I know the moment I set foot out of the house this morning that we had just experience the first winter frost of 2018-19. The water in the birdbath was frozen solid, capturing some beautiful fall leaves in a gorgeous kind of natural ballet.
In a few days, the animals will be eating hay, not grass, and all of the flowers will be gone. The season of color and light is passing, a new and darker but also beautiful time.
We can no feel winter creeping up, November is always a dark and grey month here, even with climate change, our winters are real. We are ready. Hay in the barn, wood in the woodshed, barn repaired and dry, roof repaired, wood stoves cleaned.
Tonight, we’ll take the top off the birdbath, put it aside for the winter. I will miss it, and the color and light, but I accept the creative challenge of the winter pasture.
Isn’t it funny how the sweltering heat and humidity seem to “quickly” disappear? In Illinois, one day it was 97 degrees with a “feels like” of 110, and 2 days later, it was 49 for a high. Amazing. Nature feels like She is in the same place we humans are – extremes and very little middle!