BRRR-R-R!!

Holy c-c-c-crap, it’s c-c-c-cold!! Yesterday was -28C (around -20F), but with the wind chill, it was -43 (roughly the same, whichever way you look at it!). It didn’t warm up much, either. This morning, there is no wind, but the temperature has plummeted to -42! This is the kind of weather that makes the Bag Lady question her sanity. Why does she live here?

She didn’t do much of anything yesterday. Chopped some firewood and brought it into the house. Then spent most of the day curled up close to the woodstove with her nose in a book.

Books have always been an important part of the Bag Lady’s life. She remembers in junior high school when she discovered one of her favourite authors. The librarian at the school was a rather crotchety woman who seemed to be extremely old. She was very strict about maintaining silence in her library, and managed to control all those young teenagers with a look.

One day, the shy young Bag Lady was wandering around in the library, reveling in the smell of the books, trying to choose something to read. There were no other children in the library, and Mrs. W. was in a reasonably good mood. She finally asked the youngster what type of book she liked to read. Uncertain of how to answer, the Bag lady mumbled something about mysteries. Mrs. W. pointed her in the direction of the fiction section, and told her to try one of the books by Mary Stewart. Mrs. W. confided that Mary Stewart was one of her own personal favourite authors, and she was sure that the Bag Lady would enjoy her books. Thus began a life-long love affair with Mary Stewart’s eloquent prose. The Bag Lady became a devoted fan, and eventually purchased every one of Mary Stewart’s books that she could find. This also set the pattern for the Bag Lady’s desire to collect all the books written by certain authors. She has almost all of the books Agatha Christie ever wrote, and collects everything she can find by authors like Jonathan Kellerman, Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, Michael Connelly, Sharyn McCrumb, Robert Crais, Dick Francis….the list goes on and on.

The Bag Lady keeps all her books, too. At the rate that she devours them, she can’t afford hardcovers, but has paperbacks in almost every room in her house. In fact, the only rooms without bookshelves are the bathrooms. And she may have to start putting them there, too! She reads her favourites again and again, and always has at least one book on the go.

So thanks, Mrs. W., for introducing the Bag Lady to the wonderful world of fiction.

The Bag Lady finished the latest Linda Fairstein yesterday. She will have to root around in the bookshelves for something for the continuing cold snap. What else is there to do when it’s cold enough outside to freeze exposed flesh in under 2 minutes? Stoke up the fire and settle in with a good book!