Good morning from the front of fire 137. It's 20 below out there at 5:35 AM. I leave for the mail trail in an hour. I am refreshed. Two days off with plenty of sleep.
Hoping my jeep starts and doesn't break in this extreme cold. Everything seems to become brittle when it's this cold.
When I logged we'd slam cut trees around with steel blades on the front of our machines. On mornings like this sometimes the thick steel would crack and break. It surprised me when I first saw this. I thought steel was indestructible.
Sometimes I would get up on cold mornings like this and my Grandpa would tell me to go back to bed. The machines won't start, he'd say. And if they do, by the time we'd get 'em going we wouldn't make any money anyway.
My Grandpa's cousin, who worked with us, was around 60 at the time. He'd been through the Korean War. Worked on airplanes most of his life as an airplane mechanic . . . would say, "this weather isn't fit for man nor beast."
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I was all geared up to copy a calming Rumi quote I opened a book to first thing this morning. I'd share it here, I thought, some people like to start there day off with wisdom. I know I do. But I'm almost out of writing time. So I'll pick a line or two that really speaks to me. It's been awhile since I've read Rumi.
"Remember the deep root of your being, the presence of your lord. Give your life to the one who already owns your breath and your moments. If you don't, you will be like the one who takes his precious dagger and hammers it into his kitchen wall for a peg to hold his dipper gourd. You will be wasting valuable keenness and foolishly ignoring your dignity and purpose."
Ok, that was 4 lines.
Off to the cold that awaits me.
2.18.25
