1/15/24 Austin, Texas

This is my third freeze spent in Austin. The first had been in my car in the winter of 2021-2022. The second was spent living indoors with comics for 2022-2023. This winter is spent with a fantastic woman that is much prettier than my former roommates and helps keep our bed much warmer than the hammock in my car ever got. Growing up in the Midwest I’ve lived through much colder temperatures. I was working outside the winter that Lake County was colder than Siberia and Antarctica, -40 degrees, and for two days it was the coldest place in the world. But Austin is different. This city isn’t built for those temperatures. The summer of ‘22 was so dry that in the winter of 2022-’23 the trees snapped from the weight of the ice. It was a constant state of suspense, waiting for the cracking sounds and the carnage. The trees in Illinois don’t snap. Illinois -1, Texas - 0.

Currently there are no trees creaking. The ice hasn’t arrived yet. Just the sounds of an exhausted heater and faucets dripping. I always enjoyed the prepping and enduring of disasters and modern survival situations. Dripping faucets, filling up the bath tub, stocking up on canned goods, having flashlights placed throughout the apartment or house or car. It’s mirco-primitism, and I love it.

While in Oklahoma last weekend I picked up a microwave from my aunts. I used it yesterday and that was the first time I’d used one in 5 months. I didn’t have one in the camper. I’ve grown accustomed to reheating food with a pan and the oven. And I prefer it that way. It’s less convenient than a microwave and far more rewarding. Oddly enough, I stalled for a moment trying to refamiliarize myself with it. I was reheating rice for 30 seconds, it doesn’t get any easier than that, and somehow I didn’t remember. I figured it out, I’m not an idiot. But I don’t like the feeling of losing that small bit of struggle with using the stove. I don’t want things to be easy. I don’t want a cooking device with preset cooking times for potatoes, popcorn, thaw.

How funny would it be if I was trying to figure out how to use the microwave and the closest big tree snapped and landed on me?

Defrost veggies - SPLAT