Above freezing yesterday – and that’s not a good thing this time of year. The ground is cold, and water freezes out of the air as frost, making things very slippery. As far as I’m concerned, warm weather can wait for March or April, when there’s some chance things will stay warm and the snow will actually melt. Right now, with the winter solstice only two days away, it just means more ice.

Waiting for a left turn, looking south near solar noon. Yes, that's ice on the road.

Sunrise this morning will be at 10:57, and the sun will set at 2:39. Not much time to fit a little shopping around my doctor’s appointment, as we have only 3 hr 42 minutes of daylight, with the sun getting no more than 4 times its own diameter above the horizon. Sunrise, sunset and length of day are changing by only seconds a day, now, and by Thursday the days will be getting longer again. The winter solstice is definitely time for celebration as things turn around!

The forecast is for slightly above normal temperatures for the next week, but not much snow. Too bad, as we could use more snow. I haven’t been bothering to photograph the snow stake, as it seems stuck on 9”. I did, however, get a couple of photos Saturday: one of the pink and blue of the trees this time of year, and another of driving conditions.