There is no question about it: the snow and ice hanging on every branch, twig and other appendage is winter wonderland gorgeous! And that would be perfect if we had nothing else to do but play dominoes, eat leftovers and make coffee on the wood stove.

But then all of you, who share with us this lovely New England weather, know these things. I am going down and hook up our 5KW generator and pretend life is normal for a while. Power has been off and on all night and promises to keep that up today. I’ll gas up, hook up the cable, throw the proper switches and crank it up. I love electricity, even if I have to make it myself.

There are other things to do: snow/ice to remove and just for good measure, wood to bring in from the shed. All the while, the temperature is rising slowly. I hope, I hope, I hope.