Crazy thoughts ... or the beginning of the end?

Is it the effect of Global Warming kicking in, or is it a sign that maybe the Mayans were right.

Last Friday, 2-4 inches of snow, depending on the area, fell around Houston, Texas.

The event set numerous records for the area, including the earliest time of year with recorded snowfall (previously Dec. 10) and the first time there was accumulating snow in consecutive years.

So far, the Wabash Valley has had trace amounts of snowfall, with some areas having as much of an inch total.

For all you conspiracy theorists out there -- Is this time to panic?

Snow along the Gulf Coast of Texas the past two years and three of the last six? What is going on?

Being a fan of both history and conspiracies, it makes my mind swirl.

Part of me wants to be logical and say this is just one of those weather anomalies that happen every so often, while another part of me wonders if the theory about the magnetic poles switching is actually becoming true.

Then, there is the third part of me which loves the "outside the box" thinking that it may be a sign of the completion of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, which was most notably used by the pre-Columbian Maya civilization.

According to this calendar, the end of a "great cycle" is set to end either Dec. 21 or 23, 2012.

Unlike many theorists out there, I do not believe this is a reference to the "apocalypse," because that is a modern term. Instead, if the Mayan calendar holds true, I believe it will be a period of great change.

Now to what extent will this change be? I really am not sure.

It could be anything from a huge technological breakthrough or regression, to a global war, or a massive worldwide chain of weather phenomenon which will force humankind to rethink its way of life.

Given the anomalies that have occurred the past 15 years or so regarding weather patterns, I tend to lean to the latter.

Although volcanic activity hasn't really increased -- yet -- the recent expansion of accumulating snowfall in areas unaccustomed to it and the increased activity of hurricanes/typhoons, along with the massive size of them are just a couple of signs pointing to something even bigger in the near future.

Of course, this could all just be part of a normal world pattern dating back to pre-recorded times, meaning it is all coincidental and everything will be fine.

But it is fun to think about everything that it could mean.