One of today's headlines reads ICY MESS TARGETS NORTHEAST. Succinct and accurate.

The word "mess" says so much in a single four-letter word.

I used to love that kind of weather back East. We knew we'd be snowed in for weeks at a time, so we had supplies laid in for us and for the animals. Food, woodpile, candles, hurricane lanterns, books. If there are books, I'm happy.

The only real hardships were having to go outside to pump water (when the pump froze we melted snow), go down through the snow to the barn to feed the animals, or use the outhouse. When it was really nasty weather (whiteout), I strung a rope to guide me back and forth. Otherwise, we were just fine.

And having lived that way most of my youth, I didn't think of it then as hardship. It was just the way it was.

I shudder nowadays to think of traveling in that mess, though, or having to deal with a medical emergency, or doing all that heavy physical labor using a not-so-young-anymore body.

Stay warm and safe, my friends. If it's winter now, can spring be far behind?