It's COLD.

The Pirate family lives in sunny California.  You know .. the land of beaches and fields of golden poppies and fun in the sun.    We don't live near any beach, so you can just forget that part. :-)

Along with almost everyone else in the country, we've been experiencing some cold weather.  Of course, the 55° F in North Dakota that seems balmy would definitely be chilly-willy here!

So ... just how cold did it get here last night?  At least 32° F.  How do I know?

Well ... on our deck, we have a water dish for the critters.  When our chickens get loose from their chicken yard and free-range, they enjoy a drink of water from it.  The raccoons certainly make use of it at night.

This morning, this is what the water dish looked like.  Pretty normal, huh? 

But wait ... something doesn't look *quite* right about that water.   Oh look!  It's hard water!  Or at least firm enough to hold up a full bottle of beer.    Now *that's* cold.