first christmas tree 53

It is cold this morning, literally freezing which is good for the ski resorts nearby as is the fairly minimal snow fall, many inches below normal; but at least the temperatures have fallen.  Distantly, you can see some snow on the tall mountain nearby; probably above 8or9 thousand feet.  The sunrises returned, florescent; but this morning we'll do something beside a sunrise although this one is particularly nice given the clouds in the east.

The small  thing (I need to get a zoomed in copy and insert it below) is in the middle of nowhere,  close to where I am and towards town.  it may be for someone who died, but it happens to be the first Christmas tree i saw this year and it brought color and pathos to my life as I drove into town although I do not know if I need pathos.

I did over 3 miles of hiking and i am tired. Yesterday was every bit as exhausting as i feared; but i have certainly made the bed i am sleeping in.  i look forward and dread Sunday with its strange goodbyes, half assurances,  recriminations and the self loathing that comes with it.  The dog was asleep on a couch this morning.

I did make a stab today at fixing the problem that was assigned to me yesterday, but i cannot expect to hear back soon; probably not even in time given the bizarre time frame I was handed.  Anyone on vacation would have missed it.

The coyotes were going crazy in the freezing cold.  It is strange for them to be so wild and vocal and then the silence. 

There is a new covid variant this week, the rich countries did not take care of the poor ones, so the poor ones gave the rich ones what they deserved.  It is nice being in the middle of nowhere and on something of a break from the real world, but it is lonely and it is like watching a movie about the end of the world, going out with insane reactions to reasonable restrictions and a whimper instead of a bang; or maybe the bang will get here soon enough.  The idiots who don't want to wear a mask are seeing the reason for doing so now, but they are not the kind of people who would understand mutations or natural selection or evolution and they have leadership in government which would surprise me if I thought human intelligence meant anything.  This is the way the universe proves me right and exonerates me; although neither of us believes that (completely may be added in my case since a part of me believes my science at that level) and it does nothing to comfort me; comfort eludes me and I think of the cows who bear their lot in the freezing rain, the snow and the cold of this morning with such Je ne sais quoi.

Would it be any different with you, or is all love pain? The people here only make me feel lonelier, because they are here for such a short time, like the coyotes who are so haunting because they howl so loud and then go quiet in the night.