don't go far off

A platter of sugar in the form of burnt sugar cake, a few coloured candles flickering and a badly sung song, made a birthday celebration that created waves of sugar rush around the table. Waves of happiness and gratefulness for being together also glow. Happy birthday Dad. Last night most of the family (minus NZ contingent), plus Olaf's in-laws, gathered together at Mom and Dad's for a birthday celebration. We squeezed around the table, with barely an inch betweens us.

At 8:30 pm it was time for us to shiver into the car and take the long trek home. Frost on the car windows and bits of ice on the road glimmered in the light from the sliver of moon. The seat heaters didn't even really do their jobs. According to the car thermometer it was -25C, and when I checked the weather site they noted a wind chill of -40C (which was warmer than the -45C wind chill on Friday night). We were glad to get safely home as a trip into the ditch could have horrible consequences.

The dogs made the quickest trip outside that they could and then three-legged it back to the house. There was no lingering to check for the scent of rabbits. I stood outside with them, my hood pulled over my head, and my head tipped back to see the night sky. I expected a sky full of bright stars, but many were hidden from sight. Maybe my eyeballs were frosted over.

Happy Valentines day! Do you have special plans or are you like us: "Everyday is Valentine's Day". And it is: we go about our day as if it were any other day… We are actually celebrating with cooking a piece of meat, prime rib specifically. It is rare that a chunk of beast comes through our doors so it is a special treat.  We'll have yorkshire pudding with it (the roast is really just a vehicle for yorkshire).

"Don't go far off, not even for a day, because --
because -- I don't know how to say it: a day is long
and I will be waiting for you, as in an empty station
when the trains are parked off somewhere else, asleep.

Don't leave me, even for an hour, because
then the little drops of anguish will all run together,
the smoke that roams looking for a home will drift
into me, choking my lost heart.

Oh, may your silhouette never dissolve on the beach;
may your eyelids never flutter into the empty distance.
Don't leave me for a second, my dearest,

because in that moment you'll have gone so far
I'll wander mazily over all the earth, asking,
Will you come back? Will you leave me here, dying? "

~Pablo Neruda