Cloudy days make me gloomy.

First day of what promises to be a miserable weekend. Yesterday was mostly sunny, but in the middle of the day we had a terrific windstorm. They often foretell bad weather coming after. This morning we had our very first snow of the season. That’s never something likely to put me in a good mood.

This is the time of year when I remember, after forgetting it for six months or so, how much I dislike winter. And there’s nothing to do but batten down and get through it. We’ve had something like three weeks of golden weather, maybe more. A bit of chill in the morning, but t-shirt weather most afternoons and hardly a cloud in the sky. Sit up till midnight playing on the ‘pooter if you want to.

Now it’s ten in the morning, the sun is starting to peek through but might well go away again, and I’m still huddling around the stove. Not really all that cold, just clammy. I’ve lived six years in the high desert now, and I can’t get used to clammy.

I love the sun and the dry. I don’t mind the occasional heat, or the glare, or the dirt and dust or the way everything that doesn’t have scales and spines and poison has fur and fangs and runs in packs. None of that bothers me at all. I fear no evil, for I am the baddest SOB in the valley and all the other SOBs know it.

But I don’t like winter. I hate the cold, but fuel for heat costs and fire tried to burn me out twice and I didn’t see it coming either time. Year after year, it’s always an issue.

The dogs are going nuts outside: I think the guys are back to work on M’s place. Better gun up and go make sure.