There is nothing quite like the first snow of the season. Even before I open my eyes there is a quiet and sense of well being. That is, before the snow plows start. They go at it for hours until only sparks come off the pavement.

My dad had a plow on the front of his pick-up truck. He cleaned the church parking lot and neighbors’ driveways. In Pennsylvania in the fifties and sixties, he did it every day for months then went to his “real” job. We never had snow days. The bus driver put chains on the tires and carried us down the mountain. We were never late for school.

Here, on the Vineyard, children are so happy when a snow fall happens on the weekend, the sledding community was out in force by 7 a.m. on the Tashmoo Hill.

When I opened the hen house they were too “chicken” to set foot on the white stuff so water had to be hauled to the coop.

On Monday as a result of some thawing on roof tops and solar panels, ice sickles formed all day in the near freezing temperatures.

Probably as a result of poor insulation, we would get enormous icicles on the house when we were children. We would break them off for some impressive sword fights. Someone would always end up bloody and crying.

After that quick trip down memory lane there is not much to report in garden world.

I whiled away some time going through the stored potatoes and onions, removing sprouts from the spuds and tossing a few soft onions into the compost bucket. I noticed on Monday that the whiskey barrels at the entrance to SBS still had some snapdragons now covered with ice and snow. Some still had blooms, albeit frozen in time.

If it can wrong, it will. To wit: I had a flat tire on Tuesday in front of Polly Hill. During the hours-long wait for AAA, some workers from the arboretum came out and tried to help. You know who you are — thank you.

I spent time watching a flock of dozens of female turkeys go back and forth across the road stopping traffic constantly. I must say, since I was trapped waiting, I found it comical.

I know it’s a month past Thanksgiving but I need to express my gratitude for all the food my garden provided for yet another year. Considering the neglect this summer, nature still tends to provide. I rummaged in the freezer and found some tomato sauce into which I developed a quart of peeled onions and zucchini. Right before Grey Barn closed, I bought a few packages of ground beef so the meal was very hardy. So far, we’ve escaped the alpha-gal, thankfully.

Just when you think things could not get worse — Brown U and Bondi Beach killings, the horrific murders of Rob Reiner and his wife. The response from our president and “leader of the free world” was appalling. Why does he always refer to himself in the third person?

What we need is a kind and empathetic Joe Biden, the comforter in chief, or maybe Obama singing Amazing Grace at Mother Emmanuel.

I actually wonder if we’re going to be alright?