Was wondering why it seemed indoor temp was going lower than usual and um yeah, I bumped the thermostat last night when I was rearranging a shelf. Only a degree or so but I felt that!

Either Maple was rolling around in the bathtub or she’s got an attack of the statics. Maybe both. (Flying around, vigorously washing.)

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo. Gatsby tale in a magic world from Jordan’s perspective. us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

I’ve really got to figure out how to get my hot flashes (honestly a misnomer, not bad, just… I go comfortably furnace) to kick in when my house is in its cooler part of cycle.

A nearby coworker borrowed my landscape scraper today to unearth her car. And my neighbor just asked to borrow it again, but I don’t have it back yet.😩

Sometimes I think having a lil device that tells me the indoor humidity is not such a great idea. Maybe I’d rather not know.

It’s been true for a bit, but I have daytime reading glasses and nighttime ones. Eyes get tired.

Taxes filed (just had to verify my w2. It had been imported a bit ago, but I couldn’t see it. Work finally published it.)

Oh, I know some people who need this.

Why is BGE telling me my power is out? (It is not.)

It’s funny to me I have 2 cats who demand face squishes and wake me up semi violently and then one who sleeps late & is hypersensitive to touch, but wants to sleep on me as much as possible. But they all wanna converse. A lot.

I wrote some reflections on what it feels like being Black in Maine during this ICE surge. open.substack.com/pub/shaystew...

Jesus christ, 33 yrs ago. Anyway, Ivy is kinda getting into it, writhing on the wood floor rather than watching me suspiciously.

Cats not amused by ‘90s living room dance moves.

10,000 Maniac’s These Are The Days got stuck in my head (holds a particular moment of me packing up my room to move to college) & now listening to the whole unplugged album & it holds up for me that was and also the me of now.

A lot of my neighbors were out walking just before sunset, just like me. A lot of us admitted it was part curiosity, part we felt ourselves stiffening up after morning shoveling & needed to move.

My pectorals are soooore.

Wicked winds, but pretty.

Today’s sourdough: thick slice warmed in butter(toasted would be an exaggeration,) tomato basil garlic hummus,Gouda and a runny egg on a bed of greens. Messy and the tomato tartness and greens with all the richness? Delightful.

Please unfollow the altnps account. It's a do-nothing, disinfo slop mill that's trying to figure out how to Q-Anon the left for future profit, and that is not news.

2+ hrs of shoveling to get the last 2” from my walk & down the block, the NEW ginormous plow berm & uncover my car. Landscape scraper was the magic tool. And a neighbor gave me a wholeass big bag of mgcl2. He gets it from work. I gotta bake cookies tonight.

What shall I make with my little sourdough loaf? A buttery cheesy egg in the hole. A French toast. Bacon and greens with some of the tomato basil hummus and feta. Cheese toast.

Today was wonderfully full despite me having no plans but to shovel. That alone brought more stuff. (Also, I walked into a friend’s house full of people & whipped my skirt off, not thinking a second how that looked. I’m kinda proud of that; it gives Stories.)

I may have engaged in shoveling after a get together with snacks and noisy hot chocolate for um, 3 hours.

Latest round of shoveling report: IT’S FUCKING SAND NOW. LIKE FOUR INCHES OF SLIPPERY DRY SAND. DOES NOT SHOVEL WELL OR STAY WHERE YOU PUT IT.

And that’s how I learned Pumpkin is an absolute menace when it comes to sourdough. Almost aggressive as she is about pork.

Enjoying a crusty end now. It’s good.

Y’all. One of my new (this summer) neighbors just brought me a loaf of warm fresh sourdough. Cause she saw me shoveling down the block.

Hah! Just got a text from nurse neighbor saying she’d dug herself out to go work at Union, suggesting we might wanna do rounds of shoveling.

First sled with a tiny tot spotted heading to the field.

When I woke up at 5:30(don’t ask) & saw the tree branches outside my window, thought eh, doesn’t look like much. Those branches still don’t, 2 hrs later, but… it’s not the sticky kind, at 18 degrees.

You know, I’ve lived in this house 17 winters now, but because of the first 10 or so, sound of the salt clattering as the trucks pass still draws me to the windows.

I’m pretty sure 6% humidity inside is one of my problems. (Don’t give advice on humidifiers, I have Feelings About Them.)

I can’t believe I’m saying this: but I got a little warm on the walk back from the market. Greens, eggs, pita chips and 2 dips acquired.

Weather must be incoming: Ivy is awake and zooming around like a loon before 10 am.

So I’ve started my next book, an author whose style I love, but struggling a bit and that’s all on me. Comfort reads have become dystopian because the threads of survival & resistance. But this is a Great Gatsby alt and even though kinda same, I dunno. Maybe I read it too well in high school?

Feb 2010, round 2. That was AFTER a couple feet a few days earlier THAT WE CLEARED.

Wind is getting slappy again. (It’s only 30 outside. I’m heartily impressed by the fortitude of those braving fucking minuses in MN today to get loud.)

It was expensive, but it is really nice going into this deep freeze knowing my boiler plumbing mechanism are from this century & no more leaking fill valve & burdened pressure tank. (Also, pretty copper.)

Farmers market outerwear game plan. Minus a cat, she doesn’t like crowds. (Also, you need EXTRA socks in these boots, but that is a good thing.)

Apropos of nothing, the new hummus & dips people will be at the farmers market. In case you got to the grocery too late (I suddenly want dips.)

Getting quite achey this evening. 48 hrs is a little long lead time for weather.

Finished The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. windupstories.com/books/windup...

Oh god, the city is out marking utility lines (sewer, looks like) & the detector’s pitch makes my eye twitch.

The thing about reading decent dystopian fiction right now is that someone pretty smart & creative & caring about the world they live in created that imaginary world. And they control it. Even if they don’t like the ending. Reality is being driven by the opposite kind of people.

I really wish my (mild, but toasty) hot flashes would hit when the cold tendrils start creeping before the radiators kick it back up.

Spent basically most of today reading The Water Knife. Kinda fucked up that it makes more sense/believable than the reality around me. Still blows my mind I read its inception in the Fountain Theatre all those yrs ago. I don’t even know what movie. windupstories.com/books/water-...

So I’m reading The Water Knife & the style and world seem really familiar and I realize I read his stuff in High Country News decades ago.

Had to do a bit of driving and the roads are well salted. I could *taste* it. ☠️

Being the light for my parents is a lot.