February Makes Me Shiver

As I type it's -15F/-26C. Cold. I like weather the same way I like Prosecco, cold and dry. 

Winter is finally here, with February. My friend Tall Paul and I were discussing it yesterday, when it was also damn windy. He's lived here most of his 70ish years and noted that he'd forgotten what Vermont Winters were like, but this was it. This is the cold that freezes snot in your nose in seconds, that blisters your lips if they aren't protected, that makes frostbite quite likely on any exposed skin, that provides a suicidal opportunity. And I love it. My favorite season.

It's February, and February usually sucks. Death anniversaries of 3 people I loved (my mother, hubby, and favorite boss). Valentine's Day (which I've always hated). Post-holidays isolation. Post-holidays tight budget. And lots of tourists here to ski. Blech to it all.

For whatever reason we have a delay in Winter's arrival (could it be Climate Change? Pole shifting? the Jet Stream moving/flattening/being erratic?). Nah, don't be talking any of that Democrat conspiracy shit. 

 

Anyway I can't hate February because now it brings Winter- about 3 months later than it once came, but it comes nonetheless. My joints ease, pain recedes, I can do things. So I'm pretty happy with February this year.

LilaPie Muffinpants has had some troubles and caused many, and is currently staying with assorted people until there's a residential program/school for teenagers that she qualifies attending. She spent a day with me this past week. We hadn't spent any time alone together since she was 4, which was 11 years ago. Wild to see the burgeoning adult version of the sweet, bright, protective little girl who was a SJW by age 9. She lost her beloved and adored only uncle to suicide, her grandfather to cancer, and birth father to cirrhosis, within 4 years of her childhood. Her family has been thru so much in her aware time. It's a lot to process, and I think she's carrying a ton of grief and PTSD. I don't think she feels loved. I'll just keep throwing love at her and hope some of it sticks.

There's still about 6 inches of ankle-cutter snow. Don't know what ankle-cutter snow is? It's snow that's been thru temp changes and sun, and forms a hard layer of ice on top. This snow, when deer walk in it, cuts their ankles. Good for some fast and ultimately painful sledding, though.

 

The sun's rising and the sky is a washed out blue watercolor.

The wind knocked over some recycling bins, 

Yep, it's Winter in The Dreadfort. Stay warm.

x