Sundogs!

Well, this is our first parhelion (sundog) in North Dakota. Very cool! The temp is only -2F so going outside and getting a good image was easy. In the foreground is Zeke's school. You can see the gym just left of the sun. The two "false suns" to each side are caused by reflection and refraction of sunlight by ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. And the landscape is very BRIGHT. The exposure in the image was the fastest shutter speed on my camera so you could see the sundogs in the intense light. Unfortunately, the speed was too fast to capture the foreground. I need a filter next time to make a better exposure. If you don't have sunglasses, your eyes will be smoldering sockets and flames will burst forth. Also this week was a very dense fog that blanketed the area. With it being between 0 and 20 degree F the last few nights, the fog created a beautiful coating of ice on everything. Every little branch had a perfect 1/4 inch coating of ice all around it. Here is an everygreen in our yard.

Our cat Tom-Tom is just chilling in his favorite spot watching Zeke dig a tunnel. This weekend is great. A little snow every now and then with temps in the mid 20s! Beautiful.

Family Image

With our buzy schedules we never had the time to make a family photo in North Dakota. So after waiting for the sun to come up around 9am we headed outside to snap this image. Enjoy.

OH MY! I may have to ware a pair of longies* in the morning.

* North Dakota colloquialism for thermal underwear

Also, I think we need to get another outdoor thermometer. The temperature at the airport is -24 and I have not seen the red ever go below the little staple you see in the image. I think I have reached the operational limits of this equipment. The mechanical, round, dial-type thermometer is not doing well either. I just checked and it is only -10.

C-C-C-COLD! At 37 below, Grand Forks airport temperature sinks to new low Herald Staff and Wire Report

I went outside to lunch and on the way back I was walking into the wind. I was carrying things in my hands so I could not cover my face. I only had a wool scarf covering my neck and face with a wool cap on my head. The wind was so cold my eyes began to tear up because they were drying out. I was squinting hard to find some comfort during my short 2-block walk. I felt small tear fall from the corner of my eye. I looked and it partially caught on my lower eye lash. The surface tension was sufficient to hold the tear while it froze solid! It was about half the size of a BB.

Locals say that this is nothing. Wait until February. Well alrighty!

Hard day playing requires a little spa treatment for the seven-year old. The cucumbers were his idea. No clue where he learned about them.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the New Year. We are currently in a wind chill advisory. No surprise. We had an additional 5 inches of snow today and we have no idea where to put it. Here is Zeke building a tunnel in a pile next to the driveway.