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Showing posts from January, 2014

Under the Cold January Sun: a short story by Peter Hogenkamp and an original painting by Peter Huntoon, on the Saturday Evening blog Post, Edition #14.

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It was about ten years ago and we were in the middle of arctic front that lasted about eight days. From what I can remember, there were three days when the temperature never got above -10 degrees. Now, you smart people out there will realize this would be a good time to hunker down by the wood stove and settle in to a good book . But I was young (still less than 40) and foolish (those of you who know me well will have no trouble believing that.) And so I snowshoed up the second highest mountain in Vermont that day, Killington Peak, when the temperature at the base was -12 degrees Fahrenheit, and the summit was -20 and whipped by a COLD wind.  In the following years I have thought much about that day, and when the quintessential Vermont artist Peter Huntoon asked me to write a short story for his website, that day under the cold January sun came right to mind. I have always loved paradoxes, and the idea that the sun (which is 27 million degrees F at its core--although only a coo

The January Thaw: The Saturday Evening Blog Post, Edition #13

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It happens to me, too, you know, that temptation--when it's five degrees below zero, cold enough to freeze your nose hairs into needles--to pack up and move to Southern California where the sun shines 330 days a year and the temp never goes below 60. But then it warms up and your nose hairs thaw out and the temptation passes, leaving you slightly embarrassed that you ever considered something so ridiculous. It's one of the many things I like about the January thaw (FYI, it was 55 degrees here yesterday on the 11th of January). The grass appears and reminds you of warmer times--and the mole problem I never addressed last year. The snow on the sidewalk melts and I don't have to feel bad I never shoveled it. And the snow banks clogging the turnaround go away, clearing the way for my boys to play mini-hoop. Rest assured it will snow again, and the air will turn colder, but it doesn't matter. Just the reminder that the seasons change and spring threatens is all I need t