On the back porch in the cool of the evening, I sat as a child with my father as he de-stressed from work. He was a man of a few words, so I watched silently as his strong hands cracked pecans produced from the large pecan tree in our yard. It was a peaceful time. Every so often he would lean over with a fresh pecan and pop it in my mouth while smiling down at me. We had a red cardinal that lived in that large pecan tree and at times it would make an appearance.

As I sat at my desk and looked out the window at the fluffy clouds in the sky, I was reminded of a conversation with a friend a few years ago. She told me the area east of us in Texas had gotten snow, and we had not even seen a drop of rain. At that time, I felt a little twinge of sadness because I love to see snow.