WINTER HAS ARRIVED IN BAYFIELD

A WINTRY BACK YARD

Friday, 8:30 AM.  26 degrees F at the ferry dock, 24 on the back porch.  Wind W at altitude, variable at ground level, with moderate to strong gusts.  The sky is mostly cloudy with a high overcast, but the sun is beginning to shine through.  The humidity is 73%, the barometer 30.08" and rising.  The weekend is predicted to be cold, with highs in the upper twenties.  It was a cold chore to walk Buddy this morning.
   Winter arrived with a vengeance yesterday.  Not much snow, but punishing winds and snow flurries, and temperatures dipping into the mid-twenties.
   I was busy with rehab exercise in Ashland most of the morning, and in the afternoon I hurriedly completed outside chores I had left undone.  I continued the job of getting winter bird feeding stuff up...a thistle feeder, a peanut butter feeder, filling the empty seed feeder with oiled sunflower seeds. The Geranium baskets are done for and had to be taken down so the place doesn't look abandoned.
   Most of all I needed to drain the rain barrels completely, and get them stored under the deck. I got my sneakers and gloves soaked in the process.  I had a garden hose to thaw out and roll up.  I was glad to get the tasks all done and get back in the house and warm up.
   Winter has arrived in Bayfield, that's for sure.