I woke up this morning to 6 degree frigid weather, having spent the entire day yesterday in a 20 degree cold front.
My boss was in a state of panic over his cat, who had never returned home having left the night before. After noon I found the cat, "Zero," perched in the branches of a pine tree simply terrified. How he managed to get up there without any claws was a mystery, and clearly he couldn't get down. Living above 7,500 ft in the middle of pine tree's may have an advantage we had never considered before... the pine sap may be the perfect adhesive for a de-clawed cat to get to the top branches of a pine tree!
I pulled a metal ladder to the tree, but my hands were freezing onto the ladder. My boss wanted me to pull my truck around, and use the bed of the truck to reach Zero, but I didn't dare do that because the backhoe woman has closed off the rear entrance making it impossible for me to get out with a vehicle as large as a 4 door Ford350 without added problems - like getting stuck.
So while my boss became angry at the backhoe woman and ranted and raved about her breaking the sale contract by blocking off the rear entrance/exit I struggled in the freezing cold to get the cat out of the tree, and tried to get my 85 yr old boss to go back home to make it a whole lot easier.
Only after my boss went home did things become a lot less chaotic, and Zero quietly jumped from one branch to another until he was safe in my reach. But by that time I had been coaxing the cat for 2 hours and I was a frozen icicle, nothing I could do for the rest of the evening would stop that awful feeling of being cold right to the bone .
The 6 degree weather that met me this morning wasn't welcome. While I was asleep Wally had curled up and gone to sleep at my back, Copper and Rio had found a way to scrunch up to my front and sleep. Their body warmth keeping me toasty warm. When I woke up and moved them the cold cut into me like a knife.
I had so much work scheduled for the next 3 days. I was supposed to take all the dogs to Becky Washburn DVM to get their shots updated - but in this temperature my truck won't start. I have to get to the bank for my boss, and on Thursday Mike, Jan and I have to return to Tulerosa to pick up the remaining supplies for my land/home that I purchased last year.
The trip to Tulerosa isn't causing any joy whatsoever. Everyone is so disheartened that I keep trying to get this property livable but they all know that without help from someone who understands construction we are all just swimming upstream.
Without the stolen money being returned I just can't earn the amount needed to hire people... and my health can't withstand any more homelessness. The weight of the combined factors stole our joy a long time ago and with everyone folding financially in tough economic times it's such a dismal, defeating - and joyless - task.
Yet in a frozen tundra getting anything done is difficult, getting my body moving is more of a challenge than I really like. All we need is a little sunshine, and a little warm weather just to get us through the next 3 days... failing that I will try to find some humor - though humor seems not to come easily anymore.
Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keep friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment. ~ Greenville Kleisser
