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I had never experienced a white Christmas until this year. An unusual, record-breaking snow storm hit Oklahoma on Christmas Eve and dropped 14 inches of snow in about 12 hours time. It was beautiful for about the first 3 hours on Christmas Day; now it’s just a cold, wet mess. On the second day of Christmas there has been no sighting of turtle doves, only lots of snow and icy slush.

I hope that  when I’m 90 years old I can say, “I remember the ONE white Christmas I witnessed in Oklahoma.”

OK, I actually was mowing my backyard, but after 9+ inches of rain in the last couple of weeks it might as well have been a swamp. Wet grass does not mow well. It clogs up under the mower and refuses to be blown out the side of the mower. I had to stop every 4 feet and remove the wet matted grass. I’m giving it a positive spin — I got some really great exercise!

Tomorrow I’ll have to tackle the front yard. Luckily, it doesn’t hold as much water as the back. And, fingers crossed, it won’t rain anymore before I get out there!

G. Mac Kitty Cat likes to take it easy on the porch on a hot summer day.

(Yes, that is a pig statue wearing clothes… G. Mac likes the pig.)

The thermometer on the back porch in the shade is reading 102. These are truly the lazy days of summer. In this heat you just want to sit very still under a fan. You don’t want to talk. You don’t even want to turn the pages of a book. Simply breathing seems to make you sweat.

I read a book recently suggesting we should all quit using our air conditioners and go back to old time methods of staying cool. I’m betting that writer never spent a summer in Oklahoma. I’m all for green living, but I won’t be shutting off the air conditioner any time soon. I prefer to stay alive than expire from heat exhaustion.

Even the Oklahoma breeze doesn’t help. As one weather forecaster said on the evening news last night, “this wind feels like a blow dryer.” I always liken the Oklahoma wind on a hot summer day to being cooked on a rotisserie over an open fire.

So, here’s to summer, triple digit temperatures, and Willis Haviland Carrier, the man who invented air conditioning.

Ice storms, tornadoes, floods, more ice storms and earthquakes — who knew Mother Nature could pack so much action into one little state.

Interesting stats for the year:

• Wettest year on record in Oklahoma City – 56.95 inches
• 20 consecutive days of rain in June/July
• 49 Tornadoes
• 8 minor earthquakes, more than recorded in the last 29 years
• $300-plus million dollars (and counting) in damage by floods and ice storms

Here’s looking forward to a 2008 filled with sunshine and just an occasional gentle rain shower.