The Weather Channel, of course, was humming with the "potential" for yet another nor'easter bringing dire consequences to the ridge and beyond. But this one just didn't feel likely, if for no other reason than my arthritis wasn't any worse than usual. Perhaps there'd be snow and wind and downed trees and power outages... perhaps not. As it turned out, definitely perhaps not. The snow wasn't even measurable: just a thin crust in places and what little accumulated melted quickly and produced none of the consequences we witnessed last month. All the trees are fine... all the electric lines are up. The cross-country skis, snowshoes, and snow shovels remained untouched, and I'm thinking that it really, really is time to put them away until at least, say, December. The lichens, if nothing else, enjoyed the drink.