Minus Six Degrees and We Head to Bristow,VA

A beautiful clear morning, with a brilliant pink/orange sky off to the East as we get ready for our road trip.  I hope the weather is decent, perhaps a bit of snow but no ice or freezing rain.  We hope to be off by 8:00 so we should arrive around 3:00.  We cannot wait to see the Bissell's, especially Hayden and Halle.  Nothing like grandchildren.

We arrived in Bristow around 3:00, an easy ride of just under seven hours (350 miles) and we were lucky to have pretty good weather, no snow, no sleet, no rain but it's coming supposedly.  They are predicting a severe storm for a good part of the states but it looks like Virginia may just be on the edge and get freeing rain and ice, not snow.  We will have to see.  The girls got home around 3:45, happy to see us, and we played around with them until dinner time.  We had spicy glazed chicken thighs, a new recipe for Jill and it was really tasty, as you put a thick syrup like sauce over them to give them a great flavor.

I just put Halle down and, as usual, she is quite a talker at this time.  When you tell her a story, she interrupts half the time and talks about things that the story suggests, how it reminds her of something from her life. Tonight, instead of a bad boy story, I told her about how I loved to go to Mr. Goudy's farm, drive his truck, row on his pond, and hear the crazy stories he told about his neighbors, like the guy who smoked in bed and burned his house down.  I am sure they were all apocphral but I believed them all.  And, of course, that's where the idea of the treasure began, as Ella, his wife, would bring it out just as we were to leave and we got to choose something.  It was a great memory.  While I took care of Halle, Evie and Jill went out to return a bed covering we got at Costco and wanted to return.

Getting Ready for a Road Trip to Virginia

I am up a bit later than usual; it felt good to sleep in and wake to light, a white lake, and not darkness.  It's about 20 degrees though it's going to get colder over the next couple of days. We are leaving tomorrow to babysit for Jill and family rather than Tuesday because the weather looks much better on Monday.  One of the advantages of being retired---no time table, you stay or go when you want.  I mentioned that we walked Long Point yesterday and have included a couple of pictures from that foray into the cold.  I also finished Patti Smith's memoir JUST KIDS yesterday, a National Book Award Winner, and I liked it well enough though it wasn't the kind of book you could not put down.  It's the story of her early years, trying to make it as an artist along with her mate, the controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, in the New York city of the late 60's and early 70's.  There friendship was extraordinary.  Not much else on the agenda for today other than packing, getting the car ready, hitting the library and enjoying the day, a bit brighter than usual though still overcast.

It's warming up, almost 25 degrees and I see some blue sky, a miracle in this land of gray.  It perks up the mood of all, a harbinger of spring perhaps, or just a respite from the winter.  I'll take it.

Snowy Saturday Morning---What Else?

I woke at 6:00, to a darken sky, now so gray-white that I can hardly tell the difference between the lake an the shoreline towards Bemus, as all blends together.  A solitary light near Long Point, a fisherman, is the only beacon in this ocean of gray. I can just make out the outline of Tom's Point though the  trees in our front yard, loom large and daunting, the only shapes visible this morning.  It's 22 degrees, about what it's been for the past three or four days, and the snow flakes are wet, not fluffy and large as we like.  We know it's Saturday because our day is informed by our trash drop off, at he North Harmony transfer station, always a fun trip, as we get to see some of our neighbors, as they too come out of their weekly hibernation.

We watched SOUL KITCHEN last night, a film by a Turkish/German film maker Fatih Akin, who has made a couple of films, usually about Turkish immigrants to Germany and their problems--HEAD-ON and THE EDGE OF HEAVEN. This time, he sets it in a German restaurant, the major characters are Greeks (hardly a Turk in the film) and it never moves beyond the German city.  The plot revolves around Kazanazakis's attempts to make the restaurant a go.  Many conflicts arise, his girl moving to Shanghai, his brother in jail, his site coveted by a German entrepreneur. All's well that ends well but we never much liked or care about any of the characters and the plot needed a silly deus ex machina to resolve.  Go back to your Turkish roots and stories. please.

We drove over to Long Point around noon and walked out to the tip of the point.  The entire bay off of Long Point was filled with fishermen, at least 100 I would say.  We walked out and talked to a couple

A Walk in the Chautauqua Institution

A strange morning, as Evie was up before me by about 15 minutes. It's now 7:45 and another gray day, though the glow of the lake a half hour ago always pleases me.  For now, it's a calm, steady soft gray, even though the far side gives a slight hint of black.  And as has been usual the past four mornings, two fisherman, slight stick figures from my view, are out in the center of the lake, the only silhouettes on the white lake. Today they have no tents and seem to be sitting on buckets as  they wet their line,

In Sundial I learned that the winter moon often is in the sky for 14 hours, lighting everything on a moonlight walk. This past Monday night would have been the time to walk, as it was really cold, with a clear sky.  The moon even blocks out most of the stars because of it power. It's supposed to snow a couple of inches a day, so we can expect a nice white cover of snow, hiding some of the dirt/mud created by the cars and snow plows.  A little colder today, 24 degrees, and supposed to get up to the high 20's.

