Not completely Winter

Today I left work before the sun set. I cycled without a jacket under a clear blue sky full of contrails* and robins, and didn't get cold. That's not completely Winter, is it? And why? What could have brought on this aberrantly sunny weather, when six weeks ago all was white and frozen? What changed? Global warming? No.
Six weeks ago I had not finished my latest pair of socks - Norwegian-style Winterscarers.



Yesterday we saw our first nutria (a.k.a. coypu) - on the bank of the stream around the corner from our house. It looked like a giant guinea-pig with the fur of a beaver and the tail of a rat. It was being watched, from a respectful distance, by a cat. The nutria was not concerned. There was grass to eat.

* Sometimes contrails are little better than graffiti; I dread to think what the pilot may have drawn had fuel been less expensive...