“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire; it is the time for home.”
— Dame Edith Sitwell, British poet
Last week was a cold one. We spent much time glued to the digital thermometer and calling out temperatures to the household.
At 6:30 in the morning I hollered, “7.8” and an hour later, “11.7.”
Sam’s been up every two to three hours putting logs on the fire. We have electric heat which he deems expensive at these low temperatures. “Wood is free, you know.”
“Yes, but is it worth getting up so often?”
Sam said that it is now that he’s retired and able to rest anytime he chooses. I don’t know that I would think it worth it. “It seems like Chinese torture to me.”
We agreed that neither of us know what Chinese torture is, but we’d rather not have it. Regardless, Sam braves the cold and fetches another load of wood, stokes the fire, reclines on the couch ’til the blower comes on, then back up the stairs to sleep for another two hours.
I thank him and tell him I’m proud that he prepared for winter by chopping wood in the fall. I’m not sure that he heard me as he had dozed off to sleep again.
I have to say he winterized the house, the outbuildings and the well house efficiently as we had no broken pipes or frozen drains. We dripped water and opened cabinet doors. I felt a cold draft at the windows near the breakfast table only to discover the windows were not locked down tight. I noticed the draft while gazing out the window at the deer, the squirrels and the birds feeding. All of nature is less afraid of us now; hunger and cold have overcome their fear and they do not run.
The deer amaze me because I cannot understand how such a magnificent animal can take care of itself and feed on so little and yet be so strong and muscular and agile enough to jump a fence or glide easily underneath. The deer come daily for tiny morsels of corn and a moment’s respite from persistent hunters.
The gray squirrels arrive early in the morning and frolic around like a circus show. We have chickadees and cardinals at the birdfeeders. The pet rabbits are fine in their pens with heavy blankets over them and a light. Their water bottles freeze so I have to change them out often. Sometimes their lettuces freeze before they finish eating. Their coats are cold and Sam says that is good, “Their coats are keeping the warmth in.”
Our friends, Jim and Stacy, are visiting, and this is very, very good. Jim is a chef and loves to cook, so I let him. We have eaten extraordinarily well, and I am able to tend to other things or simply sit in a chair and read the newspaper.
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