The winter has finally arrived! As I write, it is snowing. The snow is a bit funny, though. It is light and thin. Actually, it is so light and thin that the ground is dry. Mind you, not only is there no trace of snow on the ground, but the ground is also completely dry! This is my first. The winter has arrived, all right, but the snow is so funny that it can hardly be called snow. Come to think of it, this winter is so funny it can hardly be called winter, either. Perhaps the winter has not yet arrived, after all.

Addendum I (January 30, 2012)

No matter how light and thin, the snow kept falling all day yesterday. The ground got wet by the afternoon. And it was covered with a thin layer of snow by the evening, when it stopped snowing. Most of it has vanished by this morning, though. A thin veil of snow remains only on the roofs. At any rate, this is real winter, and no question about it any longer, but how long will it last? A couple of days? Or maybe an entire week?

Addendum II (February 16, 2012)

Well, I was wrong. The winter lasted two weeks, which is an entire week longer than I expected. That is not a small error, either. Looking forward, the winter doubled in length. Looking backward, it grew by no less than a half. In short, I sometimes rush to unreasonable predictions. To my credit, though, I swiftly acknowledge my blunders.