Please read this...In the words of Charlie Brown: AARRGGGHHH!
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<p class="p1">In the words of the great philosopher Charlie Brown: "AAAARRRGGHHHH!"</p><p class="p1">If you are a fan of the legendary "Peanuts" cartoon, you likely became very familiar with Charlie Brown's exclamation. It often involved Charlie Brown, fellow "Peanuts" character Lucy and a football.</p><p class="p1">Lucy would be holding the football so that Charlie Brown could kick it. Mr. Brown (can we call him "Mr. Brown"?) would build up a full head of steam as he headed to Lucy and the pigskin. At the very last moment, each and every time, Lucy would yank the football away just in time for Mr. Brown to miss it. His response: "AAARRGGGGHHH!"</p><p class="p1">Last weekend, Mother Nature pulled a Lucy on us. She yanked fall right out from under our eyes and replaced it with winter.</p><p class="p1">Sunday evening, as I looked out our living room window, I closed my eyes and shook my head. The image filtering into the part of my brain which wants to deny everything was having troubles.</p><p class="p1">Snow.</p><p class="p1">Snow??</p><p class="p1">Snow!!!!!</p><p class="p1">"AAARRGGGGHHH!"</p><p class="p1">Sunday was November 16. Sure, fall was a couple of months old. But, for goodness sake, winter is still more than a month away.</p><p class="p1">I guess I should have known what was coming. I should have figured it out Saturday afternoon. </p><p class="p1">Saturday afternoon, I was on somewhat of a mission. Had to pick up a couple of goodies for the upcoming holiday season. By the way, how can Thanksgiving only be a week away?</p><p class="p1">Saturday afternoon's mission included a stop at a local farm market to pick up some fresh produce, including an unanticipated purchase of some sweet potatoes.</p><p class="p1">During a good growing season, The Other Half's garden would have produced a nice supply of sweet potatoes. Not this year. Mostly, she got a good crop of mosquitoes.</p><p class="p1">The problems began last winter. You remember last winter. Snow. More snow. Then more snow. Cold. Really cold. Then, when we didn't think it could get any colder, it got colder.</p><p class="p1">The Other Half, who is ever optimistic, once again started her tomatoes, and other plants, in the middle of winter. That way, she had something to look forward to.</p><p class="p1">However, Mother Nature was not extremely cooperative. Winter seemed to hang around until sometime in May. Plants she normally planted couldn't be planted normally. And so it went.</p><p class="p1">The end result, at least when it came to a sweet potato harvest, was pretty much zilch. Hence, the need to find some sweet potatoes.</p><p class="p1">Actually, I did not set out to find sweet potatoes last Saturday. They kind of found me, which was a good thing. </p><p class="p1"> Even better: The nice person behind the counter at the market shared some tasty memories involving sweet potatoes and butter. To tell you the truth, I couldn't wait for dinner.</p><p class="p1">As you may have noticed, last Saturday afternoon was pretty much cold and dreary. The so-called weather experts already were starting to work us into panic mode with the threat of a pending winter apocalypse in November. Generally, the dire warnings are accompanied by the image of a television personality who has been standing outside in the cold for about three hours. Makes one wonder if they have any sense.</p><p class="p1">I did my best to ignore the gloom and foreboding and enjoyed a nice drive through the country.</p><p class="p1">That was when I saw the horse. The horse was serenely grazing in a field. And it was wearing a blanket. This could not be good.</p><p class="p1">And it wasn't. By early Sunday evening, the snow was falling. The landscape, which only a few weeks ago (even a few days ago) had been filled with the bright yellows and oranges and reds of autumn, had been whitewashed. Couldn't be possible. I kept telling myself that Monday morning as I brushed a couple of inches of snow off my frozen-shut car.</p><p class="p1">AAARRRRGGGHHHHHH!</p>