Winter

No doubt that the cold season is here. Temperatures began dropping after sun set yesterday. I brought in my sensitive citrus trees (one which is growing flower buds!) and a few succulents. I have a few pepper plants that may overwinter as well. Clouds hung low over the mountains. The birdseed that I left out yesterday afternoon already is gone. The birds are getting ready for the hungry and cold days ahead.

Mount Lemmon north of Tucson has its first snow of the season. Forest rangers locked the forest roads to the peak; those roads will remain locked for the season. My December hike up Carr Peak will be cold and icy and Sadie most likely will stay home this month as she is too thin to handle the cold.

My throat is still raw from Friday's one-day flu and I easily get cold. My walk with the dogs yesterday was a quick drive up the foothills with the dogs running behind me. They actually like the fast speed and Sadie loves being up front. Several hunters in the mountains saw me "running the dogs" and thought it was cute seeing three dogs run past them, all in a row, following the white truck. I must have some weird impression with the locals here!

It was a cold "run" for me. My hands were cold the entire time. It didn't seem to phase the dogs, though. They may not get another "run" for a few days as this is my last full week of classes and I need to finish my finals.

Temperatures this morning, according to KVOA, are colder here than in Billings, Montana! Today's high there will be 55F. The high in El Paso, where the storm seems to have hit the hardest (from the Chiricahua Mountains to the hills of that city is where the coldest temperatures currently are) will be only 38F. It was 38F here at 5am.

Sadie and Pache continue to be "best friends." Those two always sleep close to each other. Pache always initiates aggressive play, though which includes biting and using his claws on her nose. Whenever I come back with a "run" with the dogs, Pache joyfully welcomes his playmate Sadie back. I think Sadie feels closer to Pache than she does to the rest of the dogs.