WEATHER

Yesterday I drove to Indiana to pick up some jewelry that was in a sale. LOL. Mine didn't. Sell that is.
Anyway I also had lunch with Katie Poore, and some wonderful conversation and a great time. I took Cooper. I put lots of blankets in the back of the Van, broke my rule about traveling only in crates, and let him sprawl. He curled up against the back hatch door off the blankets. Hmmm.
On the way home (before the Weather) I stopped at PetCo and bought him one of those rolls of meaty type food which he loves. I cut several pieces off for him and about a half mile down the road pulled over, ran around to the back, and retrieved the pieces he was trying to bury in the carpet. I had visions of a bloody nose, he was so passionate about getting rid of them. He has been getting store-bought chicken at home: he held out for that.
Then the  Weather hit. It was very warm-- 67 according to my car thermometer which is fairly accurate. The rain....oh my sweet... it was HORRIBLE. It made it hard to see even with the wipers going full blast. It was so heavy that I nearly passed my turn towards home. Cooper slept. His faith in my driving is one of his more charming characteristics.
This morning it is 28.
There was ice on the top of the garbage can as I rolled it to the curb and it was clear my days of nocoat are over.
And the trees are bare.

This is what I see when I look at them instead of the green leafies--or even the brown leafies of a few weeks ago. I could stand to live someplace where summer stayed just a month longer. Three months on and nine off doesn't seem like much of a deal. I have more sweatshirts than t-shirts and I really do not like putting on 13 layers just to walk to the car.

However, thinking about this, this morning, as I came back into the house I made an interesting discovery.
There, in the front, almost buried by leaves were two of the last hold-outs for summer and fall. Two brave souls who have made it through the frosts, the rain, the wind and now the freezes:

It made me smile, even as I felt sorry that they were sacrificing themselves for the greater good. (Brightening my day is ALWAYS the greater good.) And so I salute my two little flowers, brave and intrepid souls, probably already regretting their decision to be the last rudbeckia (I think) standing.
Happy winter.