Rare Snowfall in Columbia, South Carolina

Steve, the consummate weather guru, has been watching the television, listening to the radio, and searching the skies for a few, wet snowflakes. This evening he predicted a "wintry mix" and was thrilled when the white stuff finally fell. He insisted that Shadow, our rather stupid cat, would LOVE it. I shook my head and continued to embroider in front of a rerun of Law & Order.

The telephone rang. It was Steve and Shadow (aren't cell phones wonderful)...they needed me to document the occasion with a photograph and a blog entry...Oh truly pathetic...I've become an Internet reporter for an insane man and a cat! By the way, Shadow HATED snow.

Mom and Dad in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette!

We knew that the photographer took pictures of my Mom and Dad. I found the article yesterday but it only had one photo....not them. A second look revealed a button leading to two additional pictures...one was them! Here it is!

Snow at Lenzelhof

Steve, Alex, Erica (Alex's girlfriend) and I went to my parent's house, Lenzelhof, for the New Years holiday. We were nearly snow bound....just needed a little more of the "white stuff"!

(Above: The view from the workshop to the house.)

(Above: The view to the dock my sister Wanda and our friend Waldi made last year.)

(Above: The view to the lake with the little island in the background.)

(Above: My Dad's workshop)

(Above: The little wishing well.)

(Above: The view of the back of the log cabin, Lenzelhof.)

(Above: One of the back porches)

(Above: Snow on several birdfeeders)

(Above: The back porch and view to the lake)

New Year's Eve in Harmony, Pennsylvania

(Above: Mom and Dad in their Austrian winterwear.)

My Mom, Dad, Steve, Alex, Erica (Alex's girlfriend) and I went to Harmony, Pennsylvania (just north of Pittsburgh, PA) for New Year's Eve. This historic town was decked out for an end-of-year bash that included a 5K run (in which we DID NOT participate), live German folk music, lead-drop fortune telling (Bleigiessen), the best homemade German buffet one could imagine for just $10 (which was so good that it ran out!), after Christmas sales, a short movie, a "ball" dropped from a crane at midnight, and incredible fireworks. We met Don and Judy Castro there, friends from several summers with the Cultural Studies Academy.


The Harmony Inn, now a restaurant, sits at the corner of the main intersection of this tiny, historic town. From the porch the day's festivities were directed.

The musicians were talented.

This is the crane and the "ball" that dropped while the audience counted down from ten in both German and English.

This is the wine cellar under the current museum.

Beer was served all day...but we Southerners couldn't handle it in the brisk temperatures!

New Years Holiday at Lenzelhof

Steve, Alex, Erica (Alex's girlfriend) and I went to visit my parents in their log cabin home outside Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania for a great New Years holiday. These are a few of the family snapshots. Above is Alex and Erica out in the snow. Below, they're having waffles.



We also visited my Great Grandma Baker....

did some work on the computers....

and played games. (Above is Sonya, my mom, and my niece Nicole playing "Chicken Foot".)

Erica visits her aunt and several cousins

Alex's girlfriend Erica came with us for a New Year's holiday in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. Erica has an aunt who lives near Pittsburgh; in fact, she's just off I-79. So, we dropped off Alex and Erica for an evening with part of her family...an aunt and several cousins. Erica hadn't seen her aunt since she was about six years old but from the looks of the photos, they instantly got along very well. Alex took these pictures and I promised to share them here! I hope they all like the results.