The Door Into Winter 2

More storm shelter thoughts

This is a sequel, of sorts, to this post.

Last year, when I wrote that previous post on 2024-12-07, things were good. I had been looking forward to Christmas 2023, and - at that time - working in 2024.

The runup to Christmas has always been a time of wanting to hibernate. The world shuts down, and there is little to do during the long nights but curl up somewhere warm and enjoy what company you have with you.

The world became a lot darker this year, not long after my birthday at the end of June. I lost my job; my parents are feeling their age; and numerous other misfortunes of a personal nature just piled up on my head.

I’ve wanted nothing more than to curl up and hibernate, to clamber aboard a ship’s boat like the one above, nestled deep in the heart of some starship suspended in the void between worlds, feet up on the flight console, my favourite music belting out in the cockpit, and all of my cares and woes left back on the docking bay floor of the starport on the last planet visited.

When the ship lifts, all bills are paid. No regrets.
— Robert Heinlein, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long