Winter and Falling Stars

Last weekend, Sarah convinced me that pulling up frozen plants in the cold would be worse than pulling up healthy ones, so I pulled them up last Sunday afternoon and pruned the cucumber down to a few short branches. This was just in time, since this morning what was left of the cucumber was brown and shriveled. Last year it turned winter overnight when the time changed in November. This year it turned winter overnight today.

Tonight they are predicting a hard freeze.

Q: What exactly is a hard freeze?

A: There are several types of freezes, explains Brent McRoberts of Texas A&M University, and they are classified according to their severity. "In general terms, a hard freeze occurs when the air temperature is 26 degrees or lower for at least four hours. Because of the cold temperatures, it usually means that many types of plants and most seasonal vegetation will be destroyed."

Q: What are the other types of freezes?

A: A light freeze occurs when the temperature gets between 29 to 32 degrees, and this kind of freeze can kill tender plants but not harm others, McRoberts adds. "A moderate freeze occurs at 25 to 28 degrees and this can destroy most types of vegetation, especially fruit plants. All freezes are tough on plants, but a hard freeze is the worst. It is often called a 'killing freeze’ because it kills most of the plants affected.

My street tree still has leaves, but I bet I am raking all of them up this weekend. I thought my neighbor, Kurt, got carried away pruning his tree that is next to my backyard fence, but it turns out he was getting ready to chop it down. Now my yard feels really exposed for winter, although I do have an unobstructed view of the starry sky.

On the way to work this morning I saw a falling star. I thought it might more likely be a piece of that missing satellite from last week, but I made a wish anyway. It may have been part of the Orionids meteor shower that I knew nothing about until I tried to look up what it was that I saw this morning. Ever heard of the Orionid meteor shower? Me neither. It is dust released by Halley's Comet,

http://meteorshowersonline.com/orionids.html

Here is the third study of fall in Katherine Albertson Park,


I like the first and third the best. I thought the second one got a bit too dramatic which translated into busy. I'm thinking of moving on to larger versions of those two soon, while some of the inspiring color is still around.

I did not get the flannel sheets yet, I was so sick of them by February last year that I thought I would stall. I did decide to bleach the black comforter cover for winter. I thought I would like it better dark grey. It turned orange with black splotches. Not a good look for any time of year. The bleach fumes also filled the house. Do not use a large amount of bleach when it is too cold to open a window.