A Long Time Cold

It seems like it has been COLD a very long time - really cold, below zero for 70 hours straight cold. It feels like forever, like the longest winter on record. Other than stepping out a few minutes to take some pictures, mail a letter and take garbage to the dumpster, I haven't been anywhere in more than a week.

But what do I have to complain about? I am inside. I am warm. I have food, books, TV, a computer, a comfortable bed. The pipes haven't frozen. The sunsets have been gorgeous. All I have to do is wait and it will warm up. Already the light is lasting a little later each day.

The ones I think about when it is so bitterly cold and miserable, are the less fortunate, the homeless, the animals, the people who have to repair those frozen pipes and broken water lines, the members of law enforcement, the EMTs, the firefighters. It is humbling to be so fortunate, to be able to stay inside where it is warm. I am grateful.

(One of those gorgeous sunsets I stepped out in the cold for last evening.)