12/26-27: grimming it up, a visiting neighbor, & electricity back on

I couldn't write on the 26th because our electricity went out sometime around midnight on Christmas night, and it didn't come back on until lunchtime on the 27th.  Though it wasn't exactly fun to be without light, regular heat, and hot water, we are lucky to have a fireplace and so could use that for some warmth and cooking.  Now that electricity is restored, I'm looking forward to a hot shower and to wearing fewer than four layers of clothes and blankets.  I am very grateful to the various crews who have been working non-stop all around the state to get people's energy restored as quickly as possible.

As we spent yesterday next to the hearth, I read a lot, and my reading of choice was Grimms' Tales.  I had hopes of reading all 279 tales included in Zipes' edition by the end of 2012, as my own celebration of the bicentennial of the publication of the Grimms' first edition back in 1812.  I read steadily over the summer and into the early fall;  however, by October and November it looked unlikely that I would finish by the end of the December (though still possible to finish in early 2013).  A revised goal seemed fine.  Now, however, no revision is necessary:  the power outage kept me by the fireside with my book, and I finished reading the last tales just as the electricity returned.

Yesterday I saw this crow from our window, and it seemed atmospherically perfect for my reading:

And last night, when the sun had set and it had gotten too dark inside to read by firelight alone, one of our neighbors stopped by to make sure we were okay--he hadn't seen any tracks coming down the hill from our house, so he wanted to check in on us.  We sat in the near darkness by the fire for awhile, chatting and drinking cinnamon whiskey.