The Cruelest Month

Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.

Yeah well, T.S. Eliot, you never relied on the Russians for your winter energy needs, did you?

Energy crisis continues, Georgia's PM is announcing that we are under an energy blockade, and massive snows have cut off a main power line resulting in a blackout in Tbilisi that's lasted all day and officials don't know when it can be repaired. And if this is to be believed, then my gas may have been turned off at home since I've been sitting here elsewhere.

But here's the local spin. What this all means for me, practically, is that I have an excuse to a) spend all day at a bar with a generator and wireless access that can be reached on foot, when I'm not doing: b) accosting adorable local children. So many cheeks to pinch, so little time.