A Waming 22º Morning

Heading Home In The Snow

Another Photo By Evie

7:43

It's just hit 9:00, and we are both up, about ready to listen to Michael Smerconish on CNN. I got in a great 45-minute paddle and just as I was returning, it started to snow, and I loved it. I tried to paddle down to Sandy Bottom, but just as I got beyond the reeds, the lake was frozen, so I had to turn around and paddle back along Woodlawn, where at the northern end, a hunter was standing in the water, next to a fallen tree, blasting away at ducks.

Kayak Morning

Northern Sky

Goose On Thin Ice

Thin Ice

Victoria/Woodlawn

Mostly Woodlawn

Duck Hunter

Beginning To Snow

Hauling In My Snow-Covered Kayak

Finished Paddling, Looking South As It Snows

Friday was another leisurely day, during which neither of us had anything we had to do. I didn't get in a paddle because of the 8º morning. By 10:30, however, Evie had put together a Wegman's list, and I volunteered to go shopping. I skipped a coffee, had a quick trip through the store, and was home by 11:30, ready for lunch since I only had a banana for breakfast. While I was gone, Evie put together the fixings for a tortilla soup and left it in the slow cooker for eight hours. For lunch, I had the leftover stir fry and devoured it, even having second helpings. I finished up the part of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and then went up to read and nap. I am almost finished with my book, Buckeye, and am ready for something new. 

12:48 PM

When I got up, I read some while Evie was putting together our dinner, using leftovers and veggies and putting her own spin on the chicken, veggies, and cream sauce. I decided to go out for a short walk, but it turned into a 35-minute walk through our woods. I am glad I did it, but I am sore all over from walking in the foot-deep snow. 

Woods

Woodlawn In The Afternoon

Since Evie had dinner already made, we were able to have a leisurely wine time and listen to the depressing news. We loved the chicken-and-noodle concoction and watched three episodes of All Saints. We cannot seem to watch anything else -- it's a well-done soap opera. Once Evie went to bed, I went back to my series, following Lisbeth Salander. 

December Moon

8:54

I made the mistake of listening to a podcast featuring scholar Anne Applebaum. She explained that the Trump White House has basically ignored the diplomatic corps, putting in place his billionaire cronies or family. In the peace negotiations, Wittkotf and Kushenr, according to the Wall Street Journal, are throwing Ukraine under the bus and instead, making sure to benefit the US, especially Trump's billionaire friends and family. How upsetting. 

A Brilliant Sunrise and 8º (Spectacular Moon Light)

Moonlight At 7:00 PM

8:37 PM

Long Point This Morning

7:40 AM

What a chilly and freezing morning. Steam is rising above the lake, which has yet to freeze at least in the northern half. We were both up around 7:30, and it's now 8:30, and I smartly decided it was too cold to kayak. The birds are sitting in the branches of our rhododendron, occasionally popping up to eat at our feeder. 

8:18

Tundra Swans

Dunking For Weeds

Swans A Swimmin

Thursday turned out to be a good day. I skipped paddling because I had breakfast at the Ashville Country Store. After breakfast and the blog, I usually go to Yin Yoga, but I just didn't feel like driving three. So I got out my yoga mat and bolster, turned on some yoga music on Apple Music, and practiced in my living room for 35 minutes, feeling good afterward. I knew I wanted to get in a walk, so I drove to the Chautauqua Institution and walked the snowy grounds, with my crampons on my boots for forty minutes. I stopped, however, for half an hour at the cafe on the grounds, manned by volunteers. I have stopped a couple of times before, and they are so welcoming that I sat down with the group of about ten, had coffee and cake (it was two of the ladies' birthdays), shared my story, and it was a pleasant hiatus from my walk. Just as I was about to leave, our good friend Linda walked in because she volunteers on Thursdays. There's no charge, although most people leave a gratuity.

