We have been under the influence of some kind of weather system called a "polar vortex" that sent temperatures plunging well below zero last night. When I went to bed, it was already a frigid -13 degrees with stiff winds blowing outside. The house where I live is old and very drafty and has badly warped windows that leave large cracks in the sashes through which a lot of very cold air has been blowing. I have draft blockers on my window sills, and that does some good, but not much when it gets this cold. Storm windows have been installed as well, providing a second layer of glass between us (my downstairs neighbor) and outside. Still, we had to bump the thermostat up to 80 degrees last night just to warm the house up to 68 degrees inside. The sheer amount of heat loss is through leaky windows, a bad roof and no insulation. I'm only grateful that we do not pay the heat bill. I hesitate to think what it must be running with the extremely cold weather we're having right now. Fortunately, the temperatures will warm through the rest of the week and by Saturday, it will be downright balmy and in the mid-40s, providing a much welcome thaw to this extreme cold we've had these past few days. I have plenty of warm clothing and blankets that have proven most handy in this extreme cold. Last night I watched TV on the sofa while cuddled under a nice cozy afghan that a member of my church made, and in my favorite colors, too. I fell asleep and woke up sometime in the wee hours of the morning, which is when I checked the temperature outdoors online. Today it actually moved up to 1 degree, and with the sun shining brightly, I was brave enough to venture out to do a few errands. The temperature outside seems to be getting warmer by the hour. It now stands at an almost balmy 3 degrees, up from when I went out earlier today. I think that it will continue to get warmer over the next several days as this "polar vortex" moves off and goes away. I hope that this is the only time all winter that it gets this icy cold. If it does so again, I am well prepared with warm things in this house to keep me comfortable.
FAREWELL TO A DEAR FRIEND
Sad news reached me yesterday of the passing of a dear friend, Peg Roach Loyd, seen here standing second from the left. We met and knew each other from Irish Week at the Augusta Heritage Arts Center at Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia (this is our class photo from Jimmy Crowley's class in 2012.) Peg fought a long and valiant battle against a cancer that so many of us hoped that she would defeat. Sadly, the cancer won the battle and she died early yesterday morning. Peg and I had known each other for absolutely ever, having been classmates many times while at Irish Week. We both shared a love of singing and songwriting and I often envied her almost effortless ability to craft songs while my efforts were filled with great angst. She was a dear friend who I will forever miss seeing every summer. She and several others of us who were long time attendees were regulars at the nightly singing sessions as well. It will seem strange to not see her sitting in her usual spot and sharing her music with us. When a long time teacher of ours, Frank Harte, master balladeer from Dublin, passed away, we left his traditional seat vacant in the evening singing sessions as a way of paying our respects to him. When someone would try to sit there, seeing a vacant chair, we'd say, no, that's Frank's chair, nobody sits there, and if they were not familiar with the late, great Frank Harte, we'd explain to them that he was the heart and soul of the singing sessions as the one who traditionally led them. Peggy didn't lead the sessions, but she definitely played her part in the sessions during Irish week as an acknowledged recording artist. something that many of us could not credit ourselves with. Her seat will be left vacant this summer as a way that we will acknowledge that while she is no longer there with us in body, she will forever be there with us in spirit. She was an integral part of our circle, and now the circle is broken with her gone from it. Her vacant seat will be the symbol of our circle broken with her gone from it. We'll miss her terribly. I know I will. She was a dear friend for more years than I can count. Life will go on, sure, but without her in it, it will be a far different place and something that I will have to get used to now that she's gone from us. Slán abhaile, Peg. You were definitely one of the good ones.
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