The cold and the beautiful

Whitetail deer are on the move

So are the timber wolves

Cork thinks the snow is actually a beach

We like to walk about three miles a day on our country roads

This looks like the coldest night of the year so far. At this writing we are -27 C (-16.6 F) and it is expected to hit about -30 C (-22 F) by morning.
One of the reasons it is getting so cold is because there is absolutely no cloud cover to hold in the Earth's heat. I met a biologist one time who explained that heat radiates to a point in space directly overhead. For that reason, having anything above is warmer than nothing. He was talking about moose and deer and why they like to get beneath coniferous trees in the deep cold. You see the same thing with frost on your windshield. Have you ever noticed that the sloping front windshield is frosty when the side windows are not?
So, it is cold out right now but it is nice and clear. In the daytime the sun is absolutely brilliant. When Cork and I go for our daytime walks I need to wear my sunglasses, something I usually avoid because the polarizing lenses make it difficult for me to see the digital screen on my camera. It is clear at night too which would make it great for watching northern lights if there were any.
The cold temperatures change the habits of the animals, I notice. The pine grosbeaks in our bird feeder are emptying it daily instead of every two days. Whitetail deer are on the move almost constantly as recorded by my trail cameras. And the wolves are getting closer and closer to our house. The one in the photo above from early this morning was just one hundred yards away.

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