Do you believe that it got up to 48 degrees today? I threatened to open all the doors and windows but was overruled by the chilly guy that lives with me.

I did some cleaning today, the living room and the bathrooms upstairs. Then I had to go to the dentist. I have had a tooth sensitive to cold and heat. Dr. White is pretty sure that the nerve is just exposed. He sealed it with a temporary seal and if that helps he will put a more permenent seal on it. There is no sign of infection or decay and that is certainly a relief.

I also went to the DNR and picked up my hunting licenses for the year. So a lot was accomplished.

Chelsea got her bath today too. I really hesitated because the snow and ground are so scuzzy with mud and muck and that greasy black oily stuff. But she was gray from the tip of her fur all the way in to her pink little skin. I think the bath really took a lot out of her. She has been pretty subdued all day. But she is clean and pretty as a picture.

We have found a new channel on TV called METV out of Milwaukee. There is no printed or TV Schedule but we have chanced upon Cheers, Alfred Hitchcock, Mary Tyler Moore. So it has been fun.

Jeff called me this afternoon. He and Kathy are coming to walk in the parade with us and he MAY come on Sunday to listen to Blarney. I am excited about Monday's parade. I may attend the Tea at the Art Center on Sunday too. If Jeff comes on Sunday or if Nancy Roehre wants to, I will go to listen to Blarney for a bit too.

Now that it winter is kind of winding down, I will share a poem I wrote in the coldest months about our old red house and how cold it was in the mornings of winter.

Love

Mary

Our Kitchen

by Mary J. Kunert

The fire in the old coal furnace
In the old farm house
Barely lasted until dawn,
Winter being what it is.
Poor Mother had to get up in the cold
And trek down to the basement
To throw more coal on the ashes.
Then she shut the doors to the kitchen
And lit the oven.
We, her munchkins, woke one by one,
Left the cozy caves of our quilt topped beds
And stumbled down the stairs
To the warm cocoon that she had prepared.
We huddled, all of us, in that place
Eating our breakfast and drinking hot chocolate
Until the newly stoked fire sent its fingers of warmth
Through the house and we could again
Venture forth.