The Annual October Snowstorm

All the sunshine and summer temperatures ended abruptly yesterday. It's a little later than the last couple of years, but the annual October Snowstorm has arrived.
In the cold, blowing snow, I had to fix a flat tire after finding out that I cannot get my spare tire out from under the truck because I lack a special Toyota jack handle that should have come with the truck, but didn't (the perils of buying a used truck). I tried all sorts of combinations of other tools, but nothing would reach the screw-winch that has to be turned to lower the spare. I drove with the flat tire six miles down to the nearest paved road, hoping to get a tow truck to change the tire. Unfortunately, none of the tow trucks around here could change it without access to the spare, which they didn't have the magic tool to lower. By the time I gave up on the spare, borrowed a friend's car, and took the flat tire off and hauled it to the tire store to be repaired, then hauled it back to re-install it, the snow had melted down at that elevation, so I got to do some mud-wrestling to change it. At least now it is fixed and I'm back home, where I can get cleaned up in the nice, warm bathhouse. Mud wrestling with the truck is something I'm growing resigned to.
But now that I'm home, I can truly enjoy the snowstorm. The snow never melted up here, so there is no mud. Instead, there is a pretty layer of fluffy white on everything. It's still snowing and doesn't look like it will quit any time soon. I don't have any reason to leave home for a couple of days, so I'll just wait for the weather to warm and the snow to melt. There's a nice hot fire going in the woodstove. I'm cozy with a new book to read, knitting to work on, and a rented movie to watch. I think some hot chocolate is in order.

The October Snowstorm is always followed by warmer, dryer weather before winter arrives for good. I'm planning to leave sometime in the next week for Washington for the month of November, so I will miss the snow-melt-rain-mud-snow routine for the rest of the fall. Sometime in December I'll come back for my favorite season of them all - snow season. This early snowstorm is a lovely promise of good things to come.