Those clouds which brought a comforting grayness to the early morning failed to provide rain, despite the scent of its impending arrival which then permeated the air. Instead, they thinned and grew mottled, lingering until driven away by the rising moon. Mars is less than one degree distant from the moon tonight, and looking quite pallid. Mars looks the way I feel. Having the furnace on all the time is diminishing my energy (unless that's been done by the succubus, of course), but the alternative is to have my joints ache with the cold. Aging turns out to have been a bad idea.
The wind has been persistent this December. It's seldom been very strong, but it rises almost every night and typically lasts for hours. This is beneficial, as it is coming from the high deserts to the north, and thus keeping the nights warmer than they would otherwise be. I enjoy listening to it. When it stirs distant groves, it sounds like a river, and when it comes near it rustles the remaining oak leaves which, being as dry as they are, then make a sound like a shaman's rattle. It's very soothing.
One cookie, I think. Just one, and a cup of tea, and then go listen to the ghosts dance in the wind.