Gonna freeze tonight. Temps in the 20's, and its only mid-October. It's mildly reminiscient of the freak blizzard last October that shut down power for a week. It was very cold, and we lived like pioneers, almost. I heated water on a charcoal grill outside so we could sponge-bathe inside. Brrrrr.
My wife and I smiled through most of it, although I think the smiles were sometimes frozen in place. Few of us wish for the hard-er life commonly known as "the good ol' days", and with good reason. They were hard! With proper planning and a chance for acclimation, I'm sure we could go back, but would we really want to?
Our garden happened in spades. A plentiful crop this year highlighted our inability to deal with copious amounts of fresh produce. That's already being addressed for next year. As of today, the garden is ready for tilling, but I still have a few plants out. They're gonna die tonight. My friend Jim is giving me some winter wheat to plant for cold cover, and I am extremely appreciative. In the spring I can till the wheat back into the ground, as nutrients for next year's crop. The garden is all planned, and the seed list is exhaustive. Who knew that seed shopping could be so much fun?
The truck needs the muffler fixed, and the emergency brake tightened. The car needs brake work, too. The house? Don't get me started. Inside and out, there's plenty that needs attention. New windows for certain, much painting, and a complete rewire of the electrics. Most of what it needs is cosmetic, fortunately.
The list of needs is long, and the list of wants is longer. And that's why, on a Friday night, I sit in the basement of a hospital. Which brings me back to tomorrow. Or is that forward to tomorrow? It's gonna be cold.
Rambling? No. There's always work to be done. There's always planning, anticipation, budgeting. There's always weather to face. Tomorrow, its cold weather. But with planning and acclimation, we'll make it. Why? Love. Not a cheap, chick-flick love. Not a fantasy fairytale love. Not a shallow superficial love. A love based on a vow. A drudgery, gotta scrub the kitchen floor again love. A team, I'll grow the food and you cook it love. An accepting, you're a mess but you did it for us love. An enticing, you clean up kinda good love. An embracing, its cold outside but you're warm in here love.
I leave work late, home at midnight. It'll be cold. But I know what's waiting for me: a hug and a kiss, a smile, a kind word, and a heart, happy to be near mine. That'll weather any storm.
