Good evening! Partly cloudy and 32 degrees at the Elm Ave Park and Ride. ⛅ There is a south breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. ️Things will start to thaw out at tomorrow around 9 am. 🌡️

Out for the evening walk 🚶 a bit later than usual as I washed my truck 🛻 returned cans 🥫 and got gas ⛽ before the prices start creeping up come the New Year and the gas tax holiday ending. It’s only sixteen cents a gallon but you know gas stations or at least oil companies will jack up prices by 40 cents to celebrate the end. Though who knows, gas prices are falling nationally as everybody talks recession.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 24 degrees at 5am. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around December 13th. South wind around 7 mph. In 2021, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became mist by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 33 degrees. The record low of -18 occurred back in 1933.

It is a nice evening with the moon 🎑 above though the skies are still hazy with only the brightest stars showing. The air has the taste of barnyard on it as they’ve been doing spreading with the snow gone and the ground expected to thaw. Someday soon it will become hay or silage and ultimately just another cold glass of milk 🥛.

Tonight will have a First Quarter 🌓 Moon with 38% illuminated. At 8 PM, the moon was in the southwest (230°) at an altitude of 27° from the horizon, some 230,719 miles away from where you are looking up from the earth. 🚀 At the state speed limit of 55 mph, you’ll make it there by June 21^st. Buckle up for safety! 💺 The moon will set in the west (263°) at 10:56 pm.

The Wolf 🐺 Moon is on Friday, January 6. The darkest hour is at 11:58 pm, followed by dawn at 6:53 am, and sun starting to rise at 7:26 am in the east-southeast (122°) and last for 3 minutes and 25 seconds. Sunrise is 15 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 8:11 am with sun in the southeast (130°). Tonight will have 14 hours and 52 minutes of darkness, a decrease of 29 seconds over last night.

I’m glad I got my truck washed 🚿 as tomorrow will be warm and sunny which will wake up the tin worm. 🪱 I don’t expect to drive anywhere before the New Year unless of course the weather improves and I do Brookfield. Nobody was at the car wash tonight but tomorrow will certainly be crowded and a lot more snow melt on the roads.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 45 degrees at 3pm. 10 degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around November 27th. South wind 5 to 8 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 38 degrees. The record high of 71 was set in 1984. 6.0 inches of snow fell back in 1915.❄

Should be a real nice day, especially for walking 🚶in the park at lunch time. Friday will be warmer still but probably more cloudy ⛅. I have to say the rain for New Years Eve is such a bummer. I guess stay home save money. 💵 Hey, the one upside is that the heat can stay off.

In four weeks on January 25 the sun will be setting in the west-southwest (245°) at 5:00 pm,🌄 which is 29 minutes and 57 seconds later then tonight. In 2021 on that day, we had mostly sunny and temperatures between 29 and 5 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 32 and 15 degrees. The record high of 61 degrees was set back in 1938.

In many ways the year that was has been a bit of a disappointment for me, though at the same time I feel like I learned a lot 🧠 and saved a lot 💵 even though the down market isn’t making it apparent. I’ve learned to love and cherish things closer to home 🏡 and that escape to remote country isn’t always essential. And to embrace who I am and what I believe, even if that’s not always popular. To not undervalue what I’ve learned and connections I’ve gained at work. And to believe better times are ahead.