The milk comes in boxes

It's Tuesday, so we have now been here for one week. It's currently 8:00 am and raining. I am sitting on the couch by the fire, that is just starting to warm up the air directly around it. It is cold here in the mornings, so I (who don't mind the cold, as much - I'm well insulated, you could say) have began a daily ritual... At 6:30 the automatic alarm clock inside my head opens my eyes to the early morning darkness, and my ears to the sounds of roosters crowing, dogs yelping, and the gentle hiss of car tires, carrying passengers safely to their daily grind. I quietly sneak from the bed to the fireplace to see if there are enough embers flickering there to start the day's fire. If I deem the embers sufficient, I place a piece or two of wood inside, open the flu and say a little prayer that the tiny glowing coals will do their job, and quickly devour the offerings of damp wood I have placed before them. I peek out our front door slip into the dawn, and grab a couple of more logs for the fire. Next is a trip to the hot water maker... because what would my morning be with out a steaming cup of Nescafe? If I am patient enough to wait for the gas stove to heat up, I enjoy a moka pot for the fresh ground coffee we brought along. Then I head to "el baño" where there is a gas heater that I fire up. Within 15 minutes or so, the bathroom becomes a warm sauna like refuge against the morning chill. The steam of my breath disappears int the warmth around me. The toilet seat no longer feels like a porcelain ice burg. The floor a skating rink that's been shut down for the summer season with green turf rolled out before me. It's "chilly" here, but it is spring now, and summer is coming. The nights won't be as cold and the mornings will be brighter. (I wonder what winter will feel like?) By mid-day the outside temperatures rise and I find that wearing a sweatshirt or sweater does the job of keeping me warm outdoors. We are learning the ropes here. Many things are different, but yet much is the same. The milk comes in boxes.