Cold

It's gotten quite cold here recently. But we are looking forward to a slew of visitors. We can't wait. I had a long blog entry for yesterday but I forgot it at the house, so you all will continue to have to wait. I don't have too much to report today mainly because, not much has happened. Well, it sort of has but I haven't the time to recall it all here today. I have begun to read several more books including Kerouac (thanks), more Wilde (I suggest the Ballad of Reading Gaol), and Henry James' The Golden Bowl. At some point when I feel up for it, I'll start Goethe. It's gotten to the point where it was cold enough that our stove made little difference. We have GOT to get the walls sealed up. The draughts are killing us, literally. We also are sort of starting to consider jobs, but since a work visa requires a one year contract, there are limitations on that certainly. Ugh.

Yesterday's blog entry is going to be sort of a downer which I have sort of recovered from but I can tell it's hiding behind some flimsy curtain or something. Ready to make itself quite present at the drop of a hat. You don't know really what I'm talking about until I post that but oh well. Visitors will be wonderful.

I read a book a friend gave me entitled Dove about a sixteen year old boy who sails a 24 foot sloop around the world by himself. He got a shit-ton of help though and it took him 5 years because he would stop at length on lovely tropical islands. Hmmm, although most of the book inspired me and made me feel good about my experiences, I certainly felt like less of a badass. What the hell. And reading about his homecoming certainly made me long for the end of my adventure. Brian and I are trying to give ourselves credit. We are beginning our first winter outside of Southern California in 4 years and in addition, we haven't easy access to a hot shower, a warm bed, a car, or pretty much anything else that would help you through the winter. I also in shocking fashion, left any resemblance of a decent jacket at home. I brought my large ski jacket (a bit overkill at this point) and a rainshell. And my hooded sweatshirts are beginning to fail. The wind cuts right through them. Ah damn. I broke out a knit cap for the first time being here. Oh winter.

We took a short trip to Derry, Northern Ireland, the other day thanks to a friend who had some errands to do at the shopping center (that's all of Derry we saw). Derry is a larger city comparatively for the area and it was nice to be in somewhat of a city setting again. Oh how I miss it! Even the shopping mall felt refreshing. Scary. But also, I had the curious experience of walking through a warm shopping mall and approaching the door. Feeling it get colder and colder as I approached the door was a feeling I hadn't felt in a while and was in no way comfortable with. I hate the cold. Absolutely. Some may say it's refreshing, or makes you feel alive or some other romantic crap. It is only those things when it surprises you mid-week in 75 degree sunshiny weather. There is nothing heroic about fighting the weather. Finding natural shade in warm climates makes sense. Fighting the cold doesn't. My sleeping bag was freezing last night. I had to close off the opening and pull myself all the way inside. That meant I could fall asleep for the time it took the inside of the sleeping bag to fill with Carbon Dioxide, I'd then wake up short of breath, open the sleeping bag for 1-2 minutes to switch out the air and then close it up again and fall asleep for another 15 minutes. Sigh. At least the wind died down and we had secured the tarp so it wouldn't slap against the roof.

That's all for now, I'll write more later.