Respite

The sun shone, the wind roared, and the temperature soared. 14C!

Yesterday the sun was a celebration of warmth.

Yesterday was heavenly. I sat on the back porch for hours on end, taking in the fresh air, watching the great melt. The morning began with a yard full white with snow, inches deep. Slowly the snow began hug the earth more closely, turning brown in patches, transforming into shining liquid, then to sparkling light as it began to flow. There must have been insects awakening on the white crystalizing surfaces, as small birds hopped about pecking at the seemingly pure white expanse.

The first Robin of the spring was seen, two of them actually, hopping about on the brown exposed grass atop the hugelkultur garden bed.

Attila took the opportunity of fine weather to dig drainage channels through the ice and snow at the edge of the driveway. The roads department paved our road years ago, and graded it so that ALL of the water running off the street is channeled down our driveway. Sometimes we have two or more inches of standing water on our driveway, during winter thaws, which turns to glare ice. Engineering at its worst. It is a relief that has now drained.

Today it is 2C, cloudy, above freezing. The snow melts slowly now. It is not a day to be sitting out on the back porch. Yesterday was our day of respite from winter, and welcome it was.

The weather report for the next two weeks offers no hope of another balmy sunny day such as yesterday. But it does offer the pleasant prospect that the temperature will seldom dip below -7C. This is relevant at Mist Cottage because our heating system switches to the ground source heat pump as the temperature rises to or above -7. So the oil furnace will not be heating the house. Why do I care so much? The oil furnace heat is dry, dry, dry, so it is a struggle to keep the relative humidity in the house above 20%. The air source heat pump does not dry the air, so the humidity can easily stay above 30% without remediation. I will be able to wash and store away all the towels, that were soaked and hung about the house to hydrate the air. The crock pot that has been used as humidifier will be cleaned and put away until next winter. The constant routine of soaking and hanging towels will not be missed.

I have three medical tests booked late this month, and another next month. Hopefully there will be a diagnosis, and resolution in the months to come. I have had to increase the dosage of the painkillers, the condition is getting worse, not better. And so I wait.

Worldly

Weather

Updated on Mon, Mar 7, 10:05 AM
2 °C
FEELS LIKE 1
Rain and snow mixed
Wind 4 SE km/h
Humidity 83 %
Visibility 19 km
Sunrise 6:35 AM
Wind gust 6 km/h
Pressure 100.9 kPa
Ceiling 2700 m Sunset
6:03 PM

Quote

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."
Charles Dickens
1812 - 1870

I admire few people.  Mr. Dickens is on my list.  I love his use of language. He managed to remain creative while writing social commentary, all the while maintaining compassion, kindness, and profitable business skills.  You don't see that often.  There are many talented writers and artists who balance business skills with creativity.  There are many talented writers and artists who create social commentary with honed business skills. But oh so few talented creative people are intrinsically kind and compassionate while exercising these talents. Dickens loved people, not society.