As the days lengthen, the cold strengthens. We have almost a half hour more daylight than we did at the solstice and the cold has moved in for the week. I briefly considered putting on shoes when I went to get the newspaper from the driveway, it was that cold. We're not likely to get above freezing for a week at least.

(When searching for a source for the lengthen/strengthens phrase, I learned that the Kiwis have something similar, although their time starts in June.)

We went to the camp Sunday afternoon. We realized that we'd need to walk in when we were in our car sliding sideways down the icy hill. The ice on the lake was soft in places, but this week's cold will take care of that. One tree had fallen into the water and there were branches scattered around, but there was no damage to any of the buildings.

Lynn returned to work last night. They are brave. A household with six children gets to rebalance itself. When I returned to work in July, Sandra and I wondered how we'd ever get all of our chores completed with both of us working. As I've mentioned before, what we would call a large dinner party, Mike and Lynn call just another weekday supper. For all the chatter I provide in this journal, ours is a very simple, tidy life.