i really do hate the cold, except when it’s on the other side of a window from me and i’m not forced to go out into it. if i can get up when i want, enjoy a fire, relax and only go out when i feel like going for a walk or getting some exercise then it can be really fun … well for a few weeks at least. the real hassles seem to happen when i might have to get up early, shovel snow, wear way too much clothing and brave way too cold weather.

i’m up in Vermont at dad’s all this week, spending lots of time reading, studying thai (again), eating great food, drinking some amazing wines, having really good cheeses, reading back issues of the new Yorker, listening to dad read the obituaries out loud and just relaxing. i haven’t had a chance to see my dad, his girlfriend or my brother since they visited thailand, so this is really nice to be able to just spend a week hanging out. i haven’t practiced my ashtanga practice in a few days, but have been taking long walks in the woods with dad and zak every day.
as it seems to be all over the world, the weather is a tad fucked-up here too. it is much warmer than it has been in previous years and no snow yet (when i was growing up there were feet of snow by now). the mild weather has let us fall into this rather nice routine: dad and nancy get up around 7 and goes to work, zak and i get up around 9, we have coffee and read until noon, dad comes home to cook lunch, then hiking for 2-3 hours, back to nap, then dad or nancy cooks dinner, bed around 11.

when i saw the al gore movie, An inconvenient Truth, it was the first time in a long while that i felt any sense of national pride. watching my ex-vice president / man-who-should-of-been-president speak about climate change and climate problems with passion and dedication was a very welcome change from watching the asshole-who-is-president speak about killing people. al gore talks about how the increase in carbon gases in the atmosphere over the last 100 years has caused a very measurable change in our climate. he shows how average temperatures are increasing and as they do, the number of natural disasters each year increases too. when i notice climate changes each year, i can’t help thinking about the movie. each winter i come back to visit vermont it seems warmer than the previous year. my dad lives out in the middle of nowhere in a converted one-room schoolhouse. normally we can go snowshoeing right out the backdoor, but last year there wasn’t enough snow to go even once. this year they might eventually get some snow, but aside from a quick-to-melt dusting, it sure hasn’t happened yet.

the last two pictures below are from winter two years ago when there was lots of snow.

me trying to stay warm

with my brother at a waterfall that should be frozen by now

with my dad on top of a hill outside his house

me with my paternal grandparents and my cousin jessie

out hiking two years ago with dad and zak

chopping wood for the fire two years ago