Dead Calm

The quiet is of that absolute variety. I did suit-up and go for a walk on an old logging road, then back the other direction, to the top of the driveway to see if B got Josh's (son-in-law) big new Dodge Ram safely down. Looks like he had a bit of trouble, near the top, but that he made it. By the tracks I see he took the truck down Saturday, then walked back in, then a newer set of tracks where he hiked out this morning. An hour later he came over for a cup of coffee, having seen my tracks, from where I had looked at his tracks. My reconstruction was correct. Said he went down (through seven inches of snow) in four-wheel low, first gear, fighting for control. Years ago I made a similar passage, had to stop at the bottom and smoke a cigaret until my normal heartbeat was restored. Told him I wasn't going to join the party tonight at Drew's place because I couldn't bear the thought of hiking back in at one in the morning, in the cold, with crampons, a walking stick, and a flashlight. It would be nice to see the Upper Twin gang, but not tonight. A little more snow forecast, and a little more tomorrow, but B said the roads are in decent shape, so I should be able to get to work on Wednesday, though it is supposed to get bloody cold. I'll need supplies, including some meat, which is always available at reduced price after a holiday. I've been eating a lot of roasted vegetables and I'm craving fatty meat. There should be some remaindered lamb. A lamb stew sounds good, with parsnips and onions, potatoes and carrots. I put together a crock-pot of stone-ground grits, to start before I go to bed. Perfect, for this weather. I only have three eggs left, so I'll need to carry in a couple of dozen. On Thursday, I think, because on Wednesday I'll need to bring in a bunch of other things, and eggs require a free hand. I buy large brown eggs and wrap the cartons in bubble-wrap, held with rubber-bands, and walk especially mindful. I'll make a pork fried rice on Wednesday, because it sounds so good, and I need a one dish meal when the weather turns like this, so that I'll eat enough. Tom and Lauren sent a Mango Chile sauce that would be great on this. Grits, lamb stew, and pork fried rice should get me through the week, if I can safely ferry in the eggs. I love making that stringy scrambled egg as the last addition to a fried rice. Winter survival mode, it's just eight or ten weeks: long underwear, a set of sweats, and a bathrobe; soup; access to a decent library; a mop handle for beating off wild dogs, crampons. You just have to take things slowly, think through what you need to do. I have a shopping list broken down by weight, strikes me as perfectly natural. I'm boiling snow for drinking water, decant into jugs when it's cool, and I add a pinch of sea salt to a gallon, because it is so flat, but it serves me, for making coffee or tea. I also tap a wet-weather spring, halfway down the slope, where the water is so cold it takes your breath away. I keep a gallon in the fridge, to swig when I get up in the night.