Snow, Food and Cardinals

There are absolute benefits living in the snow belt, one of which is that we know how to deal with and drive in snow, and another of which is that we know that snowstorms are temporary and move on. In this case we are sending the massive storm we've had for the past two days east, because we are generous and giving people.

It was a medium weight snow and settled nicely onto the branches and trees.

Actually, I really feel for those of you who will still be getting snow from this system. It was a total PITA storm. Yesterday it took my DH and I combined more than 45 minutes to shovel the 6" of overnight snow from our driveway. It took DH all day to do the rest of the shoveling that he does and get the snow pulled down from three different roofs. He was a hurting boy by the end of the day, but still cooked up some Sloppy Joes for a surprise dinner. So good, and such a sweetie.

I love Sloppy Joes. Not sure what these are? I put a recipe in a click link above.

The Cardinals have started gathering in Vatican City. No...not the birds. They are gathering here in my trees, laughing at us as we shovel the snow. No, I'm talking about the people who will shortly declare Conclave and begin the process of choosing a new Pope. This picture has been floating around and I asked a friend to send it to me so that I could share with all of you.

I hope this comes through large enough for you to read each
candidate's name and national alignment.

In this season of March Madness (which is a term used in the US for the College Basketball Finals - great games!), I thought it was rather hilarious to put the Papal candidates into a bracket breakdown by geographical zone as the picture shows. Go ahead and indulge yourself with speculation...who will win the privilege to wear the white and the crazy hat?