the last of the cold days

I cannot recall a day this year when I was as tired, as worn out, as cold, as struggling to feel energetic -- as today.

It was, I hope, the last of the severely cold days. And though I have meetings and hearings tomorrow, today was the final teaching day for the week. And I ordered a large supply of coffee for the months ahead, so that should help. Things surely will look better.

In the early evening, I hurried first to a lumber mill, then to a plumber, making those quick choices one makes when the only thing that matters is to get the job of buying over and done with. Ed asks – don’t you want to consider... and I snap back – no I do not. I use choice words to make my point.

In the meantime, more than ever since I have known him, Ed is working long hours as well. Designing something for Tormach, that, and in his spare time, tearing down the chimney at the farmhouse.

The chimney must come down and it is an expensive proposition to remove it. His most unusual Valentine’s Day gift for me is that he will have done the work himself, brick by brick, so that neither of us has to pay for the demolition.

In the early evening I drive to the farmhouse to take note of his progress. The fields are still covered with snow, even as I know that this weekend, finally, we'll be getting a bit of a thaw.

I turn onto Ed’s street and I think – wow, in a couple of months this will be my street.

At the farmhouse, one problem is solved, another emerges. We discover that the light switch doesn’t work. There’s a rumbling in the wall every time you turn the living room lamps on.

Another task to put on the "to do" list.

But, I know where the lavender plant will stand. On a window sill that looks out toward the south west. With the view onto the road and the good sunsets. The farm sure does get the good sunsets.