Ah, the holidays. Yesterday I was brooding about the sheared bottoms of my pumpkin bread. Today I am worrying about a winter storm forecasted for Wednesday, when our daughter Dee will be traveling from New York to Maine. Last night, the prediction for snow was three to five inches, enough to make the roads a little slippery, but not enough for Mainers to worry about. However, overnight the prediction changed, and I woke up to hear Lou McNally, on Maine Public Radio, warn that we might get a foot of snow. Just what a mother wants to hear when her daughter will be traveling up the East Coast.

Our family has gone over all sorts of contingency plans, from Dee leaving early on Wednesday, if her work allows, to having Thanksgiving later in the afternoon, which would be better for those of us who will have to clean our driveways and drive to Portland. What fun!

From now until late March, the weather in the Northeast will be unpredictable, and over the years this has remained constant, despite climate change. When I was young, there were plenty of storms and slippery roads between November and March. I should be used to this uncertainty, but I’m not. Somehow, I expect the weather to cooperate during the holidays. Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t. (Last year our holiday treat was a mini-ice storm that knocked out our power during Christmas.) The weather does what it will.

Right now, the weather is calm, and the backyard looks deceptively peaceful. In addition, it is so warm that I haven’t started a fire yet in our wood furnace, and I am perfectly comfortable without the heat.

But all that can change in a day, and the sky’s hazy look portends that something is brewing, that something is ready to blow up the East Coast.

Good luck to all travelers who will be out and about during this storm. I know I won’t rest easy until Dee is safe in Portland with her sister.