Wednesday night's terrible snow storm wreaked havoc on commuters. It took Walt, my brother in law, six hours to get home and eventually he parked his car in Herndon and walked home because the roads were so bad.  From Drew's Facebook page, I could see he was stuck too, and it sounds like it also took him  close to six hours, arriving home around 11:00.  Cars were abandoned everywhere; where did the people go, how did they get home, and if not, where did they stay?  I wonder if all theses winter storms for the East Coast are just flukes or harbingers of the changes in weather that are to come, either part of a natural cycle or, I know I am going to sound alarmist, global warning.

We watched a really touching movie last night, THE STATION AGENT, written by Tom Mc Carthy, who also wrote one of our favorites THE VISITOR.  Very little significant happens as three very different people, a man suffering from dwarfism with a love of trains, a women, recently divorced who lost her 7 year old son, an a young Cuban, who sells coffee from a truck.  The three come together as Finn, the dwarf, inherits a train station, when his best friend, the owner of a model train store, dies.  His arrival at the train station and moving in, begins this touching developing relationships between the three. None of the glitz, sex, violence, or hand held camera of the modern film, more like the slow moving and developing European films that I  love.  I highly recommend it.  And we just finished the firsts season of MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE on Netflix---I cannot believe we didn't watch it last year.  It's amazingly good and apt.

We just got back from a short walk through the CI, a beautiful day for a walk, as the snow was falling lightly and the trees were still frosted with the snow in most parts.  As usual, we stopped at the library, returned a book, and stopped briefly at the bookstore before heading back to our car.  If we take a walk around the entire CI, it takes us close to an hour; we can also snow shoe when there's lots of snow or cross country ski but today, the plows were already out and the roads were best for walking.  We do usual have cramp-ons (spikes) on our shoes to keep from slipping and we both have become accustomed to using poles when we walk, for stability and we supposed use 40% more calories/energy if you use them vigorously.  I have grown to like them quite a bit and use they even if we walk on asphalt roads; I just put the rubber tips on for walking on hard surfaces.

Almost Half Over

According to my almanac, April is only nine weeks away, winter waning.  Looking out at the lake, it's hard to imagine this vast whiteness will gradually change, that the lawns will become green, the trees begin to leaf.  For now, I am happy with the this frozen tundra in my front yard, the cold mornings, the biting winter air, the snow flakes filling the windows, and the crunch of snow on cold mornings.  Both Evie and I enjoy winter, perhaps because we enjoy getting outside, walking, snow shoeing, or cross country skiing.  And we like the isolation of winter, bundled up in our house, few people around, just us and the winter.

This morning it's relatively warm, 26 degrees, though that maybe the high for the day. We have gotten little snow in the past few days, though the East seems to have been inundated with snow, getting as much as 16 inches in parts of CT and NY.  I know that in northern Virginia, where Jill lives, they were expecting up to 8 inches from this storm.  A strange year, weather wise, for the East coast.  We are used to 300 inches of snow around here; the East is not.

We have been watching Masterpiece Theater's Downton Abbey the last couple of weeks, a wonderful look at Great Britain in 1913, just before the war begins, before the modern world of class consciousness, feminism, and socialism change the way the aristocracy of Great Britain live.  A bit like the Upstairs/Downstairs series from the 70's, we see the struggles and conflicts of both the master and servant.  Wonderfully photographed and written.  And we continue to enjoy MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE.  We both love it, its writing, subtlety, and insight into the psyche of ageing men.  I wonder if it appeals only to a mature audience, say anyone over 40?  None of my kids watch it from what I know, only friends my age.

Another lazy day, mostly sitting around watching TV, reading on my computer, playing around with Iphoto, and reading.  Evie worked out at the gym, inspired by our talk with Dr. Berke, especially his emphasis on the rowing machine.  I think she wants to keep up with Tyler.  I did take a couple of walks today, in the snow, and it felt good to get outside and do something physical.  I was supposed to wait a week before getting back to doing some exercise, though I cannot ski for another week.  I really miss being outside the most, just sitting in here, like a fish in a fish bowl, wondering what it's like beyond the walls.

