Paksworld

Or, why you always want some slack in your writing schedule.   As in,  colder weather than we’ve had for at least 10 years, in terms of both hours below freezing and how low it goes (both plain temp and wind chill),  in a house designed for a hot climate.   As in, husband sick and unable to help with the outside stuff like feeding horses, mucking out,  helping with blanketing horses, checking outside faucets to be sure they’re dripping, chopping ice in the horse trough,  going to the bank, feed store, and post office,  hauling hay from the stack to the barn, hauling horse feed from the car to the barn, etc., etc.    As in,  the need to check indoor faucets as well, to keep the house pipes from freezing up.    Oh, and connectivity issues and power outages.  And the first signs that whatever he’s got, I might be coming down with.  Do. Not. Want.

Into every writing life some equivalent things fall, no matter where you are, what kind of house, what kind of spouse/partner/parent/child/co-worker (or lack thereof.)

As of now, it’s 20 degrees F, after starting the day at 12F and making it all the way to 16 by noon.    Not our usual temperature range (25 and up much more common and much more easily handled.)  Not our usual duration:   it’s been below freezing since before dawn yesterday.    Freezes at night but days above freezing are much more common (and easier on the pipes.  And me.)

The horses are munching on their pellets, with hay set out for them.    I made it to the bank, feed store, post office.  Four more sacks of pellets are in the car (I still have to haul them around to the barn.)    I hacked a bigger hole in the ice with the axe, because as they drink the water out from under the ice, they have to reach in farther.     The old horse has his blanket on.   The younger horse didn’t cooperate with blanketing–it would have taken both of us–and so he’s not blanketed but appears fine.   The cat, the one who refuses to come in the house, is curled into her fleece-lined “cave”  like a little bear.    I’m trying to tell myself the scratchy throat is from the cold.

And anyone care to guess how much work I’ve gotten done today?   Yup, you guessed it.  Zip so far.   But I will…eventually.  When I’ve done the last feed of the day,  come up with something the sick spouse will eat, and so on.  If the power doesn’t go out for too long.

Last night we got down to 12…tonight we’re supposed to get down to 13…but last night was only supposed to go to 13.   So we might go lower.  Windchill is still hovering around zero.    Sometimes below, sometimes a few degrees above.   Tomorrow we’re supposed to get up to a balmy 26…we were actually supposed to get there today but we didn’t.    And tomorrow night, another night in the ‘teens.

However–horses are OK, cat’s OK, husband will eventually get well, and I’ll either get sick-then-well or I won’t get sick (hope, hope)  and real spring will eventually come.  Meantime…I should put the soup on now (the pot that’s in teh fridge) and eat something hot.