It's cold here this morning, and still an endless wait for spring and warmer weather.

So I thought I would show someone who's happy, even though covered with snow. Actually, he's a scarecrow left over from Halloween. This is when we were still living in NYC and his bright expression helped to cheer things up.

We lived on the north side of the street, and this was the side that got the biggest snowdrifts. The houses on the south side of the street were on lower ground and got less snow but, unfortunately, because of their lower location, they were the ones that got the flooded basements when the sewers backed up. Given the choice...

The houses in Queens were small, on small properties. They were separated by about eight feet, which became the driveway, where you parked your car. After a big snow, you would find your car buried under a drift. The first task was to locate your car, then clear it off to the point where you could back it down the driveway. Next, you cleared out the driveway as best you could, then the sidewalk in front of the house, and a path to the street. After this effort was finished, as part of some diabolical plan, a snowplow would come down the street and push it all back into your driveway.

At the same time, people who parked in the street were trying to extricate their buried cars. The whole thing was a huge mess that could take several weeks to restore things to normal.

Down here in Virginia, we don't get as much snow. Our driveway is gravel, so it takes the snow and ice well. And, best of all, our cars are now in an attached garage.

So I guess that this snow-covered fellow, looking off to the side, is glimpsing a future where the winters are a lot easier.