Last night around 11:15 the electricity died. I was reading when the room went dark. It took me totally by surprise. Henry is not afraid of the usual darkness but is afraid of sudden darkness. He sat up, started shaking then came to me for a hug. He got many hugs and scratches. I had grabbed the flashlight and started reading hoping the lights would be back quickly. Nala then went out and Henry followed. I opened the door and used the flashlight to light the stairs. In a while Nala came back inside but Henry did not. The bottom of the stairs was dark. He just stood there. I went out and shined the light on the steps, and he braved the stairs and came inside. He got a treat. I went to bed early. The electricity was back when I woke up.

Last night got cold rather quickly, and we had snow flurries. This morning is still cold, 37°. The sunlight looks faded. The sky is cloudy, a grey blue color. Light rain is predicted for later. This is an almost pretty day gone bad.

When I was a kid, my family had a hierarchy. The grandparents and their siblings were the oldest and at the top. At family parties the aunties came, my grandmother’s sisters. “Are you Chickie’s daughter? They always asked. That’s how I was known to the aunties. My parents and their siblings came next. My mother was the third of eight, my father the second of three. I had cousins galore. We were the bottom of the hierarchy. Now I am at the top. I am the oldest. That astonishes me. I can’t believe time has so quickly passed.

When I was in Ghana, Mr. Edwards was the local education chair. He spoke at my school often. I always thought him pompous. His speeches each time were filled with clichés. The one I remember from every single speech is, “Time and tide wait for no man.”

The hahaha was loud this morning. I think it was Mother Nature reminding me who is in charge. Winter is coming back, not that it really left. Two warm days just made us hopeful. Tonight the high will be 28°, and there will be light snow. It will be in the 30’s the next two nights. Today is ugly, cloudy and damp.

Because my dance card is totally empty until Tuesday, I’m stuck doing the house chores I have been ignoring. The clumps of dog hair on the floor are lifted into the air when I walk by. I can leave messages in the dust on the tables. The kitchen is the cleanest room because I usually clean it while I’m waiting for dinner to cook. The floor does need to be washed, but I won’t because we may have snow flurries and paw prints would be back.

When I was a kid, winter, after Christmas, was mostly boring. The weekdays were the same month to month. Darkness came early. I’d get home from school, change into my play clothes, do any homework I might have then I’d watch TV until dinner then I’d watch TV after dinner. My mother dictated bedtime. “It’s a school night,” she’d remind us as if we hadn’t heard it most weeknights. I’d go to bed but then I’d secretly read under the covers. Sometimes I got caught but only sometimes. I don’t know what time I’d give in and go to sleep, but it was always at the end of a chapter.

I could smell word burning this morning probably from someone’s fireplace. It is one of my favorite smells. I love sitting on the deck close to my chiminea on a cool evening while wood burns. I use piñon wood from New Mexico. When I lived in Ghana, my food was cooked on a sort of habachi, no oven. The charcoal was wood charcoal with the sweetest aroma. Charcoal villages make the wood charcoal. One time I was hitching from Tamale to Bolga, about a hundred miles. One ride dropped me at a small village along the main road. It was a charcoal village. Smoke rose from burning tree trunks on the ground. The aroma was everywhere including on my clothes. I got a ride because small boys from the village stood in the road and stopped cars for me. The ride took me right to my road off the main road in Bolga. My clothes still carried a bit of the aroma of the charcoal.

I need a few groceries, cream for my coffee being paramount. The problem is I don’t want to get dressed to go out. Ugly days like today should be spent close to hearth and home. Even the dogs don’t want to go out. The question is which is more important, staying warm and cozy or making sure I have cream for my coffee. I need to ponder.