Winter

In winter we lead a more inward life. Our hearts are warm and cheery, like cottages under drifts, whose windows and doors are half concealed, but from whose chimneys the smoke cheerfully ascends.... We enjoy now, not an Oriental, but a Boreal leisure, around warm stoves and fireplaces,and watch the shadow of motes in the sunbeams.

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862),“A Winter Walk”


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The forecast calls for a blizzard. Schools close early. I wait for our students to board the bus and find their parents' cars, all ready for an early Thanksgiving break. We drive home, the last few miles in tango whirls of snow.

Home is warm. The blizzard is mild, a few hours of blowing snow. With temperatures dipping down to zero we are maintaining our 55 degrees unheated. With the fire or propane heater we can warm up to 70. Only once, even with cloud filled snow falling days, have we needed to turn on the generator for power and that was to watch a movie. My anxiety level is dropping. My worries are easing. We are passing these tests I feared we were unprepared for.

Let your guard down and the unexpected sneaks in. Our water heater freezes. The room is plenty warm... I am constantly monitoring. We have insulated everything; the pipes in triplicate in my worry. It is a back draft from the venting pipe. We never imagined that one,and between the two of us we are pretty good at imagining all the possibilities. Water heater broken. Warranty doesn't cover freezing no matter the cause. Thought we did this one right but it has just been difficult, this Bosch on demand water heater. Ordered the special venting pipe for higher elevations like the instructions demand, had a plumper hook it up and adjust it, Greg spent hours with the technical help when it only heated to a lukewarm temperature. Then the waiting, the wasting of water, while it heats. This make rinsing dishes a challenging feat. Do you waste the water or the propane? That is the question. The painful payment of a new one. There are so many other things I would rather do with this thousand dollars. Greg has not had work the past few weeks. So early in the winter and I am on the edge of annoyed anger and financial panic. Thoreau didn't have this hostility in a wife, I wonder if he ever got it from his mother. So much easier to live your dream when it is only your dream, not a shared one with the best interest of many individuals. Yet, it is Thanksgiving and I have much to be thankful for.

Our Thanksgiving dinner was perfect. How glad I am to have a daughter who likes to cook. She could prepare this feast on her own and gives everything a festive touch that I do not. She add so much wit and insight to daily observations and conversations. How thankful I am to have a healthy happy thriving son, the ideal teen. How thankful I am to have food and shelter, health and nature, love and family, education and a job that I enjoy, and peace. We live in a peaceful time and for this I am most thankful.