Well Met

Midnight, I get up to pee, and my piss-pots are still frozen. The ambient temperature in the house is comfortable enough, with several layers of clothes, mid fifties maybe, and there's no wind. I, finally, moved a chair over to inside the back door. A place where I can deal with footwear. A staging area. I have rubber boots there, and a whisk broom, they serve me well. I sweep up most of the crap that I track in, before it thaws, and throw it back outside. Listen. You can actually hear when branches re-freeze, random sounds. Cracks in the night. It's brutal, but it's not that bad. I can rebuild a fire from almost nothing. Ten degrees this afternoon, ten below tonight, five degrees tomorrow, ten below tomorrow night. The radio was constantly warning not to go outside, so, of course, I pulled on an outer layer and took a walk. Bloody cold, and the wind is supposed to pick up later, as even colder weather moves in. No animals anywhere. Everything is brittle. The crust of ice on top of the snow squeaks with every step. Back home, I put a large cast iron skillet on the stove, with a walnut size lump of bacon fat, caramelize a large onion and a red bell pepper. While they're cooking, I cut some fairly thin pork loin chops into bite-sized pieces. Vegetables out, the meat in, and I sear it quickly over high heat. I'd made the rice last night (you always want left-over rice for this dish) and I just mix everything together in the rice pot, looks to be about four meals. After I reheat portions of this, I add soy sauce and mango chutney. A very cheap meal that I enjoy enormously, this one came in at $1.32 a serving, but I buy damaged produce and remaindered meat. I pulled a couple of wood knots out today, that I intend to split tomorrow. I'll need to go down and start the Jeep, and I might as well drive to town, get a few things, even if I don't go to work. I can't afford to, the house needs tending. What I'll need to do is get up, stoke and/or start a fire, get it going, put on a serious log, walk out, go to town, get back home, throw in another log. I think I'll buy a steak and some mushrooms. Those small purple potatoes keep very well, I'm still eating from a bag I bought when the girls were here. I steam them, then finish them fried in bacon fat. They're incredibly good. As is the fried rice. When it gets this cold, I remind myself to eat more calories. The oil lamps are all filled, I have candles, my crampons are near the door, there's not much more I can do, so I settle near the fire and reread a Lord Whimsey novel. The next couple of days could prove difficult, I hope to get by.