I Know Why

We've had a cold winter here in New Jersey. I heard on the news this morning that many of us in the tri-state area will see our heating bills double this season. But aside from getting good use of all my beautiful scarves, this chilly weather has given me insight on one of my favorite childhood poems:

Halfway down the stairs
is a stair
where i sit.
there isn't any
other stair
quite like
it.
i'm not at the bottom,
i'm not at the top;
so this is the stair
where
I always
stop.

Original poem and wonderful illustration here.

I notice that when going up my own staircase, there is a step, halfway up, that is warmer than the stair above it or the one below it. It's like swimming through a warm spot in a pond, oooo, warm! Ohh cold! I think that was the spot Christopher Robin chose on his own staircase.

I spent a year in England, living in an old (built 1300's) building that came with the modern convenience of a plug-in heater that accepted 10p pieces for a half hour of dubious warmth. I'm thinking Christopher Robin's house was drafty and poorly heated, too, and he, like most children and animals, found the coziest spot to rest.

. . . all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head.
It isn't really
Anywhere!
It's somewhere else
Instead!

(With thanks to A.A .Milne and E.H. Shephard. Now I will go get my Pooh Poems and reminisce a bit.)