Darkness at Morn

It's warmed up a bit, 26 degrees this morning, but pitch black outside, no shadows, no stars, hardly a house light on the Bemus side.  I am listening to MSNBC analyze Obama's speech last night and predictably, the liberals liked it, the right criticized it.  It was not as inspiring as his speech in Tucson but he said the right things, with a call for working together to save the country.  He always seems so reasonable among the irrationality of the right but I get the sense he still thinks they can work together for the common good.  The one controversial line was his vow to raise taxes for the wealthy.  It's about the only time the Republicans really disagreed with what he said.  The republican response by Paul Ryan, the rights fiscal tiger, was pretty good, I thought, as he outlined the problem, a deficit that may eventually cripple our country, but from then on, he was the wolf in sheep's clothing, generalizing, talking about the constitution, never mentioning his real proposals: to get rid of entitlements, including Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid. I was impressed by his style and can see why he is a rising star.  This summer, my neighbor down the street, spoke in glowing terms of Ryan, which made me aware of him for the first time.  Like many of the successful older retirees, he is a avid fiscal conservative, but only too happy to take his social security and medicare checks.  To paraphrase a quotation I have always liked, 'we judge a society by the way they take care of their poor and elderly.'  So far, so good I think but if Ryan gets his way, forget it.  Fortunately, even the republicans know they would risk losing their seats if they go after retirees.  Thus, they only want to change social security for those under 55.  Time will tell if this  Congress gets anything done.  Our local paper asked the Jamestown citizens if they were going to watch last night's speech, and 89% said 'no way,' usually followed by some unprintable epithet. I am always amazed on the underclass, those who depend on government, vote against their self interest.

The eastern sky is just beginning to take on a dark blue glow, as the sun begins to light the sky.  Sunrise is an hour away but the sky's first light glows when the lake is frozen.

Evie's working out and I am listening to the pundits debate last night's speech while I read JUST KIDS. The lake looks the same, white frozen lake with a gray sky of various hues, and a couple of fishing  shacks dot the far side.  What is different is the lack of birds at the feeder today and yesterday, most likely a result of a predator nearby, perhaps a hawk.  This has happened before and they eventually return because the food is so available.  Perhaps the fact that the feeder was empty when we were in Cleveland may also have been a cause.  At 1:00, I check in with my local physician, making sure my wounds are healing, my vitals are normal.  I usually see his nurse practitioner but today its Dr, Berke, a legend around here, I have heard, doctor to most of my friends and famous for competing in iron man competitions.  We have been told he is very social, so make sure he checks you over first before socializing.  I have had this happen before, with Dr. Litman and Mac Callum.  I assume they get tired of just examining and trying to make sense of the symptoms, and enjoy the talking.

Well, the gossip was right, Dr. Berke is a talker.  He was about a half hour late then proceeded to tell us all about himself, his triathlon, his various injuries, his interests, taking up I would say a good half an hour.  Very personable, social, a type A no doubt, a pretty good doc I think if you can keep him focused on the problem. We tried hard...fortunately I received a very thorough going over from a med student who is following him as part of his course and he seemed very knowledgeable.  We bemoaned the state of our schools, of English language, and he told a couple of stories about some of the things his patients have said to him...a triple negative as he explained. He even talked about rowing, since he has a machine in his house as well as working ou at Turner gym.

Summer's Here!

It's 27 degrees out this morning, 37 degrees warmer than yesterday, a bit of a change.  I kind of liked it when it was so cold though I didn't really venture out side. Borland's SUNDIAL OF THE SEASONS interestingly talked about the distinctive crunch of the snow when it gets really cold out and when Evie came in, she said how amazing the crunch of the snow was.  As usual, it's gray, not the amazing sunrise from yesterday morning, when the sky was clear, the air polar, the lake brilliant white.  Another day of sitting around, reading and watching TV, as I recuperate from my procedure.  I can start walking some on the treadmill on Thursday, and by the following Thursday I can resume all exercises.

Evie is off for the weekly shopping run...thank goodness I am staying home. She's hitting Bon Ton, Sam's, Wegman's and maybe Brigiotta's.  I am usually pretty good for two stops, but Bon Ton usually puts me over the top. I think it must be psychological because too much standing around as someone else shops puts me back in my childhood, as I sweated and became nauseous, as my mother shopped at a department store.  I am sure I was still bundled up in a winter coat and between that and the heat, I felt sick.  I still feel that way after more than a half hour or so at TJ's, especially if I am through looking at things.  Bizarre.

