Morning Thoughts At Minus Eleven

daily haiku

minus eleven

a pink dawn through icicles
treacherous beauty

I am sitting here at my computer, room at 62°, which in summer would be most welcome. This morning I have to run a heater to stop what Peter called "the radiative effect" of the cold from pulling all the heat away from my feet and legs. I finished my energy news research and got the urge to write in my blog when, as yet, I haven't had any coffee to stimulate my brain. Must be early cabin fever!

The extreme cold weather is unseasonable this side of Thanksgiving, it blew down from a bad front which brought cold, snow and high winds to Alaska a week ago. At least we have been spared their 100 mph winds - I simply can't imagine that chill factor.

As long as the promised warmer temperatures arrive as forecast, I plan to spend Thanksgiving day with our friends the Peterson family in Sheridan. Adrian and Thelma had an antique store in Dayton, WY. at the foot of the Big Horns and having a Connecticut background in common we became good friends. Adrian and Peter shared a wickedly dry sense of humor and we shared many of the same past-times. We were invited to have Thanksgiving with them around 1983 and it has continued to this day. Adrian died in 2008, Peter in 2010. This year saw the sudden death of their son David, and of Thelma's mother, "Gramms" Isakson at 103 years old. So our numbers are dwindling. There will be some sadness missing all the good times we had together, the laughter and stories.

Along the way we graduated to having dinner at Thelma's son's house Bob Peterson - which is in a lovely spot that looks towards the Big Horns. Lyn cooks a turkey for us even though she doesn't like turkey very much, and I bring candied cranberries from a recipe I found in Gourmet magazine in 1967. Thelma makes an awesome pumpkin pie and Bob a sour cream raisin pie and sometimes maybe a couple of others as well . Yes we all suffer from desert mania!

This year we'll be giving thanks for having Gramms with us for so many years; for David's life and his sobriety, which although cut short, helped him to reach out and heal many others through his work in addiction; for still having Joe and Pauline - Lyn's Mum and Dad - with us, and for just having each other to lean on through our grieving process for these great family members who will share with us in spirit but no longer in body.