the phone to my Mom and looked out into the back yard. I saw a large black bear walking around. I quickly counted the dogs—yup, all four were in the house accounted for—hung up the phone, yelled to Rick to please bring me my camera, and managed to get a few quick shots.

At first I assumed it was Ursa without her cubs, but when I pointed the camera at her I got the impression it was not her. Don’t ask me why, but like I’ve said before, Ursa and I kind of have a ‘thing.’ This bear’s face was somehow different than Ursa’s. I know for sure it wasn’t Doris. I think this was a different bear. Beautiful face though, heh?

This pic isn’t very good, but if you look closely you’ll see the bear exiting our yard via the chain link fence, and she has it pulled down sort of standing on it!