'Tis the Season to be Freezin'

"Antisthenes says that in a certain faraway land the cold is so intense that words freeze as soon as they are uttered, and after some time then thaw and become audible, so that words spoken in winter go unheard until the next summer." ~Plutarch, Moralia

So, the cute local weather lady says that 'it already feels like 1 below 0º' and, having just come in from an event (a Young Writer's Conference, sponsored by the terrific Reading Reptile children's bookstore), over in Kansas City, having driven past the old, tired neighborhood where Mom's folks used to live - no more Velvet Freeze where Grandma used to buy us nickel ice cream cones, no more little grocery store around the corner - just come in from taking Mimi out for her late-night walk & shivering pee, I can attest to that: it's COLD!

Delightful it was, seeing young authors & illustrators duly celebrated.

Delightful it is, being home again & setting the faucets to trickling so the pipes won't blow their brains out in the bitter night ahead.