Another Roller-Coaster Winter?

It snowed on Sunday. Right in the middle of October, it snowed. It didn't blanket the yard in white, but it was, nevertheless, snow.

This week, by contrast, is expected to be mild. Though last night the temperature fell below freezing, again, and there was frost on the ground at the Seacoast (where I am as I write), the days are already getting milder and the predicted lows for most of the nights heading into the end of the month are much more tolerable.

I see a trend here. I see a winter with especially cold periods followed by tantalizingly mild weather, followed by bitterly cold periods, with no time to adjust to any of it. I see that I'd better get our heat up and running.

I have to throw in an apology for the recycled picture on Sunday, brought on by a busy Saturday that included William's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's, which is nearly a tradition among the boys' circle of friends. I still can't believe that William is nine. When we first moved to New Hampshire, leaving Karen and William behind for four months, William wasn't even walking, and Daniel hadn't even been born. And here they are growing so fast, both in school all day with homework to do at night.

And Thomas, of course, is an adult. When we moved here he was in the last year of elementary school. Now he has his own car. I best not think about it; time passes too quickly and too little gets done, and it's a bit depressing.

At least we are living in the new house, a house that is, for the first time in the memory of my two younger boys, not for sale, not being shown to strangers. A house that we can put our own individual stamps on, with chalkboard paint, bold colors, and lots of pictures on the walls. A house that is anything but neutral. A house occupied by artists.

Of course we have to finish making it into a house first, with basics like heat and more than one working shower and window casings and baseboards. But even these tasks can be done without thinking about what would appeal to a buyer. What a relief!

Now all we really need to figure out is where to find the time.