This is the scene outside of one of the windows facing north.  I love the way the shadow of smoke moves around the snow-covered yard.  That being said the other feeling that pops into my head is exhaustion.  Yup, I’m tired.  Tired of the snow, tired of hauling wood in, tired of being cooped up in the house with the subzero temperatures making it decidedly unpleasant to be outdoors.

Damn it’s been cold.  Not only low temperatures but the wind chill has been brutal.  Yup, we have the best snowshoeing I’ve seen in years but the wind just makes it impossible to enjoy.  Sigh.

The wood stove has been a blessing, a wonderful respite when returning from the cold.  Stand and slowly turn in front of it, like a rotisserie until your jeans are so hot you can’t stand it anymore (and sometimes I wonder if I’m not risking second degree burns – it would smell before I spontaneously combust, right?).

The way the weather has been my wood supply will last through March (if I’m lucky).  There are two other piles outside but they are under 3 to 4 feet of snow so I’d have to want it pretty bad to get it.  We had over 6 cords in the fall, down to a cord and a half.

Spring is coming.  The sun is so warm and we’ve been seeing it a little more often.  It might be below freezing but the ice is melting on the south side of the house and it’s doing its springtime job of heating the house in the morning.  Those builders knew what they were doing when they situated a house in 1790, passive solar.

Snow in the forecast for tomorrow.  Wildly fluctuating temperatures for next week but c’mon, March is almost here.  So I’ll soak the sun up through the windows, keep the stove loaded and plan and dream about the gardens that are awaiting me under the snow.  They’ll be here, they always show up.