The First Snowfall of the Year!! Deaths in my "Realm"....

My front steps with snow on them!!! (Photo taken at 2AM on Early thursday morning)

So today is Wed, November 16th and the weather is surly "winter-like".
The tempurature is currently just 30 blissfull degrees and the first snowflakes are falling throughout our midwest area of the U.S.

We are supossed to be getting some snow falling here in wisconsin, though I havnt seen any flakes coming down yet as of 1pm. Maybe the snow is missing us here in Racine. The weather forecast is calling for some of the white stuff in our area though and the tempurature is supossed to be dropping to a "chilly" low of 16 degress tonight along with a wind advisory.

To me it seems a bit early for this kind of weather but it is only a week or so till thanksgiving and I remember snow around this first holiday in years past. Don't think I will be making any snowmen today though.
They say more snow showers on friday and saturday also.

What else has been going on....
Not alot. Things have been kind of boring since my NYC Vacation.

One of my "childhood neighbors" passed away this last week.
His name was Mike Nash. The local paper wrote a very cool story about Mike and I am including a link to it below.....
http://www.wisinfo.com/dailytribune/wrdtlocal/288539924844523.shtml

I grew up on a block on the west side of Wisconsin Rapids Wisconsin that was like "Mr. Rodger's Neighborhood".....everyone knew everyone and for the most part everyone was friendly with each other. Of course there were the arguments among the neigbors, with disputes about "mainly small things" here and there, but overall the biggest things I remember about my "neighborhood" was how everyone seemed to be there since FOREVER and all of my friends were right there...on my block or not more than one or two blocks away.
I grew up with Mike being my neighbor and his daughters Chris, Amy, and Sarah,being childhood playmates of mine. I remember Mike being such a strong man with such goodness in his heart. He tought alot of the neighborhood on 15th Avenue, that I called home in my youth, what it meant to be a good neighbor and honest,loving human being.
I am so sorry to hear about his passing.I am sure he will be missed by all.He left a lasting impression on me for sure.He probably didnt realise it, but he left a very lasting impression on me as a child.
When my mother passed away a few years ago, we couldnt afford a gravestone of quality for her.Mike Nash gave us, at a very affordable cost, one of the most awesome "monuments" to mark my mother's resting places that one could want.
Thank you Mike for touching so many people's lives.

Another death that also hit kind of close to home. Though I only met him once, his was a name that was mentioned many times while I was growing up.
Orville Josie passed away this last week also, and he was also from the Wisconsin Rapids area.
He was my mother's first husband and they had a child together before I was even born.
I think my mother loved this man very much as she talked about him quite often as I was growing up.

My brother's name was Terry. Terry was only 5 years old when he left this earth.
My mother and a few friends along with my big sister and Terry were out at a local lake picnicing.
Terry decided to take a walk along the lake shore. After a few minutes, my mom was looking for him and she kept calling his name but Terry didnt answer back.
It wasnt until hours later that it was realised that my "Big brother" had slipped into the lake and got pulled under water by a "wirlpool effect" and drowned. The authorities dragged the lake and from what I remember my mother telling me, my unlce Clyde was in the sherrif's boat, when they found him in the lake.

I drempt about this "unknown brother" may times throughout my childhood and often fantasised about what it would have been like to have an "older brother" to look up to.
I remember a few months before my mother passed away, she would say it was only a matter of time before she would be back with her "Terry". We would visit him often at the cemetarty in Stevens Point where his resting place is right next to my mother's parents.

Time to get ready to work.
I am still editing my photos from NYC and will have some posted in the next few weeks.
Stay tuned.