October 3, 2002

• My work here is done.  The sun was going down yesterday as I climbed back down that ladder for what I hope is the last time this year.

  
  

  It was cold up there yesterday.  It had cleared off.  In June, July or August, clear skies and high barometric pressure generally mean warm weather.  All the rest of the year, it just means that all our heat can escape to outer space.

  
  

  The roof was wet, and covered with wet, rotting leaves.  My jeans and long johns were soaked by the time I was done, from sitting and crawling on the roof to seal the last two seams.  I was chilled, shivering, and whimpering (okay, a couple of times I screamed) with muscle spasms.  The spasms are part of the damned disease:  myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue immunodysfunction syndrome AKA fibromyalgia. 

  
  

  Each time a spasm hit me, I focused on it and used the PainSwitch to take the pain out of the sensation.  By the time I was back inside, I had tense muscles all through my back and legs.  I peeled out of my wet clothes while the teakettle was heating.  Then I poured a hot drink and the rest of the boiling water went into the hot water bottle, and I crept under the covers with it.

  
  

  At times like these, I really miss the civilized amenities of hot and cold running water.  In a hot bath, I can warm up and loosen those tight muscles quickly.  But the little rubber bottle does the job… it just takes longer.  Finally, after Greyfox baked a frozen pizza and served me, I eventually warmed the last tense area into submission.

  
  

  I am ever so glad that job is finished.  I suppose next I should dismantle the furnace and lubricate that noisy bearing, since we didn’t get around to replacing the motor this summer.  We have been getting by with just the woodstove for heat so far, but these last two cold nights have brought the indoor temps down into the low forties (Fahrenheit)… that’s single digits Celsius.  It’s okay as long as we’re under the covers, but makes it shocking to jump out of bed in the morning.

  
  

  Before I start on the furnace, I have other housekeeping chores to do, and I’ve promised readings to a few Xangans.  Compared to the work just completed, and the chore of dismantling the furnace and carrying the motor out to my bed where there is sufficient light and space to work on it, the work I have planned for today will be a breeze.

  
  

  Greyfox went to Talkeetna and set up his stand yesterday, since the sun was out.  He did no business at all, so today he chose to go in the other direction, visit the library and get laundry done.  If the sunny weather lasts until the weekend, there may be some people in Talkeetna.  It’s a bit early to shut down for the winter, but the main season is definitely over.  He’s bummed about it, and in a generally crappy mood, but still sober so far.  His mood took a hit yesterday, and not just from the nothing day at the stand.

  
  

  There is this great little orange tomcat in Talkeetna, named Stubbs because of his short tail.  He more or less nominally “belongs to” Nagley’s Store, but he really owns all of downtown.  He often curls up in Greyfox’s car to snooze away the day.  Yesterday Greyfox discovered that one of the local miscreants had cut off Stubbs’s whiskers.  We are appalled.  I just hope Stubbs manages to survive until they grow back out.  He is such a neat cat, words fail me.  You just have to know him to appreciate the insouciance of his personality.  People can be such… arrrgh!

  • 2:32 pm
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