Reading Patty Smith's JUST KIDS, makes me want to wander the streets of New York, as she does in the late 60's, though it was more run down then, with large pockets of abandoned buildings and apartments, lots of street crime and drugs, much different from the affluent Manhattan of today.  It's amazing how poor she and Mapplethorpe were, rarely haven't enough money to feed themselves or pay for a room somewhere.  Somehow they managed to scrounge enough to get buy but forget visiting a doctor or going out to eat...a realistic picture that debunks the romance of the starving artist.  They were starving but the act of creation seemed to sustain them.  They ended up staying in the Chelsea Hotel, where they were able to meet fellow artists and this was the moment where both of their careers began to settle down.  This hotel is famous for the people who stayed there and they have tours of the rooms they used, artists like Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan.  It's still a functioning hotel, a block or so from Greenwich Village and relatively cheap, 140 for a double.  I have no idea what it's like inside  but I assume it's still bare boned and appeals to the young hungry for 60's memorabilia,

-17.5 Degrees on a Moonlit Morning

I cannot believe how cold it is outside, the lowest temperature I ever remember.  The front yard is ghostly as there are strange shadows across the front lawn, a result of the moon still up high, hanging in the west sky, back behind our willow tree.  That's what casts shadows across the whiteness of our lawn.  I slept fitfully but it feels good to be up early in my own house.  The inside temperature was 54 degrees, so I turned on the fireplace as well as raised the thermostat.  I don't think we will be venturing outside today for any reason though it's supposed get into the twenties later in the day.  The coldest nights always seem to be those when the sky is clear, stars are out, moon is somewhat full.  I just heard that Chautauqua Lake schools are closed which is rare, so it really is cold if the local schools close.  Usually it's because of a snowstorm, not extreme cold.  I suppose they don't want the kids outside for even brief periods of time.

It's almost 7:00, an amazingly beautiful morning, with the entire eastern coast line tinged with pink giving way to light blue, with a couple of  horizontal slashes of dark gray clouds floating in the skyline.  I have rarely seen it so clear and spectacular.  It's 8:30, warmed up a bit, as it's only -12 and some fisherman have just trudged out on the lake, to the right of our house and out about 100 yards.  I cannot believe they are out there in this cold; they do have a tent and must have some kind of heater inside.

Evie's off at the gym working out; it's warmed up a bit, to 19 degrees and there's a light snow falling.  I have my Turkish tea brewing, my cup out, and it feels good to be sitting inside a warm house, not venturing out into the cold.  Just finished my sixth Jack Reacher novel and have starting reading Patti Smith's JUST KIDS, the winner of the National Book Award for non fiction.  So far it's very readable and interesting, a look at both the sixties and seventies through the eyes of a rock icon.  I downloaded my first app from Apple a week ago called Yummy Soup, a recipe importer and organizer but I don't know enough about how it works, how it saves you time yet to know if it was worth 15 bucks.

Frozen Tundra of Lake Erie

It's about 8:00 and I am sitting in Linda and Rich's family room, looking out at the  frozen lake, so different looking from Chautauqua, with no shore line, just the distant horizon and the lake has huge mounds of ice, a rough surface every where I look, almost like frozen waves.  The shore line can have ice mounds up to six or seven feet and I remember walking on and around them when I was a kid, seeing how far I could get without falling.  The sky out to the north is a soft blue with a hint of pink on the horizon so it looks like it could be a nice day.  The lake itself is various shades of gray, white, with pink mixed in where there seems to be pockets of water, though they are no doubt frozen ice, just no snow on them.  They look like mini skating rinks.

We all watched The Social Network last night and none of us liked it very much.  Part of the problem was that the soundtrack was so loud that it made it difficult for us to hear what was being said.  And the characters spoke so fast, we all had trouble..  Maybe it was to hip and modern for us oldsters but I don't think I would have loved it even if I could have heard it.  So many of scenes had loud music going as the characters talked, I assume for realism and tone but it drowned out many of the words.  I did like the kid who played Zuckerman and the way they moved  back and forth between what seemed to be the narrative of the making of Facebook with the lawsuits that were filed against him later in the process, though it took awhile for us to pick that up.  Like most people, I had mixed feelings about Zuckerberg; he certainly had no loyalty to anyone but himself, willing sold out anyone if necessary and his treatment of Eduardo was particularly disloyal.  He showed though they he could get taken when he lets the founder of Napster, the Justin Timberlake character, use him, get 7% of the company, for doing practically nothing but smoozing him.  One of the characters said it best: ""You are not and asshole but you are doing a pretty good job of trying to be one."  I also thought it ended abruptly, as if they did not know where to go so they just stopped.  Clearly, Zuckerman was the genius behind Facebook, with the vision and the computer no how to make it work but he left lots of dead bodies along the way and one wonders if this is a typical success story or he could have been just as successful if he had done it with more of a sense of loyalty and friendship to his peers.  The question I am left with is what motivated him: clearly, he screwed lots of people out of pieces of the company, as if money mattered.  But then his whole lifestyle contradicts that, as he dresses like a college kid, doesn't surround himself with any of the toys of the super wealthy, and supposedly lives in a modest bungalow now with his girl friend, nothing ostentatious.  Maybe he just wanted to win, to be successful, to have total control, and any one who stood in his way was history.  I wonder if their are skeletons like this in Bill Gates or Steve Jobs closets? Probably.

