Still

A yellow rose, the last one blooming in the back yard, survived the snow. I saw it at the height of the storm, bent almost to the ground (it's at the tip of a very long stem) and almost entirely encased in snow. I expected it to drop off from the icy weight it carried, but was still there today. I don't know if it will survive tonight, though. The sky has cleared and it's going to get very, very cold. The rose might freeze. The bowl of water I leave out for the feral cats might freeze, too. I won't freeze, because I have no intention of going out there. At least there's no wind right now.

Hardly any of the snow melted today, despite several hours of sunlight. The next few days are expected to be even colder than today was. Unless we get rain, the stuff is likely to stay on the ground for days on end. And winter has not even officially begun. The solstice arrives on December 21, at 12:04 UT. I can hardly wait.