Taking The World On With A Smile!

When I stated last week that I had gotten my, second wind and was ready for whatever else should happen to come my way, boldly telling the universe to “BRING IT ON!”, I wasn’t exactly talking about the Nor’easter that came full force, literally blowing me and millions of others away this Halloween weekend!

No, No! This is not what I meant at all!

My blog is all about striving to live life on life’s terms and handle its unexpected events with as much grace and decorum as I can but I’m afraid the unexpected event of having a foot of the white stuff covering my front lawn in October, is nearly enough to send me over the edge!

Seriously, doesn’t Mother Nature know my son was supposed to have a championship football game this Sunday?

Or was it Old Man Winter who was awakened from his slumber?

Doesn’t he know he has at least four to six weeks left of snooze time before having to blast down on the North East?

Could it have been <GASP> my doing?

Perhaps this was an early, Halloween trick conspired by the two heads of nature?

Major tree damage, downed limbs and widespread, rampant power outages was the prediction and By-George, that’s exactly what we got! We lost power at around 5pm Saturday. By 7:30 our county was declared a “State of Emergency”.

Hurricane Irene and the rains that followed left our Hudson Valley grounds sopping to the roots! Throw in the seasonal fact that many trees still carry their fall leaves, add heavy, wet snow and gusty winds and you have the disaster that we got; two days before Halloween! It was a cold, long night but thankfully, we got our power back at around 10am this Sunday morning. Considering what I’ve come to see and hear, I think we’re among the luckier lot who got their power back as soon as we did. No doubt, some people in our and the surrounding areas will be in the dark for days!

My girl, surveying the snow right before we lost power, Saturday.

Ugh. I’m bummed! I’m a huge fan of this and all holidays. I love to decorate and celebrate. Who will see our graveyard now that it’s buried under a foot of snow? I want to hear the rustling of leaves beneath sneakers as the ghosts and goblins approach my door, not the squishy-squeaky sound of snow boots sloshing their way up the footpath!

My boy, who is going as a Cheer-leading girl, is gonna freeze his hairy legs off!

Friday's pre-Halloween parade celebration at school.

It’s too early, too soon for this freezing nonsense! I’m just not prepared to be wearing my winter coat in October. It’s something I prefer to ease my way into, not be abruptly forced into! I’m not even sure I know where my snow boots are!

BRING IT ON!

I said it. It’s true. I put it out there.

I’m sorry.

Next time, I’ll keep my declarations to myself!

I don’t ever recall snow, let alone a full-blown storm in this New York area before Halloween. Do you? Were you affected by the storm?

Have a safe and happy Halloween everyone!

Photo Credit #1: Mother Nature

Photo Credit #2: Old Man Winter

Photo Credit #3-5: ©Takingtheworldonwithasmile.com & Karen Szczuka Teich