TCC for 1/26/08

The Caretaker's Concern 1/26/08
Ghetto temp. 53 F. and rising
Island tmp. 25 F. Yesterday's L/H: 22/22 F. Lake tmp. 32 F.
No wind, thin layer of clouds, enough to lightly obscure the stars.

This evening finished up with dish washing. After all was done, the Caretaker put his water supplies back in the pot closet so they wouldn't freeze up over night, he then took the bucket of waste water out to the fire pit to dispose of. One of the joys, if there are any, of no running water is that it brings you outside. Upon dumping the water the Caretaker noticed that there wasn't a breath of wind. So after returning the waste water bucket to the kitchen of the main house the Caretaker went for a walk around the Island.

Without the wind in the cold of winter, the quiet is grand. In the summer time the Lake is always making a sound. When the wind blows the crash of the waves on the shore can be heard from all points on the Island; when there is no wind, the Lake still makes a sound, a gentle lapping. Come the ice in the winter, when there is no wind, the Lake is quiet. Especially now with the Lake in transition, the ice being so thin. There is the occasional pop or ping or rare times when it sings, but over all, the Lake is mostly quiet. The crunch of snow under foot while walking seems to reverberate. Standing still, at the shoreline of the Island, the only sound to be heard is the quiet murmuring of ice eaters off in the distance. Given the rise in temperature the Caretaker has shut down the Island ice eaters, for now there is no need for them. Given the thin layer of clouds the stars are not so brilliant but their light still shines down, adding to the silence. Quite a bit of water has opened up, which will be good if it freezes in again as black ice. At night while out on the frozen Lake, in the black ice the reflection of the stars on a clear night can make you feel like you are walking on the night sky. If the ice is thick enough to skate on, you can look down and watch as the star light rushes by.

The ice is not strong enough to skate on, so the Caretaker has remained on shore, taking in the quiet of the night.

--The Caretaker