It’s Cold, Maybe

It’s Cold, Maybe

It’s mid-Fall. We’ve had several inches of wet, heavy snow. Trees have lost branches. We’ve had a wind storm that lasted several days with gusts 60-70 mph. Trees have hit the ground. Hard! All around me neighbors have lost old champions of days gone by, even if they had spindly looking branches and the core shows the prevailing rotten centers. They cannot withstand the pull of gravity!

Ditches have filled with the constant rain that sprinkles down for days on end and occasionally gets to what is called hard rain, here in Washington.

And, the temps have chilled down into the freezing temps. Today, 3 years ago it was 18 degrees…today it’s only 40. But when you are outside with the animals, rain, and wind, well, 18 or 40, it’s still cold enough to zap the warmth out of your hands. I’ve been down to -75 degrees and even -40 is super cold when the wind starts whipping over the frozen ground! As long as the wind doesn’t blow, “0” feels comfortable!

Just saying, I’ve been in hurricanes, witnessed the immediate aftermath of a tornado, ridden out an earthquake, driven through wet ash after a volcano, attempted to drive when the rain is so thick you could fill your typical bathtub in 2-3 minutes. And I’ve experienced temps 110 above “0” … Oh, and that last snowfall of Alaska, 38 or 39 inches of downy joy. We were shut down for 3 days, and I used my blower to clean the driveway 4 times in just 18 hours. A foot each time tossed to the side!

I’ve been near an avalanche and witnessed its heavy mass of terrain altering power. I watched rivers flood and seen boulders larger than my truck moved from their anchored place on the shore. Since living in Washington it is not unusual to worry about landslides from hills denuded from timber. Research Oso, WA and think about its power.

Cold? Maybe.

I”m not sure why…
But along the way,
I guess you could say,
I understand cold better than heat.
There’s way much more you can do
To warm up when cold,
Then cool off when scorched by heat!

So enjoy the cold and fear the heat!
Bask in its full embrace.
Yearn for the place that makes it safe
But be ready for that future playdate!

If heaven is that place for me,
I pray for a glacier cool,
Below yonder mountain
With hanging shelves of snow,
And a cool, no cold, river running by.

Then give me my cabin with a stack of wood
Neatly cut, and stacked by cord,
Then simply leave me alone
To enjoy sweetly the blissful zone!

~by Michael Gurley, 11/16/17