1985-02 (February)

February 1st, 1985

February. We’re snowed in, iced in; house about as cold as can be- workroom temperature 56 at 9:30 with the thermometer on 75 and the coal oil water going full blast. The only answer is warm clothes and a positive attitude. Played Beethoven Quartets 15, 13, 14, and between while read O’Hana stories. Lamb chops for dinner, with broccoli, lentil soup reduced to paste, and a bottle of Cour Pavillon.

February 2nd, 1985

Cold as ever, with more snow in the night. Total now, about five inches. Played Schubertt’s Quartets 12-15. Received my annual $10,000 Random royalties; Civil War sold about 300 copies of each volume in past six months (Apr.- Sep.); balance now is $138,009.27. Also received a new ninety-day certificate for $25,000 @ 7.65% interest. The old six-month certificates (@ 10.8%) yielded $1343.25, which went into my checking account.

Ventured out for first time in three days: Gwyn and I walked through snow (but in brilliant sunlight) to stop and shop for asperin. Made the house seem a lot warmer when we got back.

Financial Summary: Checking account $5189.33 Portfolio Due $15,462.93 Certificate, 90-day $25,000 [On Hand] $45,652.26 Random Reserve $138,009.27 [Overall Total:] $183,661.53

February 3rd, 1985

Cold weather continues; 16 degrees at 10:30 am; snow un-melted, still powdery, about four inches, with much greater depth in drifts, though there has been little wind since that first night, and the sun is shining brightly.

Read the opening hundred pages of Dickens’ Great Expectations. It holds up well.

February 4th, 1985

Bank; deposited the Random check in my Portfolio one account. Post Office; mailed the Mozart and piano concertos cassette to Hugs. Streets icy but quite navigable on this first outing in four days.

Gwyn spent much of afternoon preparing a long- frozen rack of lamb for cooking this evening; I took it out of the freezer yesterday to thaw in the icebox, which it did after nearly two years of suspended existence.

Played Schubert, Berlioz, Mendelssohn – start at straight through playing of all cassettes. Had the lamb for dinner. It came out well, considering its long time in the freezer.

February 5th, 1985

Somewhat warmer; snow still with us, but it was largely turned to slush. Walked 1 ½ miles, first in about a week because of weather.

Margaret came by. I gave her $200 to tide her over a lean stretch. Tried to talk with her about getting out of her devil’s? wounds way of life, but she has no intention of giving it up for what she considers “work,” which she defines as something that deprives you of your individuality.

Wrote to Loomis, thanking him for the O’Hana Collected Stories and telling him we’ll be up there on the 20th and stay till the 24th.

Seessel’s; got two 1 ½ -inch thick strip sirloins for dinner. Gwyn made creamed spinach and baked a potato. I added one of my three Christmas bottles of Gevrey-Chambertin ye- after (woe is me!) dropping and breaking one of them in the basement hallway. Good veal and the taste of the wine made me regret all the more the bottle I dropped and broke, Played Schumann, xx four symphonies.