By SANDRA DECKELMAN

OBERNBURG - Was that snow I saw on Sunday?

For about 15 minutes, the snowflakes fell in Obernburg. The temperature never got above 38 degrees. Several snow showers were reported, especially at higher elevations, and Narrowsburg had a squall on Monday.

Does this mean that the warm weather is gone for good?

With a summer that wasn't extremely warm to begin with, snow in early October does not surprise me. It is now time to prepare your car for those cold trips to work. You should make sure you have a warm blanket and a bag of rock salt in your trunk, and warm shoes in your back seat. (You never know when you will need them.) Get the outdoor furniture put away-I don't think the weather will get quite warm enough for sunbathing-and cover up the gas grill. Get the kids out there raking the leaves and putting the outdoor toys away. And don't forget to drain the water out of the garden hose.

Storm windows up yet? Didn't think so! Have you checked out those heating oil prices yet? You'll be out there with sheets of plastic wrapping the windows when you do. I have done everything possible to avoid the $2,000 heating oil expenditure of last year, from buying a new furnace to insulating the upstairs.

For those who choose to heat with a wood stove, your woodpiles are stacked and covered and ready to go, right? If you are like my family, you are just getting started and will spend many a frigid day outside cutting, chopping and stacking.

Winter wouldn't be so much fun without the great outdoor activities. Can't wait to ride the snowmobile? This year, you might not have to travel upstate to find snow. Skiing will be wonderful, as long as you don't fall in front of someone, and hopefully the snowboarders will be polite when whipping past. (They really should have their own trails.)

When you go shopping, get some carrots, black licorice and some red shoestring licorice. After all, you don't want to be caught unprepared when the snowman needs a face! (Maybe the kids will be able to get the third piece hoisted up this year!)

There are a few cold-weather rituals I enjoy inside. We get to decorate the house for Christmas, and then undecorate it before Valentine's Day. I look forward to the long Christmas vacation, when the kids are home and have outplayed every Nintendo game they own, say it's too cold to go outside, and all they want is for someone to entertain them. It can't come soon enough. But right now it's time to get out the down comforter with the flannel cover, the flannel sheets and those toasty warm slippers everyone laughs at when you wear. Now, find the flannel pajamas, stock up on hot chocolate and popcorn, check out the movie listings, and get ready to settle in for the long hard winter!

The snow is here... we might as well enjoy it.