Ice Patterns At Morning & Midnite...

With all of these intensely cold nites, I've noticed that the ice patterns on my windows are pretty amazing...

These four pics were taken at different times during the course of the day.

The larger pics, at the top and bottom of this blog entry, were taken around 10am. The smaller, offset to the left pics, were taken a little bit after midnite.

Enjoy winter's quiet, hidden beauty... As always -- click on the pics to enlarge.

Hearty Souls...

This isn't the easiest place on the planet to live... as I'm writing this blog, it is (-)8*F.. and with the wind chill, almost 20* below zero (F). Is it any wonder why I practically live under my electric blanket for almost 7 months out of the yr?

Yes, this place is not for wimps, or the faint of heart. And tho it does have it's own beauty about it, it does get very hard remembering why anyone would willingly choose to live here... and just when we are about to forget why... our very brief, but excellent summer rolls around... all 10 wks of it!

It takes more than a hearty soul to endure these cold winters, and the biting wind... it takes having roots soo deep that you couldn't cut them with an axe.

... And it takes a very, very good electric blanket.

Stay warm, wherever you are. As always, click the pics to enlarge.

No Words...

(Updated: 6pm) A Whole Nother World....

(I just took & added the opening top pic, on the right hand side, at 6pm tonite, Dec. 17th. The pic on the left was taken this morning at 6:35 a.m. It will give you an idea of how much additional snow we accumulated during the past 12 hrs -- the tracks in the snow from this morning were completely filled-in, and then more snow on top of that... And, it is STILL litely snowing!! Click on the pics to enlarge).

Been snowing for the better part of two days... it's still snowing this morning.. and due for more snow tonite...

Good thing I'm stocked-up on Hot Chocolate, Totinos Pizza, & firewood.

These are pics of my porch, taken this year on May 22, Sept. 22, Oct. 17, and just now this morning, Dec. 17.

The winters up here are very long -- from about Halloween (end of October) to mid-May... If my electric blanket ever stopped working, I'd probably die!

Enjoy. As always -- click on the pics to enlarge.

What Season Are You In?...

It snowed - yes, SNOWED! - a couple nights ago, for 4 hrs. It was a constant, but light snow -- and it pretty much melted as it hit the pavement & the streets; but stuck to the cars & the grass. Summer is short n sweet here, and fall (my favorite season - all 6 wks of it!) is even shorter. But, I'm sure I'd miss the unique weather cycle here if I ever moved anywhere else.

It's funny what everyone's version of 'normal' is. I wouldn't know anything different, weather-wise. If I lived elsewhere, I'd probably get all out-of-whack when October came around, and the trees still had leaves, and it hadn't snowed yet.

Enjoy your season, wherever you are.