Keep the Coffee Comimg

Winter is here. The high today will be 38°. It’s a pretty day but one best seen through the window from the warm and cozy house. I’m in my comfy clothes. The dogs are upstairs napping on my bed. Jack is sleeping in his kitty teepee. He curls up in a ball and falls deeply asleep.

I have a mouse. The dog biscuit bag has a small chewed hole. I found my have-a heart trap which I’ll set with peanut butter. It has been a long time since a mouse has taken residence. My brother used to say no house has only one mouse. I’m hoping to be the exception.

When I was a kid, I never minded the cold. I liked walking to school on crisp mornings when I could see my breath. What I did mind was being bundled in layers because when I’d get to school it took a while to unbundle. I used to stick my scarf and mittens up the sleeves of my coat. If I wore boots, I’d take them off with my shoes inside then pull out my shoes. I hated boots. You needed the strength of the Hulk to get them back on. I’d pull and pull. My shoes always got stuck at the angle. For the fun of it, I’d sometimes walk around with the boots flopping.

My favorite memories of the house in winter are of the radiators. They hissed and gurgled. I’d watch the steam rise from the nozzle like part on the left side. The water gurgled through the metal loop looking parts of the radiator. I had a radiator under the window on the wall across from the end of my bed. I’d sometimes sit between the bed and the radiator to get warm. I’d put my shoes to dry under it. My mittens went on the top.