Cold is a challenge. First, it is dangerous to be uncomfortably cold and can be deadly. In my early years, it was a journey to heat my homes. As a youngster we heated with coal and coal is a warm heat bordering on hot as measured by how close you sat to the stove. If you are away from the stove you begin to feel winter’s wind quickly. 

I lived in a large Victorian home in Eldorado that had a fireplace in every room. You would thoughtfully lay fire for the night and begin your sleep in comfort only to wake in the middle of the night with icicles on your nose. This necessitated sleeping with multiple homemade quilts. They were often so heavy that it was difficult to turn over in the bed due to their extreme weight. Getting up during the night for a necessary restroom visit was a brisk adventure. Neva J had a brick heated in the fireplace and then wrapped in rags to place next to her cold feet during her childhood. 

A few years ago when MJ and I were a bit younger we considered moving north when we retired…not so much any longer. So many of our fellow human family have no warm place to lay their heads. I reflect often on how we have become so judgmental. We say to ourselves that surely those who sit on the sidewalk or stand outside the grocery store asking for any donation to facilitate a little warmth and food as those who simply did not choose to make the correct career choices. We hurry back to our warm homes and really do not like to expose ourselves to even a bit of the frigid air for business purposes. 

Worry we do about inflation and the price of gasoline. Who will be our President at the end of 2024 we think obsessively. How are our investments going to fare this year? We plan our holidays and trust in our ingenuity. We are strong…we are secure…we have barns and we have plans for bigger barns… 

The little red Food Box has the latch broken on its doors. It is almost empty. A friendly gentleman rides by on his bicycle in the winter chill…he speaks and calls us sir.