Windy and cold, with the bottom falling out of the thermometer. Below zero tonight. Good for ice making but not much else outside. Pax and I got in a good morning walk, though on our brief evening outing he was starting to pick up his feet. The bird feeders have been extremely busy, with many different species in attendance.

An old saying says that "If you can't stand the cold, get into the kitchen." Thinking of this, we went grocery shopping (out of town) before the Packer game, and came home with more than we should have.

The Moment

The moment when, after many years of hard work and a long voyage you stand in the centre of your room, house, half-acre, square mile, island, country, knowing at last how you got there, and say, I own this,

Is the same moment when the trees unloose their soft arms from around you, the birds take back their language, the cliffs fissure and collapse, the air moves back from you like a wave and you can't breathe.

No, they whisper. You own nothing. You were a visitor, time after time climbing the hill, planting the flag, proclaiming.

We never belonged to you.

You never found us.

It was always the other way round.

— Margaret Atwood