A day off

   

Do these feathers make my ass look fat?

After a winter complicated by difficult weather, injury, snowmachine breakage and a solid week of working firewood, I decided to take a day off today. At the time I hadn't realized it is April Fools Day. In fact after all that April has offered a blessing.
     In each of the past few years weather has forced me to leave before the end of March. But here it is April, there's plenty of snow, it gets down into the teens at night so the creeks stay frozen and that gives me at least another week and maybe two before I have to hightail it out of here.
     I have a whole rack of lamb and some real baker potatoes I had brought out anticipating a visit from some friends who aren't coming after all. So that's thawed and I will feast later.
I planned to take it easy, if a chore or two came to mind and weren't too difficult I would do them at my leisure.
     With hot chocolate in hand I checked and the mountain is out and in that moment was fortunate to watch an owl fly by in the valley below. Then after a tour of the Internet, I sharpened my chain saw. On a day like this that wore me out so I took a little nap.
     Last night I had noticed my windows were dirty so, next I went outside and washed them, actually only the three I look out from the most. The paint was flaking off the sill of the picture window so I got the little sander and took care of that. I considered painting once the temperature went over 40, but the paint after four winters and summers of freezing and thawing was a sticky, gloppy, muddy mess, so no deal on that.
     Of course there is still a lot of firewood to split, so I took a quick shot at that, filling the sled once and hauling it back to the stacks.
     Interspersed between each of these chores were periods of quiet contemplation sitting in the sun watching the chickadees and not letting anything pressure me at all.
     The only thing I have to do is dishes and that's no big deal.
     As the chickadees flitted back and forth to the feeder I noticed a few of them are noticeably fatter than the others. At first I thought I had fed those especially well over the winter. Then I wondered if they were females developing eggs, or further, perhaps engorged like that they attract males.
     The thermometer on the deck in direct sunlight went over 100 degrees. The one in the shade reads 44. Whichever it is, the day is marvelous.
     So with those adventures behind me, I am about to tackle the dirty dishes.
     Then it's dinner and a movie. Rack of lamb (on the Weber grill), huge baked potato, maybe some green beans and a glass of wine. Then "No country for old men." Isn't that title a beautiful paradox given the old man about to watch it deep in the Alaska forest? As far as I am concerned this country is great for old men, at least this one.