Snow In Florida ? . . .

. . . That's Unheard Of !

Is that so?

Those northern retirees who years ago fled their snowy homes in those various states usually belted with bad weather this time of the year were surprisingly made aware this morning of their TIES with New England they gazed out windows and saw -- S N O W !

Many native Floridians, as well as those in southern Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia, had never seen snow unless it was on television but now they know what the northerners were subjected to every Winter before they fled south.

Granted, the state got only three or four inches but the storm threw the unsuspecting officialdom into a tizzy - - what do we do without snowplows, studded tires, snowblowers and snow shovels?

We hear via TV that schools and businesses were closed and the panhandle was paralyzed, while the northerners living there and the snowbird tourists laughed at the officials' inability to cope with what the New Englanders say was "just a drop in the bucket."

New Mexico of course didn't escape the snow but anybody from up north realizes this state always gets some snow. Read an Internet story just an hour ago that relates every state in our 50-star union, except Hawaii, was today either covered in snow, was experiencing falling snow, or was having a dusting of the white stuff.

My trusty hand-powered snow plow - yes a plow like those used on streets, but much smaller, was put into use yesterday morning when we got three inches during the early morning hours. Teachers heading to the nearby school gaped at me as I effortlessly cleared my front walk so I could get to my newspaper box for the daily NEWS SUN.

That plow, a $14 bargain, was bought and used in the 1960s in Levittown, Pennsylvania, traveled to and was used in North Adams, Massachusetts, and moved with us to Truth or Consequenes and then Hobbs, New Mexico.

In TorC, it was used NOT for snow but for SAND, during construction of a flat area to park our RV in an expansive yard where a spot had to be carved out of a sandy hillside. That $14 item is still at the ready, although its tires and a chain need replacing and the yellow paint needs renewing.

I have found it amusing in these first few days of February having to figure out ways to TIE things together. Memories have been jolted by that one word.

And right now it's time to TIE on the feedbag and quell my hunger.

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