Winter is here by Laura Ashwood

No, you didn't read that wrong. Winter came early this year to my neck of the wood, setting a state record for earliest "significant" snowfall. A record that had sat for 140 years, basically back to when they first started recording the weather. Snow in October is not unheard of, as anyone that was in Minnesota for the "great Halloween blizzard of 1991" will tell you, but to get measurable snow amounts in the middle of the month is odd. 

This is my front yard on Tuesday, October 19

It didn't come early without warning though. We are blessed to live pretty far out of town and thus, have a variety of animals that frequent our property. 

This doe and fawn were walking through our yard in July. You can see the nice golden brown color of their fur.

This is the same doe and fawn at the beginning of September. You can see the fawn has lost nearly all its spots, and the doe nearly has her winter coat fully in place, the darker grey/brown color whitetails turn in late fall. The deer around here don't normally start turning winter brown until early/mid October. 

When we saw they were turning early, we doubled down on getting our woodpile stacked in anticipation of the long winter the Farmer's Almanac is predicting.

While Fall is my favorite season because of the glorious colors...

This is my back yard on September 11, 2020

Same back yard October 19, 2020

Winter takes a close second. We got seven inches of snow Tuesday afternoon and I sat at my living room window for nearly an hour just watching it fall. It was so peaceful. 

Another reason I love winter is because I get to hang with the chickadees. They won't do this in the summertime, but in the winter, with a little patience, I can nearly always get them to eat out of my hand. It's such a cool experience.

Do you like winter? Does it snow where you live?

Until next month, Laura