it's 8:15. i can go to sleep now.
if
i stop putting wood in the wood stove, slowly slowly over time it will burn out and will become cold. it's the only heat. it's supposed to be 7 tonight. where should i sleep? in my bed? on the couch where sleep is fitfull, therefore waking me off and on and i can add wood?
what are the birds doing, i always wonder….their thin little feet, unlike other beings, that add an undercoat of winter fur. birds just make do. i always think of them in times like this.
i think the cold must pass right through them. stay warm.
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i always worry about them too. no wonder they migrate. i hope you stay warm tonight.. sounds like a three dog night. did you know that is actually a saying about how many dogs it takes to be warm…
i always just thought it was the band.. duh
well stay warm and dry. you are a dear to shovel for the dogs
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thing is, they migrate to HERE.
well…i have 4 dogs. and the footwarmer cat.
it will be ok. last year was 17 below. i was just
hoping that it wouldn’t repeat.
yes..shoveling for them…i am one to say…
go!
but there was this new thing
of
sympathy
i guess
reminded me of playing duck duck goose as a kid.
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As far as the birds Grace, they actually have a very clever physiology that makes it so their feet won’t freeze and they do just fine. They fluff their feathers to trap warmth and settle down over their feet at night. They do certainly need extra calories and fat at this time of year so I always have suet out to make sure they are getting extra calories that way.
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i think i’d curl up with your cat, that looks cosy.
a one cat night.
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the first thing i did when i woke up this morning was to get online and check to see if you had posted since last night. 7 degrees is a bit cold to be in a house with only a fire for heat. you and michelle were in my thoughts last night because of the conversations going on here. i was glad to see you posted at jude’s this morning and hope it is a bit warmer for you today. stay warm and safe.
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Hi Grace,
Thanks for the letter – surprise, surprise! To celebrate a letter from one of my favourite places (N.M.) I ordered a large Cappuccino at the local cafe, sat down and enjoyed! Thank you – it’s been a real treat´. I am going to put the little bird/angel somewhere in my next cloth!
I think my friend will give me the “Beast Class” for Christmas! That would be great!
Wish me luck!!
Take care…enjoy,
eva
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I heard about your storm and road closures on our local news here on Vancouver Island, Canada, so it must really be a blizzard happening there. Hope you are warm.
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Hope you are warmer tonight. My mom said she had heard about the snow in your area and I told her that I had read that you had snow… When it’s really cold around here I call it a “two dog, one cat night.” And then I start worrying about the chickens.
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during the harshest parts of the winter, i set my alarm for every four or five hours to check the fire. usually it will burn longer than that, but i just. can’t. let it go. out. with so much interrupted sleep, days have a different quality, dreamlike as you describe, and sometimes lonely, but also very purposeful. to be so in tune with the rhythms of the fire.
thinking of you.
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Yes, in tune. I stayed in a shack for one fall in the far north that had little insulation but also no running water, and so I could let the fire go out at night while I slept under a goose feather (not really down, just feathers) blanket with my clothes. Getting the fire going in the morning was always a thrill; your post reminded me of that yesterday, the thin sheet of ice on the water bucket, pouring it into the kettle. Starting each day focused and alert. I realize how much I map these experiences of mine onto your winters Grace! Stay warm and safe there!
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more magic of some sort…
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thanks…i do remember something about that..will have
to someday read more…
you know, i don’t put things out for them. there is a
sense that they might become dependant. i do know that
when i had the guinnea hens they would flock to feed,
the little ones squeezing through the chickenwire to
gobble up all the millet…
what i DO do is plant things that make seed in a seasonal
way.
and the ONE thing i loved about the snow…when i took
compost out today, there were billions of little tracks
where they had checked out what i put yesterday…and by
the trampled down parts, i think they enjoyed something…
thanks again for reminding me how they cover their feet.
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i am always warm when i’m in bed. this is the first
winter i won’t let the dogs up there too. funny how i
just was so DONE with that out of the Blue..????? but
i got them a huge dog bed cushion thing and also made
those two great things out of the kingsize comforter.
the little ones can burrow into it.
and
guilt i guess, i come out around midnight and cover
them with a wool blanket.
and yes. cat on the feet or behind the bent knees.
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it actually was
1 degree at 3am. and resulted in yet more plumbing
challenges and the car wouldn’t start for the first
time EVER, but the Bless-ed toyota truck Sunny DID.
He is just the most amazing vehicle.
am writing this on Wednesday and today IS warmer.
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isn’t an envelope just the BEST?????????
you will very much love Beasts. i’m sure.
i want to put lots of those little birds on my
Diaries cloth
xoxo
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i am so cold natured that i just can’t imagine it. you are a strong and tough woman, grace. it was in the 40s today and i am in a heated house and i’m still cold even with all my layers. i probably need a blood transfusion…ha..
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well, a blizzard for here. New Mex just doesn’t get
this kind of weather, or didn’t. i’m thinking we might
need to get used to it and change some things tho.
