Reverence: Journal Entry, 8 January 2022

 

8 January 2022. Saturday. Noon. At Starbucks.

It takes effort to live without centralized heat. Last evening and this morning have been most challenging regarding keeping (most of) the house warm. It was single digits (f) last evening and this morning (but is supposed to warm up to about the freezing point today). When I woke under a pile of blankets I knew it was cold because my nose was cold and I could see my breath (my face is basically the only exposed part of me as I sleep comfortably in my blanket "nest."

Going downstairs and checking the thermostat (which is basically used as a thermometer these days) it read 36f (2c). The two old pugs—Maxwell and Franklin—were curled in a tight ball and looking at me like, “Hey Joe, when you gonna heat this place up?” It took about an hour to bring the front of the house up to a balmy 60f (15c).

Last evening while going through some photos of New Orleans I found one from ST. Louis Cathedral (I was day dreaming about an upcoming trip—later this spring—with Isaac, but also about heat). The day that the photo was made was scorching and entering the cool, quiet sanctuary was the balm that I needed. There was a sign which made sense to me when I saw it…“Please Maintain An Atmosphere of Reverence.” It’s a sign—or sentiment—that should be carried with us in our hearts through out our daily lives. It is so easy to forget and very difficult to remember.

Yesterday I received $55 in royalties from book sales from the holidays. Most of it was spent on having  the chain replaced on the electric bike (it still skips, which means the rear cog also needs to be replaced).

There is bread rising at home as I write these words. I left a burner on the stove on low to warm the kitchen enough for the bread to rise.

My little artificial Christmas Tree is still up and lit; I light it every day. I haven’t taken it down out of laziness, but mostly because I’m finding it beautiful. Like many, I’m feeling sentimental and fragile this year.

New Years Day always seems like a good time to start over, which has different meanings to different people; a time to re-boot (to use today’s parlance). We are one week into the new year and I feel like I need to start over (again). And that is okay, I suppose, we are able to start over each day. That is one of life’s blessings.