Winter is Coming, Ned Stark

I live in a place where cold, snowy winters are a given. In fact, that’s what appeals to so many of my neighbors and friends. They ski, snowshoe, ice fish, ice skate. Winter is in their blood.

Even the heartiest of these winter loving souls was taken aback last winter, though. We shattered all kinds of cold weather records, including the longest consecutive stretch of winter days where the high temperature was still below zero. What’s worse is the Old Farmer’s Almanac is predicting more of the same for the coming winter. I expect a mass exodus of my snow loving friends to Arizona, Florida, and a whole host of tropical islands come January.

But let’s not look too far ahead. Today is one of those gorgeous autumn days that makes the upper Midwest a photographer’s paradise. The sky is blue, the leaves are turning, the air has just the right amount of bite in it that you need to keep a sweatshirt handy.

Autumn is my favorite time of year.

And winter? Well, we’ll deal with that when the time comes – we always do!