Super Bowl Sunday

It's hard to believe 100 million will be watching this game, and we will be two of them, though not at a party, just the two of us. I wanted roasted chicken, to that's what we are having, after looking at various recipes, combining them, and coming up with something we like. This one has air dried for 24 hours and it's cooked surrounded by lemons, garlic, white wine and some chicken stock, which will make the gravy. I cannot wait though I have been eating like a King recently; yesterday, I finished up the baklava Evie made for our dinner with the Redington's on Friday, and in her spare time, she also made sutlac, my favorite pudding, then I mentioned I wanted oatmeal cookies, so after our walk today at the Institution, she made me some oatmeal cookies, with raisins and walnuts...they are sinful. It's a sunny day, somewhat unusual for this area, and the lakes has been busy, with at least 30-40 tents out off Long Point yesterday, Saturday, though fewer today. Lots of snow mobiles as well, carving up the virgin snow, and Theissens were up with their kids(Kurt) and they had three four wheelers, so the kids literally destroyed the snow, making it look like something out of NASCAR but they sure had a great time, pushing around snow, trying to snowboard behind the carts, and just having fun. What happened to sledding and snowball fights? Friday we had Redington's over for dinner, a couple we had not really talked with much, other than Wegmans, for twenty years, when there son Rick and daughter Casey went to Reserve. Both are retired, happily it seems, and it was fun to talk with them, though we mostly listened as Caran is quite a talker. Most of the stories were about their kids, all of whom seem to be at odds with their jobs, especially Ricky, who is being 'picked on' by his principal and is struggling, so it sounds, to keep his contract. Like us, they seem to organize their life around their kids, especially Casey in CT, who has two grandchildren. They are off to Florda in a week, staying onf Sanibel for a week, then with Caran's mother. I think we will enjoy them occasionally, probably not be great friends, but friends. Dick goes out to breakfast with Stan and two other Institute buddies, so he enjoys being social, whereas Caran seems very involved in her church, especially a group called Age and Sage. Both Marshaus's and Redington's are very involved in their churches, though Dick and Caran are very liberal in their politics, and I doubt Stan and Anne are, though I don't know for sure. The baklava and tea were the hit of the night. Thursday we watched the movie Rendition, an attempt to be serious about torture, terrorism, and government policies. Although it was not riveting, it was decent. Reese Witherspoon's husband, an Egyptian, is taken as he gets off a flight, whisked to CIA headquarters, and then, because he won't admit to being a terrorist, he sent to Northern Africa, for rendition. There the second and third stories pick up, with one revolving around a rookie agent, Jake G., who already seems to be uncomfortable with his position, especially after his boss is killed in a terrorist attack. The third story is about the terrorist, who blows up the CIA chief, his girl friend, her family, especially her father, who is head of the local police. He collaborates with the CIA, which is why he was the target of the bombing. We see what leads up to the bombing, and only at the end do we realize it's already happened at the beginning of the movie, given it a sense of circularity. Reese's husband, after being tortured and waterboarded, is finally pulled out of prison by the caring Jake G., despite the protests of the conscienceless Arabs, of course, who see nothing wrong with these actions. A bit of Jack Bauer, with a heart, and though the husband returns home, the young Muslim girl and her terrorist boy friend die, manipulated, as we see, by what I assume are Al Queada look alikes, who prey on the young and passionate, sending them to their death and reunion with Allah and other matyrs and hourris, no doubt. Finally, we walked the Institute this morning, an icy jaunt though with our stablizers and walking poles we were fine. The wind, however, was fierce when we headed north along the lake so we had to head back in the streets, where the win was not so severe. Then, after breakfast and some TV((Paul Johnson was on CSPAN for 3 hours), we went cross country skiing to Tom's Point, on a brillantly white surface, blue sky, with a yellow airplane buzzing overhead. We were the only ones on our part of the lake, other than a few snowmobilers who raced by, so it was great exercise and good to be out on such a beautiful day.