Glad I'm in the Southwest

I don't mind cold weather. Lived for years in the NE and in Germany and much of that time was spent outside in the winter. Plus I still love snow.

However, I was not trying to raise a garden at that time. I also had the right clothing for the environment, which I do not have for the most part now.

So I'm gald to be in the SW right now, as I watch what the people in the N and NE states are enduring. I feel badly for them.

But I love working outside on the garden. It's one of my biggest stress relievers. When not directly working on it, thinking about it is one of my major diversions. Under my current employment and financial conditions, all I could be doing there would be shoveling snow.

Granted, the current conditions have much to do with the soil being in better condition for growing and more fertile overall. So when spring arrives, things actually grow. Thus the work I've been doing here would be less necessary, if at all.

Yet it is a point of pride. My garden this past year was not hugely successful. But it was successful enough to be out of place and gain attention and comments. Even with one side almost completely bare. It's just not the kind of garden normally seen in this area. So when you get comments from people who have lived here for decades, it means you're getting something right.

The weather here continues to frustrate me. Keep watching for the mercury to remain just a couple of degrees above freezing. Too antsy for January. Pass it off to my Celtic blood. But I won't be shoveling snow today. I will go out and finish the base soil for the garden and till out those last two rows.