Snowy Chautauqua Instituion

Thunder Bridge

Brick Walk

Chautauqua Volunteers And Friends

I then drove to Tops and picked up a few things for Evie's tortilla soup, and then came home around 1:00. I then got out my new battery-powered snow shovel and cleared the driveway. It worked but there is going to be a learning curve for a while. I then had lunch, a quarter of a Wegmans sub. I started a new show, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I watched it when it first came out, but I don't mind watching it again since I finished SSGB Wednesday night. I read and napped, of course, and Evie returned earlier than usual because the kids had gym. 

4:27 In The Afternoon

Our late afternoon went as usual, with listening to the news, Evie prepping our eggplant pasta dinner and wine time with hummus and pretzels. The pasta was great, and we watched our show. As Evie got up to go upstairs, she called me to look at the amazing winter sky at 8:45. I took numerous photos of the sky, the shadows of the trees on the snow. Wow. After she went to bed, I watched the first half of the Cowboys/Lions game, then my series before joining her. It was a good day.

December Moon

"You cannot follow both Christ and the cruelty of kings. A leader who mocks the weak, exalts himself, and preys on the innocent is not sent by God. He is sent to test you, and many are failing." — Pope Leo XIV

A Quiet Snowy Morning

7:18

It's 7:25, gray skies, gray lake, and a couple of inches of snow fell overnight. Evie's up already because of kindergarten, and I have breakfast in Ashville at 8:00. It's 9:20 and I just returned from breakfast at the Ashville Country Store. The roads were snowy but safe, and I made good time despite the flurries. 

Lakewood Waterfront Yesterday

Southern Lake Is Frozen Over

Yesterday was what will come to be a typical winter day. It began with a 50-minute paddle, down to Sandy Bottom and back. I then did a bit of shoveling, not much since it hardly snowed. After breakfast and the blog, we both left around 9:40, Evie to school, me to pick up my battery-powered snow shovel at Home Depot. They had sent me an early text to say it was in. I stopped for coffee, then at Aldis to pick up some items Evie wanted before picking up my shovel at Home Depot. I couldn't pass up Wegmans since I was next door and Evie had made out quite a list, so I filled a couple of shopping bags with groceries and headed home.

Surprise, Sun, And Blue Skies

I was home around 12:15, on a sunny afternoon, and since I had a light breakfast, coffee, and a banana, I had lunch, a hoagie from Wegmans as a treat for myself. I watched my show, then read and napped. I woke just as Evie was returning from school, with her usual stories about the bad boy. After changing into something more comfortable, she watched her show, and I made up my mind to 'just do something,' and put on my boots and walked the Victoria/Woodlawn woods for 35 minutes. It was rough going because of the deep snow, 9-12 inches, but it was worth it, the blanket of white, the sky, the lake. 

Victoria Woods

Heavy Snowfall

Our Lake Front

Willow In The Winter

When I returned, Evie was prepping our wok dinner, and I helped since she had lots of veggies.  I fried the chicken thigh pieces in the wok, then took time out for some wine and news, before going back and cooking the rest: mushrooms, cabbage, celery, onions, tomatoes, spinach, and bean sprouts. I added various sauces, hoisin and oyster, as well as sesame oil and soy sauce. We served it over rice and both of us went back for seconds. We watched three episodes of our show before Evie went to bed, tired from her day, and I watched the last episode of SSGB. 

Leaning Trees Of Up Yonder

24º And A Placid Lake

7:43

8:34

It's 8:50, and I have been sitting here for 15 minutes, warming up from a 50-minute paddle. It was good to be back out on the lake despite the cold and the foot of snow surrounding my parked kayak. I kept waiting for the sun to appear, but the dense gray sky blocked out any sense of it.  

Kayak Morning

Woodlawn

Southern Sky

Tuesday was an interesting day, mostly because instead of a paddle, I spent the time outside, 35 minutes, clearing my driveway of six inches of snow, driving over drifts with my Outback, so it's easy to get in and out. That was about it for my morning. After the shoveling, my mojo to hike disappeared, and instead I sat around reading or on my computer. For lunch, I made a couple of meatloaf and ketchup sandwiches and watched my show. Around 1:15, we both left: Evie for a doctor's appointment in Westfield, and me to Home Depot to buy a cordless electric snow shovel. I realized after my morning shoveling that at my age, I shouldn't be out there lifting and shoveling wet snow, and an electric snow shovel seemed to fit my needs. 

