At Least He Keeps My Feet Warm

Any time I stop moving for any length of time, this is what happens: Ajax comes and lies down on top of my feet. "Any length of time" includes the minute I spend in front of the microwave heating up milk for cocoa. She stopped moving, Ajax thinks, Must go lie on her feet. In the last picture I stepped back on my right foot with my left foot under him, to show how he comfortably folds up his right paw and prepares to stay a while.

These mittens have already been out in the snow. Our son has independently come up with "layering" to stay warm, putting on his stretch-gloves with mittens over them, and his knit hat (boughten) with his coat hood pulled over it.

School was closed today -- schools all over the county are closed. Between snow on the roads and a high temperature so far of 8 degrees, I can't blame them for closing.

The air is so cold that the snow comes down in tiny crystals that blow and drift in the slightest wind, except where they stick to everything. Snow has been sticking a lot where I normally expect it to blow or slide off.

Usually the spruce tree at the edge of the hill towards the road sheds snow pretty quickly, but it's a regular winter study in black and white this afternoon.

Another interesting thing about the deep cold is that icicles are not growing. Instead the cold, dry air, and the small snow particles are wearing them away into sharp needle-points.

And here is something else I haven't seen this winter: snow sticking to icicles.

I think it's time to go stick my feet under the dog!