cold night

Last night was the coldest night of this season so far, with lows in the 20s. It was also horribly windy as the cold air collided with the very warm air Atlanta has been enjoying. Trees and branches fell and our power went out around 8:00 p.m. so we spent the coldest night without electricity or heat. And I had just started a load of clothes in the washer.

The best part of the night, other than turning off the TV, was having the first fire of the season and being able to enjoy sitting by the fire because the downstairs area was still cleared out from the Winter Solstice party. Unfortunately, Ellie has no fear of fire just like she has no fear of water so we could not leave cat or fire unattended for a second. Eventually, with some protest, she calmed down and settled onto the sheepskin of self-comfort.

Power and heat is back on this morning. The clothes that were stuck in the washer are now being washed again. The old Dutch man is horribly grumpy this morning. He was throwing out his gloves because they had a tiny hole in them - that he caused by petting the cat belly while wearing them - so he was raging about no gloves to wear and no scarf because he had already thrown away all of his scarves for having moth/ carpet beetle holes in them. My mother had given him a scarf for Christmas which he will not wear (so I've taken it) because it is acrylic and not Merino wool. I started to suggest some of my old scarves or looking for tattered-but-large gloves that might have somehow escaped the dumpster but he said he did not want look like a hillbilly.

Now he's out in the world, sleep deprived, with cold hands and throat, an his mood is not getting any better. Watch out world!