Cold Is…..

  • pouring water over one’s windshield to melt the ice and watching the WARM water freeze on the spot. And it’s NOON.
  • laying meat out to thaw before bed, on the counter below the kitchen window, and coming to find it in the morning, still quite hard.
  • coming in from outside to use the loo, only to find one’s hind end cheeks are NUMB.
  • the pale, pale sky, with shades of ice pink and blue at the horizon, seen through sleeping bare branches

Warm Is…

  • our kitchen, when the washer and dryer are running, bread is baking, the dishes are washed from breakfast, the candle is burning, and music is playing.
  • The One I Love, in his new long johns and thermal socks.
  • sewing hats and mittens and scarves for the chickens. There is something very primal, very deep, about keeping one’s children’s warm enough and being able to provide it myself. It’s not so unlike breastfeeding…being able to provide and feeling good that it’s the very best I can do.
  • discovering that there is a settling calm and cadence to all that is winter. That hearty casseroles and soups, layers of clothing, firelight…it’s all moved from novelty to a requisite normal. It’s like all of the natural world sighs. It seems to be in the fighting against it that the stress comes.

Happiness Is….

  • trudging through piles of leaves in knee high rubber “farm” boots
  • getting to wear the wool ski sweater I bought in a thrift store in FL 13 years ago for 80 cents, and getting three compliments on it to boot!
  • seeing the Fat Baby “dance” while his sister banged out a rythm on the pots and pans
  • laughing with new found friends and aquaintances last night at the Spa Party, with wierd jungle music playing, eye patches and facial masks on, and a command to “relax” :-)