Almost breakfast and the lake is a brilliant white, the sky a soft blue and the sun is out, a glorious but cold day.  The lake, as mentioned is really crusty, with pods of slick ice visible, which, I assume, you might be able to skate on, if brave or stupid.  We head back to the lake this morning, which sounds good, but Linda and Rich's hospitality is unmatched.  We will miss being with them and relaxing, something we rarely do as we are usually always surrounded by their children and grandchildren or ours.

We got back to the lake around 2:00, to lots of snow and cold, about 7 degrees.  Our house was fine, however, warmed up quickly, and it felt good to be home.  Lots of action on the lake because it was a sunny day though it looked like snow mobiles were having a tough time on the lake because the snow was so deep.  They seemed to move quite slowly and a couple stalled in the front of our house.  Eventually they moved on but could not gain much speed....they seem to need groomed snow and are not very good if it's deep.  We have spent most of the day relaxing, watching the football games and I am about footballed out after two games.  Time to finish my Jack Reacher novel.

Back in Action at Rich and Linda's

Well, my ablation is over thank goodness, much worst than anticipated with a few complications that were not anticipated.  I felt pretty awful yesterday when I  got home from the hospital, but woke up feeling much better and went off to Richie and JP's  game at Holy Cross, two minutes a way.  There team won a close one and it was fun to see Richie run the show at point card, and JP was tough on the boards.  It was fun and just right.  We came home for another great Rich breakfast and we think we may never leave, it's so nice having both Linda and Rich take care of us.  We had Rich's special scallops last night, with capers, lemon and parsley, perfect.  My wounds seem to be recovering pretty well; I won't go into the detail of the procedure that created them.  Let's just say you don't want to go through it.  And my heart seems in rhythm though I should expect it will go out of rhythm during the the next couple of months as the burns heal.  It really stresses your heart so it needs time to recover.  But so far, I feel pretty good and we hope to head back to the lake tomorrow.  I don't much like being so far away from the hospital but I have a device that can read my heart rhythm and send it over the phone to the doctor at anytime, so they can then tell me what to do.  Amazing stuff. Enough for now as Evie is going to begin putting some of Linda and Rich's recipes into my new computer program called Yummy Soup.

A Different Morning Routine

It's 5:30 in the morning and I am up, at the Holzheimers, getting ready to go to the hospital for my ablation.  We had a great dinner last night, pork chops and my favorite brussel sprouts.  Richie came over and we talked with him, and Linda got a new Mac Laptop, so I helped her figure out a few things, the most important being how to buy some Apps from Apple.  She downloaded the Apple word processing program so she is ready to go.  They also got wireless which is great because it's easy for me and Linda, who will be able to use her computer where ever she wants in the house. I took a nice bath last night, my routine, read my Jack Reacher novel and went to bed around 10:30.  I slept but woke every hour or two for some reason, then would go back to sleep.  We have to be at University Hospitals by  7:00 and my ablation should begin by 8:00, I would expect.  Evie will be down there most of the day, is well armed with books and the laptop to keep her busy and Pat Holzheimer will probably meet her for lunch because he works down there.  That's about it for this morning.  Time to read the New York Times.

Rabbits on a Foggy Morning

The last couple of mornings I woke to a rabbit, just a black shape on the white snow, making his way through the snow.  He creates quite a path, much wider and deeper than a squirrel, which made me wonder who made it until the last couple of mornings when I saw him.  I am surprised because I have never seen rabbits at this time of the year, though they obviously are around.  What they eat is a mystery, I suppose what ever is left at the bottom of bushes, plants, and trees.  Because it warmed up yesterday and will cool off today, the lake and opposite shore are shrouded in fog, nothing visible beyond about twenty feet beyond the shore.  Not the kind of morning that makes you want to kick off your Uggs and put on some skis and go.  Rather, it sounds good to sit around, as I am doing, listening to NPR, sipping my mock latte,  reading and getting ready for our trip to Cleveland, not something I look forward to, just want to be over, so I can get back to the lake and my routine.

We saw a great movie last night, THE KING'S SPEECH, the story of England's King George VI, who reigned during WW II and suffered most of his life from a stutter. Based on a true story, it chronicles his struggles to overcome this problem until he finally finds a speech therapist from Australia, a man who worked with soldiers who had returned from WWI with the inability to speak without stuttering.  The movie is about the relationship between a King and a commoner, rocky at first, but eventually it becomes a warm and lifelong friendship, with Geoffrey Rush playing the therapist Lionel Logue,  and Colin Firth played George.  Firth just won the Golden Globe the other evening for his role.  It's a moving story of a man who struggles with this terrible problem, mostly a result of the anxiety he feels, the sense of inferiority he developed, a result of an older brother and strict father, or so it seemed to me.  Rush plays Lionel so well, impertinent and demanding, in that they become intimates and calls George Bertie, despite his being a King. The movie ends with his first really successful speech.  In a small room, with Lionel more or less conducting and leading George VI along, the King explains why England must declare war on Germany.  As the speech is being given, the camera cuts to various views of Londoners listening to their King, a wonderful sequences, the most powerful in the film.  It's nice to see a film without sex, violence, juvenile vulgarity, and silly jokes.  One wonders if a film like this could be made in the States?

