Winter arrived

Winter has arrived all of a sudden. The thermometer outside reads an even 22° and that’s definitely cold. The forecasters tell us that we’re in for harsh winter conditions for the rest of January and February. Well, we’ll see. Our first major winter storm is tentatively scheduled for this Friday. But it could blow out to sea. So, as with most nor’easters, we won’t know until it gets here. On Sunday or Monday we might have another storm. I may have to dodge snow flakes on the way back from Pennsylvania. I really hope not.

Just a few moments ago, I finally got another fire going in the stove. Before bed last night I packed it full of wood, let it reach a high burn, then shut the damper down. It’s kind of fun to watch. The gases burn in capricious patterns along the top of the firebox, while the wood merely glows. This morning the house was very warm, about 73° and it maintained the heat through the afternoon. I finally got in there a few minutes ago and dug up the buried coals and coaxed a small fire along with small wood. I don’t need a roaring fire yet, the house is warm enough and I don’t dare waste any wood. But I do need to keep coals alive until tonight.

My next project is to figure out a way to get in the car. It’s coated with such a thick layer of ice that I’m either going to have to melt it with the blow dryer or chisel my way in. I had hoped the sun would come out this morning to help matters along, but it didn’t. I need to get to the store soon. I’m out of bread, milk, and, well, food in general. I’m depleting my stores. This ice storm was miserable and everything is coated with a thick glaze. But at least we kept our power and the trees look fine, so it could have been much worse.

Can’t complain about winter doing its wintery thing. We need a prolonged period of cold. I was beginning to think about the robust tick population that we’d have to cope with. As I recall, a few years ago we had an entire winter similar to the warm one we’ve had to date—in the late 90s, I think. The summer following, I discovered that every time I went out in the yard, a tick hitched a ride back in the house. Constant tick checks are a real nuisance. And, despite that, I still found a couple crawling around on the floor. Eww. Bring on the cold and let it stay!