Ice Storm 2026

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I was hoping to upload a pic from our recent ice storm but some glitch is preventing me. In the meantime, enjoy this excerpt from one of my favorite short stories “The Snow covered up the grass with her great white cloak, and the Frost painted all the trees silver. Then they invited the North Wind to stay with them, and he came. He was wrapped in furs, and he roared all day about the garden, and blew the chimney-pots down. “This is a delightful spot,” he said, “we must ask the Hail on a visit.” So the Hail came. Every day for three hours he rattled on the roof of the castle till he broke most of the slates, and then he ran round and round the garden as fast as he could go. He was dressed in grey, and his breath was like ice.” (The Selfish Giant, by Oscar Wilde)

Songkran Festival สุขสันต์วันสงกรานต์ (Thailand)

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Happy New Year--again! Our friends in Thailand have had one wet weekend, celebrating Songkran, the Thai New Year ( "สวัสดีปีใหม่" )
One feature of the day is always more fun for the younger generations while the older folks take what they can, as light as they are able. Starting the New Year means starting clean and fresh, so tossing water at one another by nearly every means possible marks the three days of festival. Buckets, garden hoses, pots and pans, even water balloons and water guns of various types keep everyone fairly doused. The symbolism (of course) is washing off the filth of the previous year and starting over.

Recent years have seen a boost in tourism in Thailand as people travel to become, shall we say, “culturally immersed” in the hottest month of the year. Someone once asked, “how does one avoid getting wet during Songkran?” No satisfactory answer comes apart from “don’t throw water and babies, the elderly and people driving.”

Is it really that easy? Does a splash of water soothe the conscience? Does giving alms and food to monks actually erase shame and guilt? Who is being appeased when one visits the temples for merit? How does changing behavior erase what was done in the past?

One can’t help but ask.


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