Riding my bike for a couple hours this afternoon, sticking to the low hills as the snow it only a couple hundered meters above town. On my way home I ran into a friend on the street. He has just moved to town this summer and is looking at his first winter in ZD. As we continued down the side walk he confesed finding pleasure in work and using work to combat boredom. One of the facts of life in small towns is that if you don't know how to keep your self buisy you will loose you mind. It's true, I'm not just saying that for effect.

Then as we were parting ways, he casualy mentioned that it was -10C last night. which means it was -10c in my house. It's intresting how you get use to these things. always being a little bit cold. it's not like cold weather in Canada, where it's just cold out side. Here it's cold every where. Even houses and coffee shops have a nip to them. The cold becomes part of life here, so normal that you give it very little thought, even if it is a constent topic of conversation and plan your day around it.

All that is good and well. It's one thing to happily endure a slight hardship if you have no other choice, it's quite another to chose to. one of the truths to living in ZD is that you have to leave regularly if not often. kind of like taking showers. Though I've spent enough winters in ZD to consider my self a resident, if only a part time one, I'm going south for my last month in Yunnan. roaming free in the Chang Shan for December.

RIP Strobi.

out...