MIDWINTER MIDNIGHT
02/02/02
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So it’s well beyond midnight now and through the window above the monitor
I see a waxing gibbous moon drifting in the western dark. The thermometer
outside the double glass doors that lead to the back porch tells me it’s
five below zero and the north wind is howling in the eaves. Must be at
least twenty-five below with the windchill. Ayuh, a real raftah snappah
tonite. And here I am, poundin away on this ole keyboard. A night owl I
am for sure.
I love this time of year, and especially this kind of weather. A couple
hours ago I went out to the barn for a few armloads of wood, in just a
flannel shirt, my fuzzy hat and gloves, my old gumboots to keep out the
blue snow, and I only felt pleasantly cooled. The last load I grabbed a couple
chunks of two-year-dry red oak, the kind that burns real hot and long in
the woodstove, and coals up right nice.
As I closed the barn door, I stopped, turned and looked up. With the
nearest city fifteen miles away, the stars out here are incredibly
bright- even with a half-moon- and the sky was so clear I could see all
the way to Mintaka. As I stood there I forgot for a moment the work of
the day and the work of tomorrow, forgot the wood in my arms, the toasty
stove in my living room, and the sleepy tangle of cats all warm and
curled up on the hearth rug. The wind and the cool and the blue light
starnight magic on the snow just lifted me away. I swept the wide world
round in a heartbeat and knew for an instant what it means to be an
infinite being, and perfectly, utterly happy.
