masonry of ice

It sure is cold. We are in the fourth day of an ongoing state of emergency as natural gas has not been restored yet to northern New Mexico. So far we've survived by wearing layers, wool socks, wool clogs (me), sweaters and fleece vests (him). We're using the microwave (bless it) more than it's ever been used (it takes a long time to boil water for tea that's never quite hot enough), frozen dinners, canned soups and fish, toast and coffee. Oh, and wine. Washing in cold water has been brief and terrible until this morning when the day dawned gray and fiercely windy. Couldn't face the ice cold water again so warmed it in an old ceramic pitcher which just happens to fit in the microwave (bless it). I'd kill for a long hot shower though. Spoiled! a voice whispers in my head. Each time I washed I remembered what Edward Weston wrote in his Daybooks long ago about how he took a cold shower or bath every morning,  how invigorating it was, how it set him up for his day of photography and printing. If he could do it, you can do it I told myself (I love Edward Weston's writing and photographs and he's been my hero for decades) - until I remembered that he lived in California and Mexico when he wrote about those showers! Betrayal!

Meanwhile, since we live in a two-story house and heat rises and it was cold downstairs, we tacked up a curtain between the living room and the stairway. It's silk, from India, bought long ago but never used (we don't do curtains and drapes) and looks quite bohemian and gypsy-like, reminding me of a home we once visited. Mrs. Lee was a psychic in Narraganset, RI who lived in a weather-beaten beach cottage festooned on the inside with colorful silk drapes and beaded curtains. She also had two beautiful dark haired daughters who quietly watched soap operas on TV in another room of red and gold. Our silk drape pales by comparison. I still remember Mrs. Lee's reading and it seems that everything she told us has come to pass.

We've heard that there are 255 gas company men, national guardsmen and firefighters arrayed all over the Taos area turning on gas one house at a time and can expect to be online again before morning. A friend just had her gas turned on "by two nice men from New Orleans"! So we keep hoping.

But now for the important news. I finished two more pairs of socks! and the bag of UFOs is dwindling.

Alpaca Sox in "Roger" pattern on the left, straight Opal on the right (labels lost as usual). They are soft and warm and if they weren't already claimed, I'd be wearing them.

Today begins cold and bright,
the ground heavy with snow
and the thick masonry of ice,
the sun glinting off the turrets of clouds.
                  (excerpt from Days by Billy Collins)