The gas station attached to the car wash in town closed a few months ago, so the salty residue that builds up on cars in the winter has been merrily building up on my car without fear of ending up sloshed down a drain. Without fear, that is, until yesterday. Yesterday I waited in line for nearly an hour to go through a car wash in a neighboring town and emerged sparkling clean.

Today, the temperature rose to nearly 50 degrees (Fahrenheit) after two weeks of hovering around zero. Then it rained. Beginning tomorrow, we’re set to head back down to the near-zero mark, and the air will be too cold to hold any moisture.