Winter, Year 1

Where is the snow? As autumn fades into winter, the temperatures are still unusually high, and excepting areas in high elevations and of normally frigid temperatures, snow refuses to fall. Even rain is hard to find these days, and as the crystal clear skies beat down upon the earth, not a cloud in sight, one can begin to wonder what is going on with the world. The golden grass is crisp and dry, and though the fires have slowed with the seasons, there is still a hint of smoke in the air, and every now and then a small one crops up. The rivers are beginning to dwindle to a trickle, and mud has dried into thick cracked clay.