January 19, 2022

Good morning!

It’s Wednesday. Oscar Wilde wrote that conversation about the weather “is the last refuge of the unimaginative,” and I’ve been talking about the weather a lot lately. But you have to understand. Here in Maine, the weather is basically the equivalent of putting your favorite book, TV show, movie, podcast, and YouTube channel in a blender and power-spraying it at your house 24 hours a day.

The show is always good, but especially so in the winter. Just when you think you might be watching a rerun, the writers tweak the script and keep it interesting.

In my search for a more weather-positive quote to balance out Wilde’s snark, I stumbled upon words from author, essayist, and executor of Walt Whitman’s literary estate, Horace Traubel. He wrote:

“If the world is cold, make it your business to build fires.”

But here’s where it gets good.

At Traubel’s funeral, the church where his service was about to be held burst into flames the moment his hearse pulled up. I kid you not.

Clearly, Traubel was a man of his word.

Onwards we go,

Clara