I'm up in chilly Dallas where it is a brisk 35 degrees. No snow, no ice, just grey and over cast. It's quiet in the house. My friend is taking a nap with his dog after his treatment this morning he gets really tired. They are comfy cozy under blankets and I am updating things on the computer. I'm off to make a cup of hot tea (something minty sounds good) and then find my book and read.

It's a perfect day for being warm and reading. I miss my cats and my fellow. They are in Austin along with my current art project. Currently I'm reading quite a bit about northern European prints during the 15th and 16th centuries. Really interesting about what they know and how they did things. (more later).

Chilly days

We had our first serious cold front wander through. When I first moved to Texas we used to have longer chillier winters but not now. I remember my first snow flurry.... it was 19 degrees in San Antonio and I saw snowflakes tumbling down. I was so excited. My aunt couldn't understand why I was so impressed with a few flakes of snow. So when colder weather hits I often hope for snow. Last year we had ice storms which are beautiful but more dangerous. Austin drivers don't drive well in snowy or icy weather. We do fine in heat not wet. This year, because of the drought (we're down about 19 inches) everytime it rains, the water mixes with the oil on the street and creates goo that is pretty slippery. We get an increase in accidents because of it.

This one hit Austin on Tuesday evening and brought more sleet and icy rain than snow. I could hear it on the roof and outside on the bushes, making that hissing pinging sound that sleet and ice do. It gets so quiet when it does this here. I wonder though, where do the birds go when it sleets? Do they get cold feet sitting huddled among the leaves?

By the next morning my car had tiny banks of ice along it's windshield. I admired them as I walked to the bus stop. Everything else was just damp and darker concrete grey. The cooler bouts of weather have produced some beautiful colors of trees this year.