Winter on Hold....

I don't know about you, but it feels like winter is on hold.  Last week, we were in a frenzy, making sure we had enough firewood close by; taking in the "tender veggies" (as directed by the Weather Service folks who were predicting a hard FREEZE....!)

But, last night, and the night before, we had only residual heat from solar gain during the day and didn't bother to light a fire in either the living room or the kitchen stoves.  It's headed for 70 degrees here again, today, and very little promise of significant moisture, anytime soon.  But oh!  It's sooooo beautiful!  Please know, this is not a complaint.  Winter will arrive soon enough!  And as NCMountain Woman Mountain Musings put it on her blog yesterday:  "The Journey IS the Destination.  Check out her blog!  Her photos of the pumpkins the other day were PRICELESS!  You, too, could make waving pumpkins next year!

My camera today finds a sampling of late bloomers...leaves that are still shockingly beautiful...but the mauves of the leafless tree trunks, now foil the colors in stark relief.  The pears and dogwood rule the reds, the maples claim the golds, and the browns belong to the leftover shells of summer.  And the firewood pile is still largely intact.

For those of you who burn wood as winter fuel, did you ever consider that you are lighting off the sun?  Fire is simply a continuation of the solar gift, isn't it?  Images below plus the benevolent temperatures let us bask in the last of the summer sun!  Enjoy!