Good morning, everyone. It is official--this has been the snowiest February on record a little over an inch. And we may get a bit more tomorrow morning. Also, this month places 8th on the all time snowiest list and the blizzard 3 weeks ago made the 2nd place for a single storm total. But the temp on our patio was 38 this morning though it had lost a couple of degrees by the time we finished our coffee. I so want my garden containers clear of snow; I may go out later this week and try to uncover them. I started my tomatoes and peppers inside yesterday and got a bit of a surprise--one of my ground cherries has emerged. I wasn't expecting that for another 2 weeks at the earliest.

This New York Times story (by way of MSNBC) presents one of our current dilemmas but without asking a crucial question: at what point is the benefit derived from the tapping large amounts of natural gas and the creation of jobs in the energy industry cancelled out by the air and water pollution? I love the one interviewee's quote: 'We're burning the furniture to keep the house warm.' But I think the real assessment would be: 'We're keeping the house warm but we have to wear respirators and can't drink the water.'