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i know…i used to feel so horrible about the guinnea
hens out there. used to pile in bales of hay and fluff
it all up nicely but in the morning would find it all
stamped flat like they liked it. the last Fiona (
they shared a mind, sisters, hence the single name) died
a few years ago a very very old bird. but on nights
like these i “hear” her…she used to YELL at the cold
sometimes for hours off and on. she had a LOT to say,
always.
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yes. purposeful. and to be or KEEP in tune with the
reality of seasons. i decided some years ago that i
would do that. i would do only so much to keep warm
or cool in summers intensity. just the minimum.
thank you for thinking of me…
OH
AND i couldn’t see a way to comment on your blog the
other day…i’ll have to go look to see if its different
but if not….??????????????????????????????????
xoxo
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Wendy…oh, THANK YOU SO MUCH for telling me this. it’s
so GREAT to have someone know what it’s like…makes
a huge difference to know that….THANK YOU!
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oh, i laugh….transfusion….
i am of the lizard clan. they need to lay on warm rocks
to digest their food.
BUT! it was my MISSION to learn certain things. and
this is part of the learning. and i always think in any
given moment of the hardship so many many many people,
particularly women and children, live under on this planet.
Even my most extreme moments do not compare in the
slightest.
how about a hot toddy? or however you spell that….
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no. nothing with liquor for me. soup warms me up for about 10 minutes and then i’m back to cold.
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poor doggies, they like a one-woman night.
grace i was wondering – how does Alz friend manage on nights like those? does she have someone to keep her house warm?
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a one woman night. funny and i laugh, but enough is enough.
if you might remember, they have (the three little ones) chronic
gingivitis…= really stinky breath. i love them sorta, but
not enough to breathe in their mouths all night. i have drawn
a line.
and
BLESS YOU!!! for inquiring about Alz. Behind her house in town is
a “mother-in-law” little adobe kind of studio house. one room,
a kitchen, and bathroom. a friend of mine down the road here was
breaking up with her partner and looking for a place to live in
town. perfect. just then, that little house became empty and
friend Jamie moved in. her rent and utilities are paid by Alz’s
son. she basically has been given Alz’s car for her own use as
well as Alz’s needs, for appointments etc. So…she lives IN HER
OWN HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! as she demands to retain the right
to do and Jamie is just “there”. in case. Alz
doesn’t like Jamie. she doesn’t like any idea of a “care giver”.
refers to that as a “hideous thought”. this is a lot of what i am
referring to as educational for me. Alz is one who say maybe 5
even years ago, used to talk about her membership in the Hemlock
Society. she always said that if she was not in good standing with her mind, she would chose to “go”. However. that often does not
come to pass. by the time one is not in good standing with one’s mind, one is not able to make decisions of any sort.
i watch it and participate in it all daily in one way or another.
her son is off skiing in California and calls to see how it’s
going. it’s really painful. like really. and the part that’s
the hardest for me is the pretending. Alz and i go back and forth
with the pretending. sometimes she’s still open to being honest.
most times not.
thanks for asking. i really appreciate that. xoxoxoxo
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i screwed up. your response is down at the bottom here.
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this comment was to Kaite
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yes i’m here reading grace, and it seems that everything that can be done for Alz is being done, i hope she’s ok in the cold. can you go and check on her tomorrow like a dear, just to make sure. pleeze. see that they’ve got enough wood etc?
I too used to live in my little one room old school, and in very cold snowy weather my only electronic device in those days was a typewriter and it would actually type garble as the electronics froze over, so i know how it is. The wind would whistle thru the timber panelling and i could hear the laughter of the long since past school kids. the old building would creak and groan, spook anyone who visited but i knew it’s language well.
And my ducks would sit up all night telling jokes to each other, out in the cold……..yep, i was only 30 then, a single woman who lived alone with my critters. i know how it is.
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Of course.. the envelope is the promise of the a letter within! You’ve got to celebrate each and every envelope (these letterless days). I did!!
eva
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your ducks telling jokes…YES, i think Fiona was yelling
rude things, or just kind of nonsensical things only she
enjoyed.
THANK YOU for this telling. i helps me ENORMOUSLY to know
that other women have been driven to know what this is
like. YES, THANK YOU.
oh sigh.
and yes. i DID go to Alz B’s. i DO still go at least
twice a week. once to clean and another time, we just
make up something, like the Farmer’s Market, tho hard
in winter. What she really loves to do it seems is just
go to the grocery store and cruise the isles. which is
something i HATE, but, oh well. she enjoys the humanness
of all the people shopping.
her home is very a very cozy old adobe home, as is Jamie’s
little one. all heated with natural gas. all brought up
to gentrified good repair. they are the kinds you might
see in Santa Fe Magazine. very nice. so in that way, All
is Well. no worry.
We made a plan to make a picnic, up at the Duck Pond at
the College once the snow melts.
love,
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how strange!! i installed this thing that supposedly allows threaded convos on blogger, because that is so much better and i was having typepad envy! it seems to be working to me.. what is happening?? you can always email me at drucillapettibone@gmail.com. but i want to be sure you can comment too..
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