October Snow? WTF?

Silver maple limbs crunched my chairs

We hadn't even had a killing frost when we got hit with heavy, wet snow on Saturday.  With its leaves still on, the huge maple in our backyard dropped a lot of branches and limbs.  I was working in the back garden during the heaviest of the snow, desperately trying to tie up a couple shrubs that were in danger of breaking, when the limbs started coming down.  There would be a big CRACK! and then the slow motion whooshing sound as the limb fell.  All around us the neighbors' trees were doing the same. I got the heck out the yard quickly.  I looked back to see the Adirondack chairs that I built in 2006 take a direct hit.  I wanted to retrieve them but thought better of it.  

Maple mess

A four foot tall hydrangea reduced to a ground cover in the front yard

This hydrangea rebounded stem by stem as it shed the snow

Hyacinth beans with snow?  What a weird sight.

The mums didn't seem to care

 The birds love the new brushpile under the bird feeder.  I'll get it all to the township recycling center, where it will be ground into mulch, sometime soon.  Can we get a break from the extreme weather, please?  I'd like to plant my bulbs before the next calamity.