Where's the Snow?

When we got to Misawa everyone told us how much snow they get and how cold it is here. As December came I have to admit we were a little dissappointed. We had one light snowfall, but nothing to write home about and then it melted right away. As for cold, it's not. I have been wearing a jacket to work in the mornings, but most of the time it isn't even below freezing.

Sunday it started to snow. We had friends coming for dinner and the roads were getting slick. After they left I went out and shoveled three inches of snow. It was that very wet sticky snow that is perfect for snowmen, snowballs, and forts, and miserable for shoveling.

Monday morning we had our answer. Jonathan woke us at 0600 as is his custom. He promptly informed us that it had snowed and the branches had fallen from the trees. He went out to shovel the walks while Mom and Dad slept in.

When we got out of bed this is what we saw:

No, those are not shrubs at the base of all of the trees. They are the branches that fell off in the night. I had always wondered why the pine trees here didn't have branches except at the top. Now I know.

When I went out to shovel the snow that the plows had piled behind our cars I measured a places in the middle of the yard--12 1/2 inches. I guess it really does snow in Misawa.