Chapter 84

The thaw came without my realizing it. One day I observed a sun dog, one of those pale, rainbow-like spots between clouds that often herald impending changes in the weather, and the next morning woke to the sound of dripping water. After assuring that my spigots had not failed in the bathing room, I opened the door stark naked and observed icicles slowly disappearing from the eaves. That dripping sound was snow dissolving from my roof. Of course, the warmth of the house sped the process, but even the snow load on the trees was not so great, and the crick shed its skim of ice, running free and clear.