Merry Christmas Eve!

Yesterday looked like this.

Equinox tomorrow!

Every year I am thrilled when we get to the winter equinox.  It is a turning point and spring is coming, even if way way off. Every day we get a few more minutes.

Wednesday: Sun making an appearance.

The big malevolent ice cube in the pond still holds my bamboo captive. 

Ice fog devours our hill.

Beautiful purple sky in the afternoon. 
Note the bird in the center tree, a resident crow I think.

Below: Dramatic clouds reach for each other overhead, and a roll cloud is crawling up over the far hill.  

Thursday:  We're in for it now.  Masses of mammata clouds promise bunches of rain.

Friday: The pond monster has finally let bamboo free!

My new favorite site

Click here: earth.nullschool.net 

The site has an earth wind map that is interactive and in real time. It is visually beautiful, the map is mesmerizing. I've learned more about wind from this map than any meteorological text. This map is art. 

Don't worry, there's no spam or anything objectionable there. It is part of the Global Forecast System, collecting data from
NCEP The National Center for Environmental Prediction, NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the US National Weather Service. 

Brr 27 degrees!

It was too cold to go outside when we got up this morning, so this photo was taken from my kitchen window. Sorry about reflections!

Later, the ice fog is burning off the hillside rapidly.

 A very nice day is at hand!

Spot walks on the ice pond. I nabbed her once she got near

 the edge. Out in the middle, it is still several inches thick.

Eat your heart out Grants Pass and Medford, while you are socked in all day with freezing fog, we are having THIS!

Blah day

Ever so slowly, the day warms up and the ice melts off.

Bamboo still trapped!

It's melting!

The loose iceberg still won't let go of my bamboo. 

It's too thick to break up with a stick.  

The cats do not venture out on it.

Our northerly hillside engulfed in icy fog this morning.

Looking south, the fog and clouds mix with wood smoke.

The back yard is looking green again, the weeds have really perked up!  

Apple branch is full of buds already!

A blob of melty ice in the yard looks like a reindeer.  Or My Little Pony.  

Melting ice is noisy!

Big chunks of ice have been crashing off the roof, it seems to be melting rapidly.

Below:  weather station hard at work.

The sky is beautiful as usual.

 Can't wait for the pond ice to release my poor bamboo!  The tip got trapped in the ice.  Hope it will spring back up!

Changes

Late afternoon, note the rising steam from the mill, mid-photo. 

Heavy layers of clouds, some seem lit from within!

There is an impending rain storm, the sky is darkening and filling with ever thicker clouds.

Spot's new favorite spot.

Snow is slowly leaving

My wonderful husband Rodger rebuilt the patio last summer and 

it is holding up to snow perfectly. Makes beautiful icicles!

 

Happy doesn't venture out onto the ice like 

some of the other cats.  

Spot contemplates her next foray into the snow.

Snow has melted off the sunny slope, the sky is wild.

Ice

Ice on the patio roof is outrageous!

Kit's not having any of it.

A snowy walk in the Glendale hills.

This tree outclasses all the other neighborhood trees.  It's even more majestic with snow.

I guess it's too cold for frisbie golf today in the park.

Nobody was there.

Up on a hill south of town, everything is in shade except these tree tops.  Beautiful.

Our walk winds around into the sun. The road is very slick.

Blackberries buried in snow with icy trees above.

More snow overnight

My poor bamboo, the tips are frozen into the pond!

Nothing says December like icicles.

Snow is piled on the weather station.

Spot likes snow!

It is going to be hard to read my rain gauge with a giant marshmallow stuffed into the top.

 Rufous sided towhee has been devouring sunflower seeds. I grew them this summer, these guys are appreciative.

Oregon juncos came for them also.

A chunk of sunflower with seeds and towhee.

I love this hill by our house, always gorgeous. 

Our redwood is pretty in snow.

Glendale's freeway ramp around noon.