We got a couple inches of snow today so when I got home I had the pleasure of shoveling it. Most of the time I enjoy shoveling snow. There is something so oddly satisfying about it. But tonight I was not looking forward to it. The temperature is 7F and the wind is picking up making it currently feel like -11F. Why not wait until tomorrow to shovel, you ask, surely it will be warmer in the daylight. Nope. Tomorrow we are being told to expect windchills of -25F. Best to do it tonight.

How does one dress to shovel in such weather? Two pairs of socks and lovely snowboots, sweat pants underneath snowpants, two shirts underneath a sweatshirt, a thick scarf wrapped around the neck, a pair of gloves underneath a pair of mittens, a heavy winter parka with hood pulled up and hood flaps velcroed across the face. I shoveled as fast as I could and actually ended up being warm except for my ears and cheeks. I don’t know why my ears were cold since they were covered, but there you go.

Now I know I was going to post some bookish stuff tonight but the snow event has frozen all my thoughts. One that didn’t freeze is the thumb thing (via Magers and Quinn), a cool little reading accessory that slips over your thumb and holds the pages of your book open so you can read more comfortably with one hand. And it even comes in a variety of colors.

I started reading Novel on Yellow Paper for the Slaves discussion at the end of the month. I’ve only read about 20 pages and I am already loving it. It dashes and dodges all over the place, sort of but not quite what I would call stream-of-conciousness but very similar. And even though the author and characters are British, for some reason it reminds me of when I was a kid listening to my aunts from Oklahoma talking. They’d barely ever pause for breath, their conversation would leap around, they’d interrupt a story to tell another story and then go back to finish the first story, and sometimes they would say things that should have made absolutely no sense but for some reason did. If you want to join in on the discussion for the book, there is still time to get yourself and copy and read it.

I’m also reading Hermione Lee’s biography of Edith Wharton. It is a magnificent biography and Wharton is turning out to be a fascinating subject. I am reading the bio for the Classic Circuit Edith Wharton tour. Edith will be visiting the blog on the 22nd, though I fear I won’t be completely prepared because the book is huge and reading time has shrunk dramatically. I severely miscalculated on the time needed to read this one by a deadline. We’ll see how far I get. I did discover today that Hermione Lee has a great website. I think if I were drawing up a list for a literary dinner party her name would be on it.

Okay, my brain is feeling a little thawed out. I must go now and take advantage of it by attempting to make some intelligent comments in this week’s class discussion.