... or at least about six competing with juncos for dropped seed, quite the study in contrasts. Our feeders were very popular during yesterday's more sloppy snow than expected, with an electron cloud of goldfinches continuously displacing each other from the thistle perches whilst the sunflower played host to a stream of chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, house finches, cardinals, and wrens, occasionally interrupted by the latest woodpecker ousted from the suet.

Things are a bit calmer today after some melting, with only two turkeys passing through. Given the incoming arctic airmass I appreciated the slightly higher temps and partial sun, including glimpses of a pretty sunset on my way home from errands. The rising almost-full moon did not quite make up for how early that was.

Very glad I carpe'd the mostly-sunny diem on Monday and finished putting the veg garden to bed for the season. A few days of dryer weather had left the ground neither soggy nor frozen hard and I was able to dig soil samples to eventually send out for analysis. (The soil won't change much between now and spring, when most people send theirs in. If I get mine mailed after the holidays I should get results in about a week instead of several.) Also drained and stored the garden hose along with the (mostly wooden) garden gate; with nothing left inside the fence to attract deer, chucks, or rabbits there's no need to leave it out in the weather. I even remembered to swap the car's water jug for a snow brush, which came in handy today.

This year's late fall in the Suburbs of Despair has been the coldest and gloomiest in recent years (if not decades). Very glad of the woodstove tonight, not looking forward to tomorrow night's forecast low of 7°F / -14°C but at least I can prepare. If I'm thankful for something this time of year it's for how much weather models have improved in my lifetime, especially impressive given how complex a warming planet makes things. Guess I should try to enjoy the local cold while it lasts.