This weekend Sylva had an honest-to-goodness snow event. Starting overnight Friday, fluffy snow blew in from a nor’easter that spun to our south and then off the coast. The snow kept up all morning Saturday and well into the afternoon. By the end of the day, we had 6.5 inches in many places.

The entire state got a healthy treat of snow, too. Mom and Dad saw plenty in Taylorsville and Hickory, and Carl and Dianne had a good measure in Statesville.

Helping out matters was a pretty cold bit of air that had been in place all week following last weekend’s ice storm. That one missed us completely, but there were still plenty of covered, frozen streets back in Iredell County, where they didn’t go to school all week.

Saturday stayed in the low twenties and teens for the entire day. The snow fell in bursts at times, and the wind from the storm kept the wind chimes pinging outside. In mid-afternoon, there was enough of a break that Kelly and the kiddos decided to sled. It was a powder snow, good for speed, and they made the walk the three-quarters of a mile up Locust Creek to the meadow, where there are steep hills. Meanwhile, I fueled up the leaf blower to try to clear the driveway and our lane.

In the evening, pushing the system off and away, a massive front of cold air plunged in, dropping temperatures overnight lower than any we’ve seen since we moved here. When I came downstairs Sunday morning at dawn to stoke up the fire, our Tempest weather station read 1.8 degrees. With the sun still coming up, I flew my drone for about ten minutes to capture the early light. I couldn’t wear gloves while operating the controls. By the time I came in, my fingers ached from the cold.

We’ve kept a fire in the stove all weekend, and we’ve needed it. Nothing better than to come in from the frigid snow, strip off icy, wet layers, put your boots by the door, and warm up at the hearth. While they’re inside, the kids have stayed occupied playing Minecraft (which they did well into the night Saturday), reading, and catching up with friends.

Kelly and I have stayed busy. She’s dialed in on work stuff to start the new month’s groups, and I finished the evening last night watching The West Wing. It’s so wonderfully innocent.

Last weekend, thinking we were going to get socked in with a terrible ice storm, we’d stocked up with groceries and prepared to make our homebound favorites: chili, pancakes, spaghetti sauce. This weekend, we pulled out the ham I’d originally bought for New Year’s Day, and we’ve snacked on it with cheese and fruit. Kelly found a gluten-free banana muffin mix, and the end result was phenomenal. I made breakfast tacos Saturday morning and gluten-free pancakes this morning. Playing in the snow burns calories, and we’re not going to run low anytime soon.

Tonight the temperature will plunge back to the single digits. School’s already called off tomorrow, and Western has closed for in-person matters as well, so we’ll enjoy the privilege of a long weekend. It’s going to stay cold–but we should be back in business by Tuesday. At the far end of the 10-day forecast, my weather app is showing a high of 61. It seems too good to be true.