Ashfield (and much of New England) has been in a state of emergency for the past two days. Thousands of trees down, the whole town without power for much of that time (many homes will have to wait a week for power, water and heat). We got off light. Our wood stove kept us warm, so we hosted some neighbors overnight. Plenty of kerosene lamps and candles. Unfortunately, our solar hot water and on-demand propane backup both require electricity, so we had no hot water. Otherwise we were quite cozy. And the moon on the ice-covered forest was magical.

With regret, I canceled my talk in Monson. That was good, because I might well have gotten stranded there, far from home.