it is just cold

it is amazingly cold here. i have been patiently waiting for the day upon which i break my own personal "this is the coldest day i have ever experienced" record. and voila. here we are. the old record, was set on a sunny day in new york city. i don't recall exactly what i did on that day, but i do have littles slices of memory floating about. walking past that outdoor ice rink somewhere near fifth avenue, the old man raising his arms to the sky. central park, empty by central park standards, the ground covered with ice. watching the kids in the neighborhood, write their names and other impermanent grafitti on the car windows. the strange feeling of a frozen nose. sadly, as i sit here writing, the temperature rises {i just checked the thermometer} from 22 degrees below zero to ten below. fahrenheit.

perhaps the strangest thing about the weather here {being from california} is that there is usually very little fluctuation in temperature all day or night. strange. it is just cold. also strange, is the fact that the people who live here seem to find the cold more unbearable than i. as keri and i walked home last night, she tried to pull me along, scurrying her feet, but those of you who know me, know that i walk slowly. period. walking fast somehow goes against the grain of who i am. i would prefer to be an albatross.

and this winter, i feel there will be many firsts. as yesterday for example, saw my first time snowshoeing. {sp?} which was magnificent and peaceful. i felt so wonderfully adapted to my world. the temptation to walk across the frozen lake, will of course not leave. i've begun to grow afraid to walk in the woods alone, for this impulse may consume me entirely, and watch me drowning in a frozen lake. what a horrific death that would be. utterly devoid of peace. and so winter is here. my second christmas holiday in the snow.

today i will shovel the paths {a daily experience} and walk in the woods. paint. sit by the fire and read. try to figure out how to load the songs from our tequila infested, far too late at night, drummerless {with christian and another friend sitting in the best that they could}, emotional turmoil infested, oakland recording session into my new recording equipment, which seems to require NASA training to operate. ugh. and of course the sad news that while i have been writing, and drinking tea this morning, the temperature has unexpectedly risen, thusly causing me to miss the opportunity to break my record. damn. the sun shines brightly on the snow. it is a beacon that calls to me. come outside jefferson. come out and feel the ice form on your eyelashes. watch your spit freeze to the ground. suck in the cold air, thick on the lungs. thick on the lungs.

Posted by jeff pitcher at December 20, 2004 10:44 AM

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