Fireplace

Instead of the forecast two degrees warmer, the day started out one degree colder from yesterday.  I was angry but, of course, after reaching twenty degrees below zero a few degrees one way or the other doesn't make much difference.  The house was cold when I got up.  I started a fire in the fireplace and for breakfast baked a puffed pancake which requires the oven to be on for 30 minutes.   By the time the sun was rising in a clear sky, the house was  toasty and I had a very tasty breakfast.  Passive solar heating would keep the house warm for the rest of the day.   Yesterday I'd had to go w/ Whip whenever she wanted to go outside.  Today the rabbits helped me.  They sat munching seeds under the bird feeders.  This gets Whip excited and all I had to do was open the back door and she was out the door bounding over the two foot drift on the deck.  The rabbits easily made it back under the deck each time.  Whip would get a little exercise and all I had to do was wait by the front door to let her back inside.  My snowplow guy texted me asking if my driveway needed a clean out.  It's wide open up here on the ridge so it can easily drift shut but looks OK so far.  However, high winds are due tomorrow again.  I said I'd text him on Monday if I needed him to make a pass.  As Aristotle pointed out "To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold."  

(Yes, I know Aristotle didn't really say that and, except for seeing it on Mt. Olympus' peak,  I'm not sure he ever even saw snow.)