Balmy; cloudy; no Geminids! 8:14 Add-on.......

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It's Garbage Day!

33.8 degrees F. / .99 C. and drippy.

From WKTV's meteorologist: "Good morning Central New York! We'll get a much needed break from the wintry mess we saw yesterday. Some tricky travel in spots this morning, with temperatures near freezing this morning some black ice is possible. The good news is that this doesn't last for long. Temperatures will stay above freezing for the majority of today, allowing for a bit of melting on the driveways and outlying roadways still filled with slush. The next storm system, which arrives tomorrow, will bring some of the coldest air of the early winter season to Central New York.

A break in the weather today as a very weak area of high pressure dissipates to the south. Expect plenty of clouds this morning, with patchy fog. Some of the secondary roadways are still a bit slushy and icy here this morning, so you may want to give yourself a few extra minutes to get to work. Here's a look at your bus stop forecast:

For the remainder of the day, generally cloudy skies with highs near 40 degrees here in the Mohawk Valley. Our next storm will fast approach the area, and will be here tonight. Expect cloudy skies this evening, followed by a mix of rain and snow towards daybreak. We don't expect the same icy conditions like we saw yesterday, as any rain that falls early should change directly over to snow towards daybreak. Overnight lows in the low 30s.

Tuesday's storm will give us snow showers tomorrow morning, with a mixed bag by tomorrow afternoon. Precipitation will be much lighter than yesterday's storm, so road conditions won't be nearly as bad as Sunday. Still, a few slick spots are possible.

On the backside of this storm, temperatures will turn much much cooler. High temperatures Wednesday through Friday will only be in the upper teens and low 20s during the day, with overnight lows in the single digits to below zero. A bit of a breeze will develop too, bringing wind chills well below zero at times.

Some lake effect is also possible on Wednesday, especially west of Utica."

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"Raising the Bar..." a nice feature story about "our" Richard S. Woodman in this morning;s O-D.

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BASKETBALL SCORES

Waterville 54, Hamilton 26
Robert Hughes scored a game-high 25 points (including five 3-pointers in the second half), and pulled down six rebounds and had four steals as Waterville eased to a CSC crossover win. Taylor Jaquays helped out with 11 points for the Indians.
Waterville 6 9 19 19 — 54
Hamilton 7 0 7 12 — 26
Waterville (0-2, 2-3): Mike Purcell 2, Taylor Jaquays 11, Jared Henderson 5, Pat Zennon 2, Robert Hughes 25, Dan Kemp 2, Jordan Orendorff 6, Brett Baumgarten 1. Totals: 23-2-54.
Hamilton: Cameron Fisher 2, Dan Meeks 2, Ken Quackenbush 2, Keith Upton 12, Coley Graham 5, Phil Douchinsky 1, Tom Hilgenberg 2. Totals: 10-5-26.
3-point goals: Waterville 6 (Hughes 5, Henderson); Hamilton 1 (Graham).


Canastota 41, Waterville 38
Alicia Hibbard and Shea Foster each scored 14 points as Canastota erased an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat Waterville in a CSC-II matchup. Lindsey Wratten scored a career-high 18 points to lead Waterville.
Waterville 9 11 12 6 — 38
Canastota 5 12 7 17 — 41
Waterville (0-1, 2-2): Brooke Williams 2, Jenna Fallon 3, Katie Buell 2, Lindsey Wratten 18, Shelby Ritzel 3, Jessica Zogby 3, Lauren Homer 7. Totals: 15-2-38.
Canastota (1-0, 3-0): Alexis Havens 5, Lindsay McGinley 6, Alicia Hibbard 14, Shea Foster 14, Ally Bernier 2. Totals: 16-7-41.
3-point goals: Waterville 6 (Wratten 4, Fallon, Ritzel); Canastota 2 (Foster, Havens).
JV: Waterville 34-19.


WCS Girls' Varsity Basketball meets Cooperstown tomorrow (12/15) night at 7:30 in Waterville.

WCS Boys' Varsity Basketball meets Sauquoit at SV School at 7:30 tomorrow (12/15)

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Over the weekend, I received an E-letter from Sherry Wright, in N. Brookfield, telling me about a website called Victoria's Ride that chronicles a bicycle trip that "our" Vikki Merriman is currently on from Boston Harbor to Santa Monica Pier, in California!

"She is keeping an incredible blog of her daily adventures which are considerable. Last I looked she had arrived in Yuma, New Mexico, after the day before she experienced her first flying experience at the controls in a small plane with a man she met along the way. I think she hopes to be in Santa Monica by Christmas. Vikki is also good friends with my daughter Lisa and was in her wedding in 2005. Lisa who lives in Santa Monica, CA., hopes to see her when she arrives.

Vikki went on from Waterville to graduate from Harvard in '98 Magna Cum Laude and has her own business in Boston. Check out her blog. Its very well written and most entertaining. Vikki's family still lives in Waterville."

(I did! for about two hours! Vikki's photographs are wonderful and, then, there's the MAP! Thanks, Sherry!)

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The next three photographs, taken at The Pond in Old Forge, were sent to me by Ron Bornick, of Clinton. The first two are just really nice shots of a bald eagle. The third surprised me! I can't tell if the goose was just landing? and/or got away, or...?

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And here are two delightful pictures that Suzy Quayle sent to me of her grandson, Colden - or "Coldy" - putting his mother's childhood angel at the top of the Christmas tree!

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FOR THE RECORD

The supply of Christmas Trees at the Mason's Sale in the Park

- which started out at 225 -

is dwindling, fast!

Don't delay much longer!


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ADD-ON

I'll check this out later today, but I've had several Emails telling me that "Fashion Kraze" will be opening in the former Hallecks (earlier AMES) store in Hamilton, next to McDonald's, on Wednesday.

The ladies will like that!

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Have a great day, everyone!