Gotta Have Heat

Well, it's December 8th and until today I hadn't turned on my heat. Since I'm budgeted to spending 40 bucks a month to heat this place, I carefully pick heat.

But Daryl came by today to pick up the pies- baking last night was how I avoided putting it on yesterday- and said I should. It's damn cold. I'm bundled into my armchair with fake fur blanket and wool wrappings. This is serious cold. The cold that people die in, because it was 70 degrees just a couple weeks ago and we aren't thickened..

Some people think that the way I live is rough. My BFF (that term cracks me up) told me she'd rather die than have to live as I do. What, living within your means? Spending every cent carefully? I think it's an art form! Time consuming as all hell, but you get to stay indoors. There is always food in my house. Nobody has to leave hungry. I have a futon that peep can sleep on. Nobody has to leave at all if where they're going is colder than this place. I have dvds I have never watched. I have the internet and all the incredible people I've met thru it. I have participation in life without leaving my building. I have great friends who don't need to lay on the phone for hours every day. I have 2 brothers and we're all at peace with each other. It's not high living, but it's a good life.

So, so many people have so much less than me. Things are so bad these days and our neighbors are going thru things we don't know about. If we're gonna make it thru what looks like a pretty rough road ahead, we better get nice and be damn skippity doing it. We can Be The People We Are. The same as we always were, but this time we're telling. When we model the behavior we demand, we'll start things moving to a better place for us all. Be Actively Nice.