a thermometer

a mercury column in a paper-and-bone case, fixed to the inside wall of the north stair where the cold pools at the third step. the glass has a flaw near the bulb; one degree, here, is permanently a ghost of itself.

nobody resets it; it does not need resetting. the red thread climbs in the afternoons and forgets to climb in the mornings. it knows more about the building than the boiler does.

field-note · 14·5°. just under what the kitchen will admit to. the frost outside is steady and the boiler is sulking.

snow · winter · hygrometer · kitchen · barometer