Chris Swingle Farnum, writer/editor

The wind is growling past my house, swirling the  snow sideways. The thermometer reads in the 20s.

(That’s the view out my upstairs window just now. Rochester D&C photographers have a gallery of weather photos at http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=A2&Date=20120113&Category=MULTIMEDIA03&ArtNo=201130802&Ref=PH)

I am grateful to be able to work from home today, safe from the slippery roads and inevitable car accidents. How lucky I am to be sipping a cup of chrysanthemum-silver needle white tea, a hand-blended Christmas gift from a niece and nephew, while working on a project for a freelance writing client.

My gratitude for safety and warmth is mixed with sadness at the loss of a friend. Stuart died last night, in hospice care, after ending treatment for cancer. Many people have sent their love to Stuart and Jan in recent days. I hope that the warmth of community and the happy memories of his hearty singing voice, his love of the arts, his enthusiasm for helping city students learn and his grace during illness may lift all those who knew Stuart.

I’m feeling lucky to have fun relatives who like to gather on New Year’s Eve for hours of game playing. This year a new game, Tellestrations, was a big hit. Each player is given a word/phrase (such as banana split, fashion photographer or jelly beans) and has a short time (maybe 30 seconds) to create a drawing on a hand-held white board notebook to convey the word or phrase. Then each player passes their notebook to the person next to him/her. You look at what your neighbor drew and have to guess what their word was. You write it down and pass the notebook on, so the next person draws what you wrote. By the time the notebooks had passed through all eight people, the original words often had morphed into something quite different. We laughed uproariously at the drawings and the interpretations. (Some of us, including me, stuck to stick figures.)

Today I greeted the new year with a hot date: my husband and I went to the blood donation center. I’m grateful for a smooth, comfortable experience giving blood. I admit I don’t particularly like going, but I psych myself up twice a year because I know there’s a need. If I ever need a blood transfusion, I want there to be a good blood supply. Heck, I suppose it’s also an easy way to get my iron level and my blood pressure checked.

Happy 2012!

This morning there was no water. To wash hands. To shower. To wash dishes. To clean the kitchen counter. Suddenly the needs for water were everywhere.

A sticky note was left on our door by the Water Authority: Emergency repairs on the water mains.

Soon, water sputtered and gurgled again from the faucets. I newly appreciate the rhythmic hum and swish of my dishwater, a cup of tea and the chance to wash my hair.

I think of people in many parts of the world for whom water is a long walk away. The ponds, ditches or hand-dug wells they rely on are often contaminated and make them sick.  I am grateful for the work of people such as Salva Dut from South Sudan. He lives in Rochester now but continues to dedicate himself to drilling wells in remote villages in his homeland, http://www.waterforsouthsudan.org.

I made a donation just now, in gratitude for water and the efforts to get clean, safe water to people in great need.

The laundry machine started making such loud banging noises that it seemed like it might explode. I still ran another load or two, trying to pretend I didn’t hear it.

Finally I called a repairman, who came yesterday. He didn’t even turn it on. He reached in and pressed against the drum and apologetically said it was time to say goodbye to the 12-year-old machine. Replacing the multiple parts it needed would cost twice as much as a new one.

My husband and I researched washers online, reading descriptions and reviews and even “Consumer Reports” ratings. We called two local appliance stores, where helpful employees talked us through the pros and cons of the options they had in stock in our price range.

Without even setting foot out of our house, we solved the laundry quandary. We selected a new machine (from a locally owned business), provided our credit card number and scheduled delivery for today. The new machine was installed and in use before lunchtime.

Bonus: We moved both the washer and dryer, thoroughly cleaned the laundry room floor and installed those self-stick vinyl tiles we’d been meaning to put down for months. (Yup, another hot Friday night date!)

The magic numbers on that little plastic card can be a real problem solver.