baby, it's cold outside

I took these pics the same day as my wordless wednesday pic. The wind was howling in from the north. Boy was it cold. The Plain Dealer says we are 10-15 degrees below normal. The television stations try to see who can have the most dramatic "it's cold out" story. Our sports teams are fighting for mediocrity and just about every politician has been indicted, so what else is the media to talk about. It's normally supposed to be in the mid 30's in early December. It has been in the mid teens during the day. Cold enough that Fred our 12 year old dog doesn't want to go outside, but not cold enough that you have to get a block heater for your car. It's not Minnasota cold or even Chicago cold, so I still don't need my long johns or heavy coat. But having said all that, I really wanted to get back in the car after I took these pics.

There is a bush in there someplace. it almost looks like some kind of ice cactus.

There is a tree under all the ice.

I took this pic today on the way home from work. If you enlarge the picture and squint real, real hard, you still can't see our northern neighbors in Canada. It's a curvature of the earth kind of thing, or maybe it's just too far away. The water is usually open because of the power plant, but with the economy what it is, the power plant is off line. I don't know what the birds and geese are going to do.