What's snow? It's what happens when a series of tropical storms, sort of, drop their moisture in a form that sets up like concrete and gets in your way for the next six months.

It doesn't exactly feel like fall up here yet. The hummingbirds are still around and the barn swallows are incubating a second brood.

But I'm noticing a subtle change in the colour of the light. I'll be switching to fall mode pretty soon.

Winter prep means having a contractor replace some old windows in the house, tidying up the wood pile, cutting up a bunch of dry trees, mowing any tall grass (fall/spring fire hazard), servicing the snowblower and lawn tractor at the same time, moving in a bigger freezer, cleaning up the cold room for potato storage, checking the winter rims for any tires with leaks, digging all those root veggies, making a truckload of compost from garden greenery ... you know, the usual kick-back-and-relax list.