Aunt Ginny's MI-5:

Winter is here, even if it doesn't look like it, so I thought it is a good time to talk about that.

1. What is your fondest memory of winter when you were a child? (activity, trip, family story, etc.)

I used to love going ice skating when I was younger. I loved to skate on Gene & Brenda's frozen pond. I used to go out there and pretend I was Kristi Yamaguchi. Actually, it probably wasn't Kristi--I think I would've been too old for her. Might have been Tiffany Chin. Yeah. I think it was Tiffany Chin. I also liked to go down on Skinner's Pond on Spruce Head Island with the whole family. Uncle Roger and Aunt Dee Dee and their clan would go, too. I remember being a little leary about Skinner's, though. There were rumors that it was very, very deep. Uncle Roger used to have a pretty large "puddle" to the right of his house, and that wasn't too bad for skating, and there was a spot off Grierson Road somewhere that I liked, too.

2. Have you ever had a driving mishap due to snow/ice? Tell us about it.

I don't think I have. If I have, I'm sure my brother will remind me. I do remember a time when Mom had taken us to Camden to pick up our new dog, Nosey. On the way home, we did a major spin in the road right in front of the Ocean View Cemetery.

3. What was the worst winter storm that you can remember? Details?

They all kindda run together for me. I remember coming home from Lewiston late one Christmas Eve with my friend, David. I remember that he had to get out of the truck to put it in four-wheel drive. I remember a time when I was dating Dwane and driving home at like 2:00 in the AM. It was really slippery that night. I guess the scariest winter storm I remember was in the month of January, several years ago. It must have been 2000, 2001, or 2002. I can remember Dwane going down to the Co-Op on the Island to help Michael do something. The wind was howling, and I was afraid that one of our tall trees was going to blow over on the house. Plus, it was really, really icey, and I was scared about Dwane being out in it.

4. If you could escape winter this year, where would you go and why?

Probably Fiji, or some South Pacific Island. I've heard about a resort on one of those islands that has private "hut things" out on a "wharf" with glass floors. You can watch the fish go by. I'd love to do that before I die.

5. How do you explain the unusual winter that we are having? Global warming? Natural weather pattern? A plot?

I guess I feel like "it is what it is". I just figure that God wants it that way for some reason. I don't think that much about it, and I certainly don't worry about it with some sort of "doomsday theory" or anything. Al Gore could sure save a lot of time and energy if he'd just chalk it all up to God, and understand that God knows what He's doing. I was telling Mom just this morning that if we could have 2 good snowstorms a year (one right around Christmas), and at least one snowday (so that I can sleep in just a little), then I would love to just have this 45-50 degree weather we've been having for the rest of winter.