Talking about weather in TN may not be the default boring conversation topic it is elsewhere.  The meteorological graphs read like a roller coaster.  You might call it “The Meteor”.

When I stepped outside this frosty morning at a frigid 28° and broke some serious ice, I was curious to see how low it had dropped overnight.  It turns out (for all you meteorology nerds) it was a steady 30° all night and early morning, until at 5AM it literally took a sudden nosedive to 27° and then inched up a degree to where I found it just after sunrise.  It’s like with no warning it weirdly fell off a cliff.

Similarly, the trees have two setting here: green and dump.  After that cold deluge we had, all the leaves are finally falling steadily like colorful snow.

Even OutdoorsKitty took a couple of double takes before she got up the nerve to go out there.  She’s no fool.

It’s strange in this cold to think of the horrific wildfires raging out of control right now in California, displacing thousands of people.  Most officials and experts agree it’s due to climate change, unlike our idiot-in-chief, who blames mismanagement or whatever crap he concocts to misdirect his minions.  But I digress…back to the weather.

That is, back to going dormant, which is what all sane lifeforms do this time of year.  If I had a banner or coat of arms, my emblem would have to be the salamander, who comes out in warm rain and hibernates when it’s cold, like a sensible person.  Also something legendary about fire-fighting, but I’ll leave medieval myths to trump where they belong.

[Photo credit to Tami Gingrich of Herping Ohio for her great salamander image.]