Today is kind of dreary. The day seemed promising early this morning, but now the sun is gone and there are a few snowflakes drifting down from time to time. There is hardly any wind today, and the temperature has remained at about 34 degrees, although I don't think there's much melting actually taking place. There are still 5 inches of snow on the ground at my back yard stake.

The pictures above are of the channel at the north end of the pond, where water from Walden Mountain and other points north of us flows into Joe's Pond. The second picture is of the water in back of the two islands, and is more protected from wind and shallower than the broad lake south of there, so that cove is one of the first places the pond freezes over. You can see some white at the left of the photo, which is snow in the marsh. The pale blue/white is ice that shifts with the wind and opens or freezes as the temperature changes. We think the pond will be completely frozen over in another week or so. We certainly have a lovely carpet of white right now, and most folks think the snow is here to stay this time.

We installed our anemometer toady. We were able to get it pointed in the right direction with the aid of our compass, and now we're waiting for some wind to register on it. I will attach the rain gauge in the spring. No point in having it out in the weather frozen stiff. I still have my regular rain/snow measuring devices to report to CoCoRaHS, and now I have an early Christmas present in my new "weather station."

While Fred and I are gearing up for winter, our cat, Woody, is quite frustrated now that snow and colder weather have arrived. He still goes outside and tests the climate, but in about five minutes tops, he's ready to come back inside. We use a kitchen timer to remind us to check to see if he wants to come back in. We haven't closed off his entry door yet, but the snow is at least five inches deep for him to navigate to get to it, so we try to let him back in the front door. When it gets really cold, he seems to sense it and doesn't tease to go outside except on very warm days. He's getting older and mellower, and hopefully wiser!

This morning we found him snoozing in Fred's shoes in front of the fireplace. See below. He was sound asleep when we took these pictures, and stayed in this position for an hour or so - until he got completely warmed up, I guess. I'm not sure why he had one paw thrust deep into Fred's shoe, but he seemed very comfy.