Fog

Suddenly colder, the night air begins to gather vapor. The stark moon pales, grows soft, and a halo forms a red ring around it. Thickening, the air becomes luminous as shadows vanish. Hours pass, and the moon is lost, its light spun to silk by the ever denser fog. Trees are enveloped by drifting shrouds, the woods shrink, and all trace of the town vanishes. The only sound is the occasional flutter of a mulberry leaf letting go of the nearly bare branches and twigs. The fog keeps me outdoors, despite the intense chill. It will probably take hours for me to warm up again. It was worth it.

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With thanks to Jesse: Sex (requires Flash player.) I feel especially sad for the little bunny (or whatever creature that is) who plays the keyboard. He's got a "0" on his shirt.

Freeze

Going outside today is like having an ice cube stick to your skin. Everything is damp from very little rain, and the steely gray sky presses on the treetops. The landscape goes vague at a quarter mile, and then vanishes just beyond that. Snow now seems likely. Everything smells of the drifting wood smoke that curls from chimneys and stovepipes. I hear cars passing along the road to the west as shoppers rush home from the stores. A single squirrel darts across the shiny pavement of my street, eager to get underground before nightfall. Birds are already gone from the early dusk. I can feel the heat leaving my head, and my frozen breath lingers in the still air. I expect to hear someone speaking Russian. Time to go indoors.