January 30, 2010

The great snow that finally came upon us was solemn and beautiful. I decided to walk in the midst of it, and found myself at the Usual, sitting with John and Blake, and later a woman who is living with Blake. It was exactly the right happenstance, for I was inclined to be gloomy because of the play, and because of my fear of winter, but their talk was lively and different from the talk I normally hear. All three were outdoorsmen with stories to tell of the wide spaces of the West. All three loved the snow, and planned to use today “to play.” Blake had never taken his daughter sledding, and that was the center of his plans. They made me feel better about it all, and when I took a moment to complain about the cancellation, it seemed irrelevant. Called DJ when the party at the Usual broke up, and spent the rest of the night admiring his new bathroom, watching an atrocious vampire flick, and then the winter X games, where long-haired boys on abbreviated surf boards fly way up into the air and turn and flip, Concentrated on the lingo of the commentators, who affirmed that one lad must “up it up” and remarked on everyone’s “amplitude” and enumerated who had “platformed.” Laughed myself sick over something. Did not have the night I wanted, but had, finally, one plenty good enough.

We did not lose, or have not yet lost, power, and that has made the difference. One does not have to curl in the dark and silence and cold like an animal in its cage.

Evening. Used the day to prepare manuscripts. Have not stepped outside the house except to refill the bird feeder. Can stand one or two such days a year. I’m actually happy and quiet in my heart for a while. Renaissance music from the computer. A stack of submissions to be mailed Monday morning. Cats lazier than I. Barely thought of Johanna more than eight or ten times.

A strange sound brought me into the kitchen, then to the washer, where Maud stood nose to nose with a handsome mouse, who was standing tip-toe on top of the agitator. They were well on their way to becoming friends. The great days of mousing ended with Jocasta, and now the Peaceable Kingdom spreads beneath my roof.