why people move to CA

Saturday was probably the nicest day of the new year (Sunday almost qualified, but the 2 hours of sunlight gave way to more clouds and gloom), so I put on my new winter tights and hopped on the trusty blue bike. Rather than riding in the morning with the club, I waited until Clara's afternoon nap when the temp reached around 33 degrees.

After heading southish and eastish for a few miles, I was inspired to head for the trees and streams in the farmland. The first stream crossing looked like this.

Not far downstream, I crossed again and found it frozen over. Even though I fancy myself as an environmental scientist guy, I can't explain why/where it froze downstream. I will say that the stream froze because it's cold.
After the corn and soy is hauled away and a few snowstorms have hit, the fields tend to look like this. That and the gray sky tend to dampen the old spirits some.
Shortly after I took this picture (just NW of Sidney, not the Aussie town), a guy who had just passed me in his car pulled over and took my photo. As I caught up to him, he said 'I took a picture of you.'

Finally, I'm happy to report that our blog title is/will be again more applicable to our current situation. Details forthcoming given that we survive the next 2 days of sleet/snow/freezing rain (weathermen are predicting 12" of sleet/snow accum).