After the movie, we went to the Seezurn House, with Ron and Linda, for dinner.  As usual, Evie had her  chicken breast with barbecue sauce sandwich and I had a chicken, vegetable, and scampi pasta, not my favorite.  I should have gotten the usual, a cheeseburger with the works.  Ron and Linda are up here till Thursday, and will return home to Murraysville, outside of Pittsburgh, until mid February, when they hope to return for a couple of weeks.

It's Warming Up---For A Day

Woke up later, around 7:40 and it was 30 degrees outside, quite a drastic change from yesterday's 9 degrees.  It means a slushy, unattractive day, lots of dirty white snow, overcast skies, and icy roads, depending on whether it rains or snows.  It's supposed to get back to snowy weather tonight.  This seems to be the worst part of winter up here, the brief changes to warm weather, that mucks up everything, the snow, the activities, and then it snows again.  Since we returned on January 4th, we have been able to enjoy the outdoors everyday, without a relapse to warm weather.  We watched a new series, recommended as the top new series by New York magazine called Community, set at a community college in the West, with a cast of seemingly misfits, and even Chevy Chase was a older student returning to school, along with I think seven others, a lawyer who lied on his resume, an Asian/Middle eastern, a black athlete/hipster, and heavy set black girl and, of course, the requisite hotty.  We watched two of the shows and turned it off, deciding it was too silly, not will written enough to continue. The plot moves from silly, to ridiculous, but ends up somehow with a message, like Glee does, but not any where near as well.  I did hear that Kurt, the gay teenager on Glee received the best supporting actor award for Glee.  He is amazing real and talented, well deserving, and the only one on the cast who never had previous professional action experience, coming straight out of high school.  The rest of the main players are all in their early twenties.  Enough of  Entertainment Today.

I finished the young adult book IF I STAY by Gayle Forman and I enjoyed it immensely, though it's a tragic story revolving around the protagonist, Mia, the narrator, her family, her love of music, especially the cello, her teenager friends, and her love for Adam, her boyfriend and lead singer in an upcoming punk band.  It's an interesting narration, which I won't talk more about because I don't want to ruin the story if any one wants to read it.  I recommend it highly, for high school juniors and up though younger kids would enjoy it as well but the subject matter may be a mature.  No sex though so that should relieve most of up tight Americans.

A Beautiful Pink Winter Morning

Off to the east, the sky is a brilliant pinkish orange gradually becoming blue as my eye moves upward.  The lake is a gray-white glow, the tree line dark, almost black, then the colors of pink, orange and  blue begin.  It's 9 degrees, probably the coldest morning of the year so far; it's - 6 in Niagara according to NPR. I was up at 6:30 despite going to bed late, around 11:30.  We had Ron and Linda over for a Turkish dinner; all was good but Linda especially loved the Turkish sweet called Revani, a cake of semolina with sugar syrup poured over it.  Yum.  We celebrated Ron's induction into the army 40 years ago, a day that, for him, will live in infamy.  At least it allows him to take us to the VFW for wings on Wednesday nights, one of the unintended consequences of this fateful day.  We sat most of the night in front of our new gas fireplace, which was warm and cosy, the perfect spot on a cold winter evening.  A few months ago they helped us redesign our living room, creating another sitting space to make use of our new fireplace.  It's working out well though I need to use my Morris chair more often.

We went to Long Point for snow shoeing and cross country skiing.  A lot of people were out, hiking, snow shoeing, walking their dogs, a great day for it.  A beautiful blue sky, through the black branches with puffs of snow like like marshmallows sticking on trunks and branches.  It's so unusual to have sun and bright blue sky, so nice to be out in it, though it' cold, around 18 degrees.  We were a bit cold to begin with but by the end, we were both toasty and warm, even sweaty.  Amazing what a wind breaker and layers will do to keep you warm.  We came home, had lunch, and watched an old film from 1964, Fail Safe, about an error that sends a plane with nuclear bombs to Moscow.  The only way to solve the problem is for the American president, Henry Fonda, to agree to drop two similar bombs on New York city, to avoid a full scale nuclear war.  It's still gripping and thought provoking and scary all these years later.  Evie thinks every school ought to view it and I agree.  We are certainly overrun with nuclear weapons, more than anyone would ever need, and fortunately, Obama was able to get through another step in stopping the proliferation, despite the forces against him.  From what I understand, the scariest part is the lack of oversight in Russia, a result of inefficiency and lack of funds to keep up the sites.  Many are afraid they could easily get into the hands of terrorists or some would might sell them.  Anything is possible.

