Well, the Minnesota winter held its breath for a staggering
couple of weeks, peaked the effort with an almost unheard-of 50 degree January
day, and let it all go this morning in a frigid blast of the arctic. From
the balmy-forget-your-hat-and-wear-a-light-jacket day to a
biting-button-your-coat-collar-and-wear-long-underwear day; all in forty-eight
hours! If the weather-man isn’t selling exaggerated news (which he almost
certainly is either way since the poor fellow truly can’t win), the thermometer
will finally drop to the more familiar few degrees above zero tonight and the
wind will drive a chill through your bones at a ghastly 10-15 degrees
below! Instead of sniffing stale autumn air when I step outdoors, I can gasp
enough to swallow a snowball when I turn the handle and the crack between door
and jam wuthers in my face.
Yet again the family room in the basement becomes a natural
retreat after dinner and during the short mornings and afternoons. Here
every day has its fire and across the floor and festooned over chairs and sofas
our papers and projects bask with us in the heat. Now we can delve into the
deep ingenuity and musical wonder of Bach’s double violin concerto, study reams
of evidence and talk thoroughly and frequently on the subject of the United
States Jury System, piece and perfect the lines and seams in an 1860’s military
frock coat, pour over documents and study guides and reference books on every
topic from calculus to air brakes.
Now we can rise early in the blessed dark of
waning winter nights to unborn mornings with coffee in the pot and socks on our
toes. Hot food, however simple, is suddenly banquet fare when the aromas
meet the freezing howl at the door. The satisfaction of “beating the
cold” by fetching fresh onions from the root cellar (now in official working
order!) to concoct a big batch of spaghetti sauce is even better than pulling
them right out of the garden! The precious food we stored away for these
long, “garden-less” months is reappearing to grace the table and Aubrey’s
famous pesto remains the favorite by far!
I got a little jolt last week when a small package arrived
in the mail with a Burpee Seed Company return address on it. Yes, the
first of the seeds! Here we are planning to fill the garden yet again
while the ground sleeps deeply.
Finally I can truly sign off,
Craig, Karen
and The Six Arrows
