Friday, January 23rd

TWELVE BELOW ZERO this morning. The pipes in the kitchen and the guest bathroom are frozen. The arctic sea smoke was thick and steaming over the ocean after the sun rose. I sat down and wrote a poem very fast … this is what has not happened until today and always seems like a “possession.”

The amazing cat went out at eight and will not come in. How can she stand it? The gale, we were told this morning by Don Kent, makes the wind chill -50°! That is what it is to have fur!

I have a little joke which is that only the rich can afford to stay in New England in winter … the poor go to Florida. My heat bill was $250.00 for December. I just paid the plumber $69.00 for fixing the hot water heater, and now, of course, there’ll be more to pay for unfreezing the pipes.