We had a sleepless night that reached -10 degrees Fahrenheit. Drip drip drip go the faucets with cabinets opened up to absorb all the heat we can provide. The water filter and pressure tank system turn on and off intermittently throughout the night when enough drops of water drain the tank level just enough. The wooden deck popped in the night as the damp timber expands and contracts. The bathroom heater that is always turned down to the lowest thermostat setting comes on and off as well.
It is hard to sleep with all this noise.
I don’t begrudge winter. I am thankful for the cold weather as it should mean fewer mosquitoes in the spring and summer. It is also very beautiful with the sunlight. I will take a sub zero sunny day over a gray day in the forties.
We had enough warning that the cold was coming. I stocked up grocery supplies for my mother and Sarah and I watched the Werner Herzog documentary Happy People: A Year in the Taiga about a Siberian village of hunters and trappers who spend 9 months of the year in cold and darkness. It was a powerful film that made me hope our dog Murdoch appreciates the luxurious life he leads as compared to the hunting dogs that work in minus fifty degree weather and run up to 100km in a single day.
This image came up in my memory feed from a skiing trip to Montana many years ago. My son had organized a scouting trip to Big Mountain in Whitefish Montana. I was so proud of his ability to handle all the logistics including the money management. It is a skill that he has learned well. He is extremely successful at only 26 years of age. I think this trip and scouting really helped him develop his confidence.
I think I may just be a proud father rambling on as I sit and type by the fire and sip a cup of earl grey tea. A lovely day indeed.
