What is better than caffeine for jolting a person awake? Stepping out on a deck and taking a deep breath at -7F (-21.66C). Actually, it feels wonderful! Dan started both wood stoves this morning and heated the whole house very quickly.
The sky has such a neat pastel blue color at this temperature. The following pictures are a panoramic view from our deck. It’s hard to capture this in tiny pictures, but doing my best.
South view.
Our house is on the edge of the trees, on a bench with a hill to the east, going up to another bench. All our views are to the west, over 180 degrees from the front deck. There are a lot of trees to the south of us, but the hill curves around and drops, so they seem farther away from the house than they actually are.
View more directly west from south to north
The moon is still high overhead in the pale blue sky. It will set to the north of Mount Baldy.
View from Mount Baldy farther towards the north
A fairly large Douglas Fir tree near the house partially blocks the view to the north. Our solar panels are completely in shadow at this time of day. The sun doesn’t start to hit them until near 10 a.m. The colder the air temperature, the more efficient the solar panels are at producing power; they will produce enough power to max out the controller, and will completely charge our batteries in less than 4 hours.
View looking due north
The view directly north from the covered front deck looks across a snow covered upper deck. Maybe next year we’ll get around to installing railings on this deck, which will make it more comfortable for sitting and admiring the view. During the spring and fall this would be a nice place to sit, or early summer mornings. In the afternoon and evenings, during the summer, the west facing side of our house is HOT! It makes a person appreciate the cold.
The really strange thing to think about is that our hummingbirds will be back in only four months. Wow!