Weekend Edition Sunday

It's now almost 10:00, it's gray outside and very cold, in the low teens, though tonight it's going down close to zero.  A dusting of snow overnight, a few flakes in the air at the moment.  A typical Sunday, as I catch up on email, check out the various newspapers, Facebook, and start my blog entry.  Evie has been busy, as I sit here reading and typing.  So far, she's made a spinach borek, eggplant puree, and started our tas kebab which we are having for dinner.  I usually go into the kitchen now and then, wash and/or dry what ever dishes she has used, keeping up with things. We are going to walk the CI in a bit, so it's time to put on my silk long johns and wind pants for the walk.

I finished Ken Follette's FALL OF GIANTS last night, all 985 pages.  It was an easy read, set between 1914 and 1925, pivotal periods in the history of Europe and the States.  He follows families in Russia, mostly plebeian, in Great Britain, both aristocratic and coal miner, Germany, the upper ruling class, and the States, mostly blue bloods, Woodrow Wilson, and an immigrant Russian family.  It piqued my interest in this period enough to want to read more about it.  He was an easy read, as he wrote short chapters, moving from one family to another, with most of them having some kind of connection.  For example, Maud, the rebellious daughter of the British aristocrat married Walter Von Ulrich just as the war begins.  We see what's happening in all four countries during the war, watch Lenin come to power in Russia, the rise of Labor in Great Britain, and the beginning of American power with Wilson.  It's not a great book,  but I read it quickly so I must have liked it enough to keep reading.  I don't think I will read any more of his epics, but who knows.  I just started a young adult novel mentioned on NPR as a great book called IF I STAY by Gayle Forman.  It's very readable, told first person by 18 year old Mia; my sense of foreboding was realized early on,  but there are interesting flashbacks, and it seems very real, set in Oregon.  I like it.

Back from the walk, took a couple of pictures (above) but it's a gray day, so the CI did not look very good, just gray and white, with little new snow on trees and houses.  It was a good walk, though Evie developed a blister.  It's Currier and Ives Sunday, with lots of sleighs but it was just getting started as we left.  There must have been 20 sleighs, mostly wagons with hay, though there were a few of the classic sleighs that one would expect.  I would say there were between 50-75 people, with more entering as we left.  Right now, as I sit waiting for our typical breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast, there is a gentle snow coming from the west.

More Snow Expected---What's New?

A cold morning, twenty degrees, though it was ten last night when we went to bed.  It must be warming up though its only 7:00 in the morning.  The lake has a glow to it , as it does mostly at night, because the light comes from below, not above if its cloudy.  We watched MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE last night, at my sister Ellen's recommendation and liked it quite a bit.  All three male leads are very real, the writing is excellent and it portrays the diminishing macho world of men, as they age and face their mortality and changing lives, physical and psychological.  One is in the process of divorce, one is married with three kids, a salesmen for his father, the final one is a 'has been' part time actor, kind of a Dick Allen, our friend from Hawaii.  Not much on the schedule for today, a trip to the North Harmony transfer and most likely, a trip to Wegman's, to stock up for the week, mostly tomorrow's dinner with Ron and Linda Mc Clure.  We are going to have my new favorite, tas kebab, a simple Turkish stew on either eggplant puree or mashed potatoes, depending on your tastes. We have rediscovered it over the past few months and it's one of my favorite dinners.  Basically its a slow cooked stew of beef or lamb, with onions, tomatoes, Alleppo or Marash pepper, and cloves----that's it.  Turks even use tomato paste instead of tomatoes.

Yum

Since I am talking about cooking, I bought an APP from Apple called Yummy Soup, half price supposedly, which organizes recipes and allows you to download them easily from the web.  So far, I am not too impressed but will have to see if I learn more about it.

A busy day in the kitchen for Evie, a bit more me.  I made two loaves of multigrain sourdough sandwich bread, getting the starter going yesterday, putting it in the fridge overnight, then bringing it out to the furnace room when I got up, letting if proof for a couple of hours, before combining it with all the ingredients, kneading it, letting it rise twice, than bake for a half an hour.  They are marvelous loafs, easy to make.  While I did this with Evie, she also made a Turkish soup with lentils, wheat berries, and chickpeas, a semolina cake with pistachios and sugar syrup poured over the top, and got things ready for our dinner tomorrow, a spinach borek and tas kebab.  O, yea, we also went to Weggies, getting home about 12:30, just in time to put the bread in individual pans and rise a second time.

Now its 3:40 and snowing pretty hard so we are going snow shoeing at the campground for an hour or so; we like it snowy and though it's not that cold, about 28, there's a wind which makes it pretty cold none the less.

