Warmth

The pellet stove is our daily companion again, with the tinkle of pellets feeding from the hopper and the cheery flame in the window. It is active most of the day, from the time I turn up its thermostat in the morning until I turn it back down at bedtime. On these cold nights I hear it come on from time to time, but we let the house get pretty cool over night. I like the rituals of caring for it; starting it up in the morning, cleaning the glass when it’s cold, scraping out the burn pot at night and filling the hopper with pellets for the next day. This year we’ve made a huge improvement for winter. We cleared out the garage so that we can park both cars inside – no more sweeping snow off in the morning or scraping ice off the windshield. And there was room for Jay to stack our two tons of pellets in the garage too. It’s not just that it’s a shorter distance to carry the 40 pound bags, which is nice, but I don’t have to get suited up for the outdoors to do it, which is really nice.

Suiting up is different in the winter. I broke out the long johns today. There are layers and coats and hats and gloves and scarves and boots. The Honda has heated seats, which is lovely. And having spent the night in the garage the car is not nearly as cold in the morning as it was last year. The ride to town is warmer than last year, but the winter landscape is the same – subtle and beautiful. The colors of spring and summer and autumn are easy to name, but the winter colors are more of a challenge. My crayola vocabulary is inadequate to the dried goldenrod. Its stalks might be burnt sienna, or one of those reddish, goldish browns, but I don’t know any name for the skeletons of the once bright yellow florets. They’re a sort of very milky cafe au lait color, with just a ghost of yellowish tint that coffee never has. The dried milkweed is in the same color family, but the silk in the exploded pods is snowy white in direct sunlight. To my eye, these colors invite attention exactly because they’re not easy to name.

The color of the dawn sky is differently visible. With the leaves gone, I can see the orange or pink of the sky between the tree trunks and bare branches on the horizon just east of Scotch Hill Road as dawn begins. At night and in the early morning the light of the waning gibbous moon is reflected off the patches of remaining snow, and the dark bodies of the deer stand out clearly. This morning there was a deer lying down just south of the driveway, quite near the garage. She stood up as I watched, stretching her back legs straight first. Once she was on her feet she gave herself a little shake, raised her white tail, dropped some poop, and set off browsing in the still green grass at the base of the dried stalks. She was in no hurry, even though hunting season has started. The eleven deer we saw out on the back hill yesterday were similarly calm. I hope they know they’re safe up here. But when I was out walking and heard a distant rifle shot it occurred to me that I should put one of Jay’s bright orange safety vests over my grey coat when I’m out during hunting season.

We had a nice warm brunch with the Quinns at the Doubleday Cafe this morning. It’s jammed all through tourist season, but easy to get into in chilly November, and easy to find a (free) parking place right outside. Most of the stores that cater to tourists close for the winter, but the restaurants stay open and limp through the lean times, keeping staff employed. But we’re not limping. We were at Pete and Vi’s for a great dinner with friends last night. A warm meal with friends is a special joy in the cold of winter. The rush of warm air when we open the door to the Sports Center is a relief, and the sauna after a workout in the pool, pleasant all year, feels like a reward for sticking it out in town when others have left for warmer climes. Everything that brings warmth, food, friends, activity, is especially welcome in this season. The film festival is over, but there are concerts and parties to look forward to all winter. Pete and Vi will leave for Panama just after the season ending party at the Fenimore Museum in mid December, but the three months they’ll be gone will go by quickly. Tamar was up for the film festival, and I miss her most right after a visit. But when there’s a break in the winter weather we’ll see if we can get her and Ryder up again. This is the warmth that seems to matter more in the cold weather.

One thing that won’t be getting us heated up is the battle with Dunkin’ Donuts. We had just started our letter writing campaign when we got word that Dunkin’ had withdrawn their application to build on Walnut Street! Of course our the Quinns said that they were sure Dunkin’ retreated because they heard Jay was coming after them, but it was probably more a response to the Village’s plan to enact a moratorium to give them time to look into rezoning the lot. In 1989 Pizza Hut had designs on that same lot, and when they retreated in the face of community hostility, the Village missed an opportunity to rezone the lot. We’re hoping that the trustees will take that lesson to heart and go through with the rezoning now even though the immediate threat is gone. But there will be no fight to draw us away from the pellet stove and out into the cold nights this winter – only the prospect of exchanging the warmth of our fire for the warmth of family and friends.