October

We are in a record stretch of October heat on top of the world. Yes, heat! It has been hitting up to 60 degrees every day through much of October. it get down into the 20s at night, but then shoots up during the day. It's a real Indian Summer! The truth is, it can't last. We are just waiting for the bottom to fall out. It could easily be -10F by now. The timing of this warm stretch has been very fortunate for us as we have still not completed the rebuild on our chimney and wood stove. We decided that since we had to rip the whole thing apart anyway, we might as well upgrade to a more efficient Blaze King stove with a catalytic burner. We should use half of the wood we used last winter with this baby. It might get put in today so we are pretty pumped to use it. We are also going to have the hearth and surround redone so it looks nice. Our previous set up was pretty ghetto. This stove also has a clear front so we can actually see the fire. That should be relaxing on a cold winter night.

Without a stove we have just been going without heat and wearing sweaters, burning candles, etc. Our house is so tiny that it is actually very easy to keep it warm. Kari has also been busy putting clear plastic over some windows (acts like an extra pane) in order to keep some more cold out. We'll be in good shape once winter really hits.

Dominik and I started Mite hockey last Saturday. We have about 30 kids and I have about 6 helper coaches so it's going to be a great winter. This will be Dominik's first chance to play actual games so he's really excited....so am I.

The light has changed a lot. Sunrise is now around 8:30 am and sunset occurs around 6:40. We're losing 7 mins a day, so by the end of October it'll be pitch black at 9:00 am and then well before 6 pm....and that's just the beginning. i'm looking forward to experiencing a 11:00 am sunrise and 2:00 pm sunset. New experience!