Brrrr it’s cold. The thermometer kissed 20 this morning and I am in the cold frozen office with 2 sweatshirts on over my p.j.’s. Yesterday was windy, but mostly sunny and not particularly cold, but as the evening came on that wind blew stronger and those temps dropped lower. By the time there were only the 2 of us plus dogs lying on the living room floor, it was down right mean outside. The perfect opportunity to try out a new heat source.

For 30 years, with only a brief 2 year hiatus in the early 1970’s, we have heated with wood. We love wood heat and I love being able to get rid of paper trash via the stove. But it’s hard work to keep the woodpile filled and alas - wood heat is also dirty. I dust and sweep and mop more than anybody I know and my house is no showplace. We always knew that there would come a time when wood heat might not be the best option. Events over the past year have hinted to us that this time might just about be right now. First - you can’t get house insurance any more if wood is your sole heat source. (They actually say primary, but you don’t have to use your primary heat source, just call it that.) Then, I had a lot of inner ear trouble last year and I am sure that downdraft smoke didn’t help any. Then there was the Heart Attack, from which BD is vastly recovered, but there you have it .... bodies change and circumstances change and our behavior has to change to fit it. And so, when an add for infra-red quartz heaters showed up in the August Sunday paper, BD was intrigued and we ordered one. It came on Wed and we plugged it in that night. Interesting. Of course, I haven’t a clue how expensive it’s going to be to run, but it really does heat the whole downstairs. The heat doesn't feel the same as a wood stove's heat, but in its own way it's a nice enough feel. In a way that’s clean and soot free and well - we shall just have to wait and see if it sucks up the last remaining pennies in our budget to run. I will say that last night the den, which is the second coldest room in the house, was nice and warm enough to be in without a sweater. The wood stove heat never penetrates to the den.

And so - Here it is, today, the day after Thanksgiving. I sit with my distended stomach and sugar furred teeth, clutching the caffeine-au-hot mug in my chilly fingers - thinking about my New Christmas Notebook. That’s the only real thing on the agenda, other than making sure all my rock spindles are ready for Tuesday and pawing through Christmas decorations in the attic. I am officially now only 1.5 socks away from December 25. Other socks may appear between now and then, but for sure the 1.5 left will be knit down to 0 left, over the next few weeks.

Hooray for holidays.