Winter.

As I have warned several times before, my posts as infrequent as they are may cause readers of my blog to lose track of long stretches of time. Actually, it is this author who tends to lose track of long stretches of time, especially when the seasons either drag on and on or blend together. Either phenomenon occurs with regularity where the deer and the antelope play.

Such has been for the fall of 2011, and will be to come for the winter of ’11-’12. The last time  I posted was at the beginning of October, where I put up a picture gallery of the “last of summer” and “beginning of fall.” Fortunately for Minnesotans everywhere…actually for Americans everywhere…winter was tentative at best for the two-plus months. We typically flinch at the possibility of a snowy Halloween (many of us carry scars from the Halloween Blizzard of 1991), and we understand fully the treacherousness of travelling “over the river and through the woods” for Thanksgiving. But this year, Mother Nature gave us a pass. For example, no more than a week ago, it looked like this:

That’s right. Not a flake of snow on the ground on November 29 as we headed out to find our Christmas tree. Granted, it was 37 degrees, so we still bundled up, but something about pulling a 7 foot evergreen on a sled…over grass…doesn’t quite seem the same.

But now, we have winter. It is in the teens right now, and the lows tonight will get back down into single-digit territory. We have 5″ of the white-quality-of-life on the tundra, and have been seeing shower after shower of flurries for the last two days.

The last picture shows our now empty and dormant garden. Hard to believe that only 3 months ago it looked like this:

So now we have winter and all that comes with it. Better late then never! The holiday season is upon us as well, and we are enjoying all that comes with it. In fact, I will raise a cup of egg nog and say “Merry Christmas” to you right now!