October 5, 2015

White Dog watched me shut the front door after the pups ate dinner. It was only seven o'clock and already it was dark. When we were getting ready for bed I asked Steve to turn off the ceiling fan and to lower the window sash a bit.

"It won't be long now until you put the big fluffy comforter back on the bed, will it, momma?" WD asked. "Those of you who always wear a double fur coat simply do not understand the temperature slide and its affects," I defensively replied. "Ask Puff and Ferguson about the cold dampness and how it makes their bones feel."

We have hit that time of year here in New Mexico where the days are perfect and glorious but nights quickly cool off; by dawn it is downright cold.

"Besides, I did leave the bathroom window open! And we have not yet shutdown the swamp cooler! We still have not had our last burst of Summer's really truly farewell."

"Don't worry, momma," said Benson hopping up on the bed. YoYoMa came over to press against my legs. "We will keep you warm." Sachi and Zsofia both reminded me that I could count on them to keep my feet toasty...Sachi on the bed and Zso when I am sitting in the living room and she lies on them.

I turned to WD. "And you have been my shoulder wrap as long as we have been together. Not only do your soft furs provide comfort but they block the door draft and maintain my chair environment at the perfect temp."

I laugh at myself as I think about the winter and cold we lived with during all those decades in Chicago and consider that this momma has lost that hardy Midwestern resignation to grey and ice and wind chills. Now when friends back East call during the coming half of the year I have to really concentrate to recall the conditions they endure and to not be unkind in sharing our hikable, alfresco dinable days and juniper scented nights as we briskly walk the dogs under the stars bundled up in our heaviest sweaters.