I guess it is finally dawning on me that I am one of those people they are talking about when they warn older adults with heart and other circulation diseases to stay inside when the temperature falls below zero. I have constantly jeered at this and been sure they could not be talking about me.

Today, I guess I learned better. My hubris caught up with me, as it tens to do. The cold outsmarted me.

When I left the Mansion this morning, I felt tired. I know I didn’t have Covid because I was tested for it at the Mansion, and the test was negative. But when I got home, my temperature was 95 and dropping.

There is nothing I love in the world more – except Maria than sailing around looking for photos to take with my new and mysterious Leica. I was aware of the day getting colder and I was feeling the cold acutely.

I’ve been warned that for someone my age with heart disease and diabetes, this temperature reading is mostly like to mean I’m getting hypothermia, and I needed to get out of the cold (I was running around all morning outside), get warm, and get rest. And soon.

I lay down and fell asleep and woke up two hours later. It was a profound sleep. Maria was not home.

When I woke up, I did all of those things I was told to do. Maria came home,  and she swung into action and filled me with tomato soup, wrapped me in blankets, and brought steaming mugs of tea. First, she allowed me ten minutes to go outside and take some pictures of the shadows on the barn.

I was wrapped up like a mummy.

I’m feeling stronger, warmer, and hydrated.

Tomorrow, it will be -4, and I’m not planning to go anywhere. Tonight, we are both looking forward to sleeping on our new Casper mattress, which has had the recommended 24 hours to breathe and settle itself.

I sat on it, and it felt good. I think it’s happy here. We’ve finally waited years to get a new mattress, and we are looking forward to trying it out.

Tonight, I’m getting the royal treatment – Maria is making me a special soup. I better be well by tomorrow because Wednesday is belly dancing night in Bennington, Vt. Maria has made it clear that nothing less than my being in intensive care in a hospital will keep her from the class. She means it too, which is one of the many things I love about her.

I’ll be good. And my instructions are pretty simple. Stay inside and write. I can do that.