Winter has stopped teasing us and arrived with force.

Up here, from mid-January to March, the heat of winter means frigid days like today and tomorrow, wicked ice storms,  and major snowstorms like the one predicted for Sunday into Monday. From now on, it will be one cold or snowy blow after another. Climate change has made this less predictable, and the storms more intense.

We are ready, our shovels are out, we have bags of sand all over the place, and our new generator is hooked up and running. An arctic wind has arrived, time to feed grain to the sheep. lock the chickens up in their roost and stoke the wood stoves, it will be -7 tonight and a high of one tomorrow.

We have a snowblower that works well, and a good plow person who can also shovel snow if we need it. The woodshed is full of wood, and the barn is full of fresh green hay. I would never trade this for a warm climate, I’d rot there.

I can see the cold in the air, it has a crispness and power that means arctic cold.

The winters have changed, but not lost their bite. As uncomfortable as that can be (I can only walk outside in this wind for a few minutes, it is a beautiful time of year, Spring is just a few weeks away.