huge glaciers of lavender masses : floating , bumping against , clinging , soothing , hiding himunder he goes , right up to his nose ... she lathers up her palms to wash his hair , tender fingers plying him with the keen care of a crocheter , a dip and dart through the mass of his muddy entanglement , leaning back his head to wash , fingertips whispering echoes of her heart up and down , across and back his foreheadrinsing him : a coiled , hand-crafted pitcher dumping warm water , running new water , removing all dirt , all smells , all scents of moments pastraising and drying him off : thick towels , cold floor ... she quickly sat him down on the lidded stool and damped his feet : soft , new , her gift , christmas giftfluffy moccasins : deerskin slippers , cut and stitched by a local cobblers hand , like he had seen and admired in dinkytown ... she then stands him tall like a candle-just-dipped and draws from him all that her heat can , all that she has purified of him through her heartfrank is robed : full length of perfumed terry-cloth ... her scent : attar of rose wafting lemony alarms of verbenatowel around his neck , a pat against the nape where gravity has tricked her minutes before ... together , they are sitting together in his living room ... snow-glare lights flaring off of probing two moon sun ... all that ten below can conjure up for minnesotas opening salvocrisp , crinkly , ice biting clarity of air and a breath which sucks the lungs icy drytogether : dalores and frank .