Weather: Winter is advancing slowly. Temperatures in the low 40's make for a nice November morning. Middle Foy's Lake lost even more ice -- the geese are happy! That white shelf of frozen stuff at the shaded west end will last for awhile, though. The mountains are sugar-coated. Everything above 1000 meters got snow last night, but the valley escaped with light, unfrozen rain.

Wildlife: Ice is an issue. Beside the open water attacting migrating birds, an early ice-over can kill all the fish in the lake before the spring thaw. A few years ago, the lake was a disgusting mess for that reason. One ironic joy was the plethora of eagles feeding off the watery carrion.

Don't skip the charity site:
The Animal Rescue Site : Feed an Animal in Need

Media Watch:
Monday Night Football had an hour of lead-ins by Britney Spears, then Jennifer Garner, and finally Britney-clips mixed with Hank Williams Jr. introducing the show.
Like him or not, Williams has a booming, resonant singing voice, and his honky-tonk "Rowdy" song has been an appropriate opening call for this TV cash-cow.
Ms. Spears doesn't have much of a voice anyway, and she came off looking like an afterthought. I didn't mind her doing an on-field performance at the start of the season, but I think the audience, and the entertainers, deserve better than what I saw last night. Oh yeah -- the game was kind of a dog, unless you enjoy seeing a defense die right before your eyes, as Pittsburgh's did in the second half.

I mainly watched "Coyote Waits" on PBS' "Mystery." OK scenery, OK acting, OK seeing Native Americans portrayed in their own communities -- but the distortions of Tony Hillerman's plots and characters bothered me. Also when a mystery is hard to solve simply because it's preposterous, I'm kinda disgusted.
Back to the game -- Whoops! 17 points in about seven minutes?!? Somebody's defense has DIED! (see above)

Noon Update: RAINBOWS -- the low clouds to the north have rainbows under them -- a color storm!

Afternoon Update: Damn wind started roaring outta the west -- tumbleweeds started gathering up and tangling in people's clothes and legs.