Today wasn’t our first hard frost, but almost. Certainly it’s the first I got outside to record!

I remain amazed that the pansys can survive our winters—and be cheerful about it! (well, wilty until the temps rise).

Trying a new recipe tonight. Chicken (pieces). Roasted. Should be easy. I’ll type it up if it works! (Stay tuned!)

Rain almost all day has brought down many of the remaining attached leaves. This was yesterday….

Thank you for harboring the snow, O Leaf of Liriodendrum tulipifera.

Several worthy topics arose today, but I’m going to confine myself to an easy one.

We saw snow today.

Yes, we were in Georgia. But way north Georgia. At elevations above about 2700 feet, in a few very shady places, we saw a few streaks of grainy, persistent snow. So, winter’s here, or our version, anyway!

Without a doubt we’re in a deflationary period with few $$ available for loans. Still, some projects underway ahead of this mess are going strong, including several in and around our beloved Piedmont Park. Here, they’re pouring concrete for the revitalized natatorium* (will have wifi!), adjacent to Lake Clara Meer. Up the hill, the Bot Garden (and the Park) are getting a new parking garage that’s supposed to be quite green, vegetated and attractive (it’s still bare cement and rebar right now), although it’s been extremely controversial. And, on the edge of the park, the Piedmont Driving Club (”now in our second century”), is rebuilding a whole wing and redoing its parking area.

On a personal note, it’s windy, so I’ve been jumpy all day….

* Trivia: the TBS program “Adult Swim” was named for a sign on the door of this building, I’m told….

Clever how I snapped right when that leaf was falling (just left of center)….

Foggy-morning on our street became spitty rain all day. This was good. Remember, we’re still in a drought around here.

To celebrate the elevated humidity, I began the interior painting that the work the contractor did highlighted needing to be done—in this case the baseboard/trim on the stairs (lots of kneeling and awkward sprawling).

Looks MUCH better!*

* Not surprisingly, with these conditions the house is kinda stinky, even though the paint’s supposed to be “low odor”….

Glorious afternoon today, but probably rain in the days to come. In the meantime, feast your eyes on the sky reflecting in Lake Clara Meer. In the foreground, the bald cypress are still attired in most of their leaves (which look like needles; don’t know why they’re not needles, but I’ll take Wikip’s word for it…hmm, I guess needles are just a shape of leaves…).

One of the notable things about today: it was rather windy with no hurricanes around. That’s kinda strange for these parts.

I didn’t have any good ideas for illustrating wind, since a tree with leaves flipped over by the breeze doesn’t necessarily look like it’s been affected by a strong airflow. That lead me to think about waves, and I sure have wave pictures. Then I thought I’d like to have a twist on the concept, so, voila!, here’s an original painting done by my grandparents’ friend Harry Surrell in 1966. He was a dentist (I think) in Newberry, and this is our beach, with the big point I remember from my childhood. Now, the beach configuration is somewhat different (last year; the water’s higher this year…), and there are ever so many more houses on the far shore….

Today’s milestone* is white bean soup, the beginning of winter eats. Mostly I use white beans or split peas, rarely black beans or a bean mixture. I almost always add barley and wild rice, making the soup into a complete protein food. Love assortments of amino acids!

This particular version is augmented with carrots and garlic (out of onions) and seasoned with fresh sage and thyme from my herb garden, plus a few pieces of ham and a splash of worchestershire sauce.

Through the winter, we almost always have leftover soup around, which makes for easy lunches, and a lowered grocery bill.

* This milestone is related to turning on the heat, mentioned yesterday by the Marquis, as a seasonal marker.

Lunar changes mark autumnal shifts, accompanied by the obvious modifications in leaf colors. The road beckons….

Old two-room school enduring the precip, Luce County, Michigan.

Although it’s a drippy day, it’s relatively warm and we’ve been having a grand time. We went to town and bought a sheet of blue foam insulation to finish up the well house project (replacing the loose insulation that’s coated with dried you don’t want to know), since last year’s partial installation came through the winter without problems. We also bought Breyer’s natural vanilla ice cream for tonight’s modest celebration of one more tick on the personal odometer of life.