I stopped for a coffee, then at Michael's, to return Amazon packages. I finally made it to Home Depot but they were out of shovels and expected two to arrive the next day. So I bought it and just received a message that the shovel had arrived, so I will be picking it up today. Since I was in Lakewood, I stopped at Aldi's and picked up a few things for our dinner, then at Walmart and bought a rotisserie chicken, thinking Evie would not want to fuss for dinner after her appointment.

Late Afternoon Gray

I was home around 3:00, and Evie soon followed me after a good appointment with her PA. His one healthy requirement for her: keep volunteering at her kindergarten classes, good for her and good for the kids. We took it easy until 5:00 when Evie had her Zoom call with her sisters. After the call, she heated up some stuffing, made gravy, microwaved the Bob Evans mashed potatoes, made a salad, cut up the chicken, and we had a delicious dinner. Easy, right! We watched a couple more episodes of All Saints, then Evie went to bed earlier than usual because she had to get up at 7:00 this morning to get ready for kindergarten. I watched some NBA, then the end of the Duke/Florida game, before turning to my series, SSGB.

Morning Sleet

7:46

9:19

It's 8:30 and still sleeting on a gray, foggy lake morning. I had hoped to paddle until I realized it was sleeting. We must have gotten another four or five inches of snow overnight, so I will be out shoveling for the third day in a row.

Jim And Ripley

Monday turned out to be a good day, although it was too windy to get in a morning paddle. So we had a relaxing morning, with no hurry to get anything done. I wanted to get in a hike and texted my neighbor, Jim, to see if he wanted to go. He is usually up for a hike to give his dog, Ripley, a good run. So around 10:00, we drove over to the end of Lakeside Drive, parked and spent close to an hour walking the snow-covered woods. Ripley loved it, running back and forth, as we tromped along virgin paths. We met only one hiker, a guy out also walking his dogs. We blazed a mile and a half trails on the untrodden paths before getting back to our car. It was a good way to spend a morning.

Which Way Ripley?

This Way

The Silence Of Woods In The Winter

When I got home, I did some shoveling for at least twenty minutes, clearing the car and driveway and leveling off the foot-high berms along my road, created by the plow. By the time I was done, it was lunchtime. Evie volunteered to make me lunch, but i was happy to heat up the pasta from Sunday night's dinner and make a bowl of ramen, not the healthiest of meals but tasty. I watched a series called SSGB. It imagines the Nazis won WWII and are occupying Great Britain, an interesting concept.  

Snow Covered Victoria

Kayak Afternoon

Victoria/Woodlawn

Around 3:30, I realized the wind had died down and the lake was calm. So I put on a couple of layers of clothes, grabbed my paddle, cleared the snow of my kayak, and paddled for 40 minutes, down to Sandy Bottom and back. It was an overcast afternoon, but I still enjoyed being out on the lake. I managed to scare off a gathering of either ducks or geese, hanging out along the bank of Woodlawn Creek.

Northern Sky

Victoria

In Flight

Late Afternoon Sky

When I returned, Evie had made a batch of cookies, and I cleaned up the kitchen before wine time. We listened to the news, and I read a depressing essay by Heather Cox Richardson. She analyzes the US/Russian negotiations concerning Ukraine. It seems to benefit American and Russian businesses,  billionaires, and Trump's family by investing in Russian minerals and developing Ukraine's war-ravaged cities. In other words, the plan's goal is to enrich the US, not support Ukraine. Disgusting.

Around 6:30, we had the leftover meatloaf with baked potatoes, topped with butter and sour cream, and watched three more episodes of All Saints. After Evie went to bed I watched some Monday night football and another episode of my series, SSGB, before going up to read and sleep. Evening doesn't change much.