Our local paper reported today that the noon temperature on the surface of Mars was about 12 degrees Fahrenheit. Seems pretty balmy compared to here . . . . the temperature barely cleared 0 today. Of course, at midnight on Mars, the temperature will be about 130 degrees below zero . . . while here it’ll be a relatively mild 20 degrees below zero. It’s all a matter of perspective, I guess, but I keep looking at the pictures of the Mars rover and thinking they should have sent it with a scarf, at least.

It snowed here last night too, so shoveling this morning was a chilly experience that reminded me of winters in Idaho: normally when it gets this cold here, it doesn’t snow, while out there it got this cold and still snowed an amazingly light, dry powder. This was Rocky Mountain snow last night in Upstate New York. It needs to get back to the Tetons and Sawtooths where it belongs.