I blogged here last week, about Greyfox’s frostbite and other recent events.  It was cross-posted on Facebook, had a few views and comments.  Now it has vanished.

This winter, my time and energy have largely been taken up with mundane matters of fire and water:  tending the wood stove and melting snow.  Doug (my adult son, for those who are not familiar) and I were snowed in here for several weeks by a series of snowfalls in November and early December.  Shoveling roofs and chopping wood took priority over the driveway, and the work went slowly.  He dug us out at last ten days before Christmas  and we loaded jugs and buckets in the Jeep’s hatch for a trip to the spring, intending first to go to the grocery store.  By the time we were done at the store, it was dark.  We decided to put the water run off until the next day.

It started snowing before we got home.  That night, each time I looked out the window, I was amazed at how thick, fast and heavy the snow was coming down.  “Down” is generally the way snow falls, but occasionally this snow was coming “down” sideways.  It was a local phenomenon, right around here.  The rest of the area got between 8 inches and a foot or two that night; our neighborhood got an officially reported 39 inches.  It made statewide news.  We were snowed in again, and haven’t been out since.  More snow has fallen in the meantime.  This Wednesday, two days ago, Doug had gotten almost done shoveling.  Yesterday morning the snowplow went by on the road and left a berm across our driveway.  Doug shoveled some of it yesterday.  Maybe we’ll be able to get out the driveway in a day or two.

Metaphysical “fire” and “water”, the classical elements of spirit and emotion, have been prominent parts of my winter experience, too.  Two weeks ago, my husband, Greyfox, who lives 50 miles or so from here on the edge of Wasilla, frostbit his hands and feet, the left foot rather severely.  At the time it happened, he was out of communication with me for more than a day.  That is a very rare occurrence with him.  He usually calls several times each day.  Not being able to get out of here to check on him, or to get through on his cell, knowing something was very wrong, was an emotional trial through which only Spirit has sustained me.  His emotional state since the experience, the inexplicable anger, vulgarity and profanity flowing from him (no other person, no impersonal force, did this to him – he did it himself) have not been easy to take without responding in kind, but I’ve managed.  He was up here this week, dropping off supplies on a trip to the clinic, getting around with difficulty on a crutch, looking gray and haggard.  I had made some med-packs for him: amino acids, nootropics, cognitive enhancers, vitamins and minerals, and his mood is noticeably improved after a couple of days on them.

I knew it had been a while since I had blogged, but it came as a bit of a surprise to see that it had been 3 months.  In that latest entry from mid-November, I mentioned my dog.  He died December 22.  What with that, Greyfox’s situation, being snowed in and ill a lot, this has been a rough winter so far… but it is getting better.  Days grow longer and generally warmer.  I’m okay.