a week at the cabin, I just had to get away from the house
spent the better part of the day doing shots
playing cards (solitaire, war, a football card game I invented)
listening to cold winds whipping the visqueen on the porch
then listened to the big old reel to reel tape recorder and winced at the sound of my own voice
late at night, went outside and basked in holy cold cathedral silence
any noise amplified, I could hear a raccoon skittering over the frozen snow across the lake
heavy blankets and ice cold sheets, a perfect combination for a good long coma-like sleep
now it’s afternoon and I lay here in bed under the thick blankets and covers
where hath thou spirit gone? perhaps thy spirit wishes to remain in warmth
the furnace located in the closet of the other bedroom giveth its best, but is overmatched
shuffled into the kitchen like a slug to make some coffee and begin the day, at least what was left of it
no, it seemed more like a hot cocoa event
made a fire in the fireplace and glanced out the window in time to see a couple of deer walking past
the crackling radio announces near whiteout conditions expected tomorrow
resulting in probable road closures so I step out onto the front porch
there’s a large pile of firewood there that I chopped up the other day
sometimes it’s actually good to be ambitious and productive as long as you keep that to a minimum
woke up the next day and it was sunny and I braved the snow covered and ice splattered roads
went into town for a good breakfast
I took a hard pass on the brain and tongue sandwiches on the menu
had an egg and potato scrambler with about six cups of coffee
so much for the whiteout conditions expected
in the lazy freezing funny sunny afternoon, sat on the pier and listened to the ice crack
the lake, it groaned like the Titanic when it was going down
on the way home, headed south stopping for a large ice cream cone at Dairy Queen in 4 degree weather
it’s never too cold for ice cream
