January 27: We've had a cold spell, with the thermometer shivering around zero. I have to wake up every two hours during the night to stoke the fire in my wood stove to keep the inside water pipes from freezing. Staying warm is almost a full-time job. I find few hours for drawing and painting, pastimes I had looked forward to during my summer job at the park lodge.

My neighbors Guy and Hazel and I are about the only ones with running water. Others' pipes are frozen. Guy says if I hadn't kept my water running, our line to the spring up the hill would have frozen too.

Guy makes his living guiding pack trips in and around the park. Some of his customers have been coming back for more than 24 years. He says he is retiring at 68, but it's hard to believe.

Q. Underline the only example of figurative language in the selection.