Confirmation its COLD!

Not that any of us really need confirmation that the cold is, sadly, setting in to stay for the next few months.  But just in case you do, here are some things around the Van Zante home the kids and I found to prove that cold has, indeed, set in...



This may look like an ordinary grass spot, but what's missing in this picture is the rain gauge that has set here everyday this summer.  Josh took it up this past week because you can't measure ice and snow with your everyday rain gauge!  When I looked out the kitchen window and saw him taking it up, I knew Josh was giving in to the cold weather.



There are two signs of cold in this picture.  The first is obvious:  no leaves on the trees.  The second is harder to distinguish:  this picture is taken facing the southern half of the yard, which means that the sun is getting farther in the southern sky... a sure sign of winter.



Caleb was very excited to find that one of the trees in our yard still has most of its leaves.  This oak sits right off our front porch corner and is a lovely orange in the fall, but you can tell that the orange has gone away and the brown has taken over.



Do you notice how long our grass is?  Its long...but not so long that it can't wait 'til next spring.  If we mow our whole yard, it takes over five hours, with added time for trimming.  So when harvest started, it wasn't a hard decision to make letting the yard go for the rest of the year.

Poor flowers...the cold nights finally got to them.



Tis the season for layers, winter/fall coats and stocking hats (or as I grew up calling them, toboggans).




This is the view of the power plant's water coolers from the highway.  The coolers have the hot water running through them, but in order to be reused, the water must be cooled off.  The hot water hitting the colder air makes huge steam clouds that can be seen for miles around.




The activity that ultimately convinced me that the cold is here to stay was when we put on the Jeep top.  All summer long, the Jeep goes topless.  But when Josh came in and said we were going to have an afternoon of family fun putting on the top, I knew it was time to give in.  (Just fyi, Josh HATES cold weather more than the average person and resists it as long as he can...)





The Fiery Beast that will keep us warm this winter...




...and the food to keep The Beast happy.





Part of our collection of winter-skin-cure-alls.  Many of these will litter the bathroom counter until warmer weather.





And the Crock Pot has once again found its somewhat permanent residence on my kitchen counter.  Crock Pot meals are good anytime of the year, but especially in the winter!





And the most dreaded of all cold clues, those nasty ladybug beetles have once again found their lodging in the cracks and crevices of our upstairs bedrooms.  I can reach most of the corners with the vacuum, but one bedroom has such a peak that just can't be reached.  So they just sit there until spring and then suddenly disappear.  Gross, I know!