WINTER: Will we get any snow?

Everyone is wondering whether we're ever going to get any snow this winter. Goodness knows we've had plenty of rain and many subfreezing days; they just haven't coincided, much to the relief of our hard-working local road crews. 
At the Y the other day our fitness teacher was reading aloud the weekly announcements, as instructors are supposed to do before class. When she got to the part about the Y's snow-closing policy, ears perked up.
"What? Is it going to snow!?" asked one student, immediately alarmed.
In contrast, another friend says she wishes all this rain were snow. 
"But you're from sunny California!" I said.
"Yep, that's why," she replied.

On a recent warm, windy afternoon I got outside to do a bit of yard cleanup and was happy to see the daffodils, crocuses, grape hyacinths, anise hyssop and motherwort poking their heads up. The hellebores are unfurling their leaves but I haven't spotted any pink blooms yet -- a friend only a few miles away reports that hers have been flowering for a few weeks already. 

A mysterious muddy trench has undermined the black plastic garden edging in one part of my perennial garden; I'm not sure if it was caused by heavy rainfall or a critter, but I'll need to fill it in.

For once I remembered to save the little plant ID sticks to remind me of what did so well last year around the lamppost: dragon wing begonias (pink and red) and "Flame Thrower" coleus (spiced curry).