Spike

According to weather sites, we hit 34 F overnight.  Current temperature 16 F.  This trend is not promising.

Appears to have been some precip of some undefined kind, as the sidewalks were slippery for my morning newspaper walk.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . .

Temperature 10 F, winds gusting to 30 mph.

Not going for an afternoon walk.

Woodstove heating front half of house.  For the record, wood heat is messy, time-consuming, and potentially dangerous.  Cheap can have drawbacks.

Walk accomplished

Officially 4 F out there, not the draft-deferment version (a reference wasted on probably half the audience) but little wind.  We suited up, with YakTrax applied to boots, and hiked the neighborhood.  No cats seen.  Felines have more sense than humans.

A little haze around Venus, not a perfect pinprick in the sky.  We got a chance for a direct comparison between the planet and the landing lights of a plane the other night.  Venus was brighter.

Cloudy now

This is a good thing.  Put some blankets between us and that interstellar cold.