This winter, any day that I get some nice weather will be enjoyed to the fullest.  Tuesday and Wednesday of this second week of February have both been nice.

I took advantage of both of them to enjoy some time outside and enjoy some hikes.  I even managed to work in my yard on Tuesday.  The rains did start until dinner time on Wednesday.

Thursday has turned out better than expected since the snow wasn't even enough to coat the back of a blue heron much less a driveway or road. 

That did not stop Camp Lejeune from closing except for essential personnel.  I guess we need to keep the Canadians as close allies in case we have to fight in snow.

I have no problem with the bases being careful with real snow. However, this is the age of instant communication.  I saw a scrolling warning across the television well before the eleven o'clock news forecast last night that the base's plan was to be closed.

Of course, it isn't just the Marines, our real estate offices decided yesterday afternoon to open two hours late this morning, and we canceled an office meeting. We certainly were not the only businesses and organizations opting to be prepared just in case this turned into a Snowmagedon.

In retrospect never let it be said that I complained about an office meeting being canceled.

However, we are all wired to the gills and know almost instantly when anything happens, even many things we would rather not know, yet we panic when the weathermen are saying we might get one inch of snow on the beaches and maybe one to three inches inland?

I know the forecasters missed the last storm, but even then it wasn't that bad.  The driveways and most roads were clear by noon the next day even after a full day of snow. 

Today at 3:00 PM the sun is poking out from behind the clouds.  Every forecast I read yesterday said this storm was weakening as it moved eastward.  When I wandered around at 2:30 AM this morning for a glass of water, it was still raining outside.  I cannot believe people let this storm sucker punch them.

This reminds me a little of the NFL football game being canceled in Philadelphia because of snow that never really materialized.

As a kid in the fifties, I can remember getting up extra early on snow days, just to hear if school had been canceled.  If it had,  I could go back to bed.  Now I can be tweeted, poked, emailed, and voice mailed, and we are taking the easy way out by canceling things the night before.

We once had a briefing scheduled at our Apple office in Reston, Virginia.  It snowed eight inches during the night, several of us made it to the office, and we ready to go when the clients decided they wanted to hold off.

Then there was the operations review we did once after a hurricane passed through the DC area.  The power in the house where I was staying had been off all night.  The stop lights were all non-functional on the way to the office, and the roads were full of tree branches, but the presentations went on with only a few minor interruptions from the power flickering.

I won't even talk about life on the farm where life went on in spite of the weather.

Perhaps this will just be another winter induced rant which will become irrelevant next week as we return to normal weather here on the coast.

We should be back in the fifties tomorrow, and I am hoping for a boat trip down the river.