Baby, it's COLD outside!

Right now, Weather Underground says it's 2.8 degrees F out there. Dang, that's cold. The house is pretty warm, thanks to the old wood furnace down in the basement. Behemoth it might be, but it continues to chug along consistently. Sure, it only has two settings: nuclear blast, and off... but there's heat in this house. My room is a bit chilly at 65F, but that's my own choice. I'd rather have it a bit chill than a bit hot, because it's easy to pile blankets on top of myself. Once you're naked, though, there isn't any cooler you can get without opening windows. With 2F weather, I don't think I want to open windows...

Tomorrow, we have many things that need doing. We have to get the snow off the roof of the trailer, as it's currently got a slow leak that's dripping inside, and we want that taken care of immediately. Once the snow is off, we'll put a plastic liner over it, just to be certain no further snow melts and dribbles inside. That should take care of that, although it might be a bit of a hassle figuring out how to get the plastic to cover the antenna and such. We'll figure it out, though.

The other thing I want to do, and I don't know if we'll get around to it, is go up to camp to get our ladder. We can't take any vehicles, because none of the ones we have will make it up there in two foot snow. It's pretty deep up there. I suspect Gray and I will be trudging up in our boots lined with plastic bags (for both warmth and dryness), fetching the ladder, and carrying it back down. It isn't a long hike, but even in good weather it can take a bit of energy. In this cold, with the amount of untouched snow we'll have to push our way through, I suspect it'll be a half day journey. That's okay, though. It's good exercise, it gets us out into the sunlight and fresh air, and it's just amazing the things you see out there.

Maybe I'll break out my snowshoes, and get Gray to help me jury rig them so they work well enough. If I can get them on right, I should be able to get up to camp much easier. I won't have to fight my way through the snow; instead I'll be able to go over it. It would mean I made the trip alone rather than with Gray, and my knees will be sore from the snowshoe waddle, but it might strip a couple of hours off of the trip. I guess we'll see.

There's more snow on the way, they say. Not much, only an inch or two, but still! I'm really enjoying the winter wonderland out there. Winter is finally here, and it's beautiful and silent and crisp and clean and clear. When you look up at the sky outside, you can see billions of stars. The moon and closer stars shine so brightly it lights up the night! You can hear more, too, because the snow causes sound to carry farther. Walking in the woods in the snow is much more silent than in the summer, but has its own particular sounds. I love the packed crunch sound when you walk on it, especially when there's no ambient sound around to drown it out.

I'm glad to be inside with my jasmine tea and my quilts and blankets. Now I'm going to turn out the light and snuggle deep down under the warm, heavy covers. I'm going to tuck a spare pillow over my head to help keep the heat in (by morning it'll be 55F or less in my room!), and I'm going to pull all the blankets around me to make a cozy nest. Then I'm going to go to sleep, happy as a rabbit in its burrow, deep underground.