Sleeping In and Dobbins Woods

I actually slept in till 7:40 this morning, a new high for me.  A typical Chautauqua day outside, gray, snowy and cold, about 19 degrees, with a dusting of snow overnight.  We are going off to Dobbins Woods this morning, as the snow is wonderfully light and it will be great skiing and beautiful there, with the pines and forests.  We went out to the Lakeview in Mayville last night with Ron and Linda, as they came up last night for a week.  We had not seen them since before Christmas so it was nice to catch up on their holidays, the same with us.  They are in good spirits and had a great holiday in Palo Alto with Linda's sister's family, the 21st year they have celebrated Christmas in California.  The Lakeview was hopping on a Thursday night, mostly with snowmobiliers who, have a ride through the local trails or lake, have stopped off for a beer and food. I am not sure I would want to be out for a ride in the middle of the night with some of these guys, as they were hitting the beer pretty hard.  We shared a batter deep fried pickle and it was surprisingly good, not healthy, but good.  Last night, I went for a brief snow shoe walk on the lake, and its still quite wet beneath a layer of snow.  I think the snow, if it's deep, insulates the lake, so that the top layer, above the ice, is still wet.  It did not stick to my shoes but it was not much fun.  Alert...the sun just came out, a miracle.

We just got back from Dobbins Woods, and it was a great morning to go, the sun was out, no one was in the woods, and there was a easy trail to follow, as someone had snow shoed earlier in the day or last night.  It took about 40 minutes to do the entire loop. with me skiing and Evie snow shoeing.  We started a part of the second loop, then headed back so overall, we were out almost an hour.  Evie made cauliflower soup this morning, so that's going to be our lunch.  And this afternoon, we are going to make a healthy cookie, as we both miss having a treat in the evenings.  I looked up about five recipes, mostly with oatmeal, raisins, and nuts, though some of peanut butter as well, or coconut.  If we find a good one, not to fatty but tasty, I will spread the word.

The Obama We Loved Is Back

‎"In the fleeting time we have on this earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame – but rather, how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in bettering the lives of others" Barack Obama, January 12, 2011

Obama's speech last night was so good that it moved me to tears, especially when he talked about the lives of those who died, and the heroism of those who risked their lives to comfort the victims. His tone was just right; he didn't touch on politics but rose above it with his rhetoric.  I have to admit it seemed more like a pep rally than a memorial service, a result, I think of the fact it was on a college campus, the audience filled with students at an auditorium, rather than a chapel.  He asked for the best in all of us and when he talked about the nine year old who lost her life, he touched cords of emotion in all of us. She could have been any one's daughter, sister, granddaughter, or playmate.  It was truly a great speech.  No doubt it will not change the way the political world works, things will get back to normal, but for one brief evening, we put our anger and fear behind us and allowed ourselves optimism and hope. And what makes me admire Obama so much is the fact that he wrote most of the this speech, it wasn't the work of Peggy Noonan, as she did for Ronald Reagan.  Obama writes his own major speeches, not all obviously, but the 'significant moments', because he has a mind, a belief, that he wants to share.  He does not need someone to tell him what he should think, which seems to have been true for many of the most recent presidents over the past 30 years.

It's 16 degrees, a bit colder than yesterday, a hostile gray sky off to the east, though I don't think we are supposed to have much snow.  We got another inch or so last night, so there is a dusting on my car.  I am off to the breakfast club in a few minutes, then to the Honda dealer to have them figure out why my malfunction light is on, the third time in six months that it has been a problem.

Spent three hours and 110 bucks at the Honda dealer making sure a silly light does not come on.  After all the checking, the put on a new gas cap and think that was the problem.  Today's cars are so complicated, with all things computerized, that it's difficult to find out what's wrong without spending an arm and a leg, to use a cliche from the past.  Breakfast was fine with the guys; we exchanged emails and I want to send them a essay on Leadership I really liked.  Joe Johnson, who used to be a vice president of the CI, lives right up Morley Rd, about three minutes from us.  He invited me over any time, as he has a huge barn with a workshop inside, and he let's any of his friends use it.  He's a good guy and someone I could really get to like.  I feel like such a novice because they all know the area so well, the politics in Jamestown, who is who, and when it comes to the country side, they have also been on all the trails, so they have helped come up with some good paths to ski on.  Dick Redington heads to Florida on Saturday, until April, and Stan heads off a week from Saturday.  So the club will dwindle for a while.  Joe will be here for another five weeks, as he is getting daily radiation treatments for his prostate.  Once it's over with he will head to Florida as well.  Charlie Heinz will  be here till April he said, when it gets pretty ugly around here, so all go somewhere in the winter.  Maybe we will head to Florida, or perhaps Arizona, who knows, as we have no plans at the moment.

New Snow on an