At the Ponderosa.

It's another good morning at the Ponderosa. I've got my cup of coffee and my cigarettes and my trusty four footer lying beside me, so what more could I ask for? A little bit of warmth, I think. I will turn up the heater just a little bit, because it's just a bit chilly in here. It's only 3C outside and I admit, it has been colder, but today I have cold bones in my body. It's so nice to put my feet against the warm radiator. Ah, if you wait a while, it gets warmer in here and you notice the difference immediately. I already am starting to feel more comfortable.

It's still dark outside, but it won't be much longer and I'll have to take the dog for a walk. The outside world is not calling me at all and I'd rather stay in here nice and warm, but the poor dog must be aired. He is so dependent on me and my goodwill. Right now he's sound asleep, though, curled up in a ball, as far as his old bones allow it.

I fell asleep quickly last night and am slowly making headway in my book. I try to read as many pages as I can before I go to sleep, but eventually sleep wins and my book drops on the covers and I sleep with my reading glasses on my nose. I'm reading "The Last Girls" by Lee Smith right now and the next book I'll be reading is "Half Broke Horses" by Jeannette Walls. Both of these books were gifts from blog friends and receiving books is one of my greatest pleasures. Receiving things that smell good is another one.

Oh, my dog is telling me it's time to go out, so of we go...


It's cold outside. It's that damp cold, you know? The kind that goes through your whole body and makes you shiver and glad you walk into your warm apartment again. I turned up the heater by half a degree, but it's making a lot of difference. The radiators stay hot longer and it is really warmer in here. I've got the thermometer set at 20C, so that's not that outrageous, and it does make a difference in the comfort zone.

I'm wearing my boots now, which reminds me that I have to go out and buy several pairs of thick socks, because all I have left are thin summer socks. Unless I set out on an expedition in my underwear drawer and see if I can find some other socks in there. Why do socks have this tendency to disappear, and I don't mean single socks, but whole pairs? Do they run away from home, are they abducted? It's a mystery to me. I know I had three pairs of thick socks and now I only seem to have one pair. There must be a solution to this problem. My underwear drawer is not that big and deep. It's not like things get lost in a bottomless pit there.

I must do some last minute chores. I have to put the dishes away and check the whole apartment for spider rag, because I didn't do that yesterday. I still have to clean the refrigerator and change the bed and put laundry in the washing machine. I have to check all the corners of the living room and under the furniture for drifts of dog hair that appear overnight. Most importantly, I must take a nap. I'll do that on the sofa where it is nice and warm. Every morning after I've taken my medicines, I must take a nap. It's the way it is. I'm almost asleep as I sit here.

Okay, I'm off to do what I have to do. I must hang in there just a little while longer, although it's tempting to sleep now.

Have a good day, don't let yourself get caught up in the details of life. Not like I am, anyway.

Ciao,
Nora