It’s very cold in Nantes. If you use a Celsius measurement stick, it’s in the negative numbers, -1 as I write with a forecast of -5 by Wednesday night. I don’t know about you, but when I start talking about negative numbers in terms of temperatures, I think it’s cold.

As you may know, I accompany Ella to school each morning. On most mornings we head out at about 7:35am to catch the tram. Well, at 7:35am it’s still night time, completely dark. For illustrative purposes, the sunrise today was at 8:29am (learn more here). So combine the darkness with the cold (it was -4 at 7:35 this morning) and it’s tough to get out of the house. Factor in that it is Monday and, sheesh, it’s almost miraculous that Ella made it to school on time.

Per usual, after riding the tram to school with Ella, I walked back home. Frankly, it’s a beautiful walk, invigorating today in the cold. It’s become one of my favorite parts of each day. When I arrived back home the sun was just up, illuminating this frozen spider web in our front gate. I tried different angles and light settings to get the best picture. As I took the pictures I wondered about the spider who spun the web. Where is she now? Perhaps walking home from taking her daughter to spider school, commenting on how cold it is? On the phone to the spider heating service, “The heat is off in my house. How quickly can you send someone over?”