For those who do not live in the USA, we are experiencing a strange winter. Yes, I know you are probably also having some odd occurrences but this year seems to be rather at odds with a traditional winter.
For instance, we were having a much warmer than usual winter and then someone left the door open and WHAM! we really got hit. Places on the East coast have been hit harder than the Arctic Circle. Boston, Massachusetts has had over eight feet (2.4384 m) of snow. That is equal to about 16 years of snow for this part of Oklahoma.
We do get sleet and freezing rain but not very much. Usually, in this part of Oklahoma, we have a bit of cold weather and then get a snow fall dumped on us. This snowfall can come as late as mid-March and surprise everybody.
The latest snowfall I can remember was in March and I have a good reason for remembering it. Our district band contests were always the third week of March.  I tried, each year, to select music a bit too hard for the band (as a whole) and then make them work to get it ready for judging.
Sometimes I overshot and it was a struggle to have the music to be performed as it should have been. I did then, and I do now, believe the performance should be as true as possible to the composer's intent. If performers had to work at getting the music correct, both technically and musically, they would have learned a great deal about the complexity of music. That is a soul satisfying thing I hope they had and still have. But on this particular year we had a large snowfall.
School was out for two days because buses could not drive routes and kids should not be driving to school on slick streets. It also meant band missed two critical rehearsals and my timing was off. The Principal did not think it a good idea if I called full band rehearsals when school was not in session. He did not understand the world of music contests.
But there are still many in the blank mind-set of the USA who do not believe in global weather change. We have had horrible summers and nice winters. One large snow and a few extra cold days does not negate the overall weather pattern. If you find my statement questionable, ask the people in and around Boston about climate change.  
Any time I can go outside and do things in a tee-shirt in December and January, something has changed. There were days in January so warm that I expected my Red Bud tree and apple tree to start blooming. This cold weather, which we are now experiencing, has probably saved them. They know not to put out buds and will wait. I hope this cold weather keeps the moths away from my apple tree.
Another thing about this snow, ice and freezing temperatures, I feel like a prisoner in my own home. The streets are iced over making it foolish to drive unless it is a very valid reason. Broken Arrow city does not clear non-major streets. Some streets have enough traffic to make the ice melt enough to drive on. There are spots which are not thawed that someone texting will hit and everybody else will also pay. Oh, here in Oklahoma our peanut brain legislature will not pass a no texting while driving law. We shall not go into that totally stupid decision at this time.
Even I will admit that to have the landscape covered with a white blanket is a wonderfully beautiful site. The snow also absorbs sound so traffic noises get swallowed up and muffled. A still hush has descended on our part of the world and that is good. It lets us know that we are not really the masters of the universe as we think we are.
There is still a great deal we have not mastered and we are still at the mercy of nature's whim. There are those who think this is the way it should be. Mankind has not done too great a job of keeping nature as it should be. Again, if you disbelieve that statement, ask the people who make their living along the Louisiana coast.
But all in all, this freeze and snow here will be more beneficial than detrimental. Having the moisture will help as we are in a several year drought. But another thing: my bees keep saying to the weather, “Will you hurry up! We have work to do and want to get busy." I very much agree with them. Comments are welcomed at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Please put COMMENTS in the subject.