Staying Ahead

Hard freeze, 20 degrees, and it wasn't supposed to get above freezing, so I got up early and went to town. It's one of the strategies of getting to town in the freeze/thaw season. I can get to town, go to the library, quick shop, and be back home in 90 minutes, before things thaw. It did get above freezing, fairly early, but I made it back fine. Got a slice of feta, olive, pizza, on the way out of town. It made the inside of the Jeep smell wonderful, and I managed to wait until I got back home to eat it. A couple of hours later, I'd been for a walk, but everything was a muddy mess, and I'd retreated to my desk chair with a hot toddy, when I first heard, then saw someone approaching on an all-terrain vehicle. An older guy, in a fully insulated body suit, with a yellow vest, he's with the power company. He may be with the power company. He had a bunch of electronic gear. Too many strange people at the house in the last month. Just because you're not paranoid. Assuming someone was watching and listening, what do they get? A phone conversation about the St. Matthew Passion, maybe some photos of a guy who sits in the same chair reading and writing for eight or ten hours a day, takes a great many aimless walks, pokes at things with a stick. Of course, I'm harmless, but I do know a lot of liberals, and I get a lot of books in the mail. More than 90% of my card transactions involve gas, whiskey, or the ATM, and I pay in cash for almost everything. I don't have a cell phone. I've never played a computer game. I didn't watch the Super Bowl because I don't have a TV. I don't have running water, therefore no flush toilet, so I have to deal with my shit. Picked up a lovely discounted Angus strip steak and baked a potato in the coals, made a wonderful reduced butter sauce with a splash of apple brandy. The stove is creaking and popping, I'm eating at the island, in my bath robe over several other layers, with Linda's knit hat and fingerless gloves, my current book propped against a rock, and I realize I'm incredibly comfortable being that person, in that specific place. A node, as far as things tidal. In Key West, tide is measured in inches, but I once camped at Bear Creek, in Nova Scotia, and the tide was nearly fifty feet. Clearly, I don't understand this. Fortunately I found a book about tides, at a library book sale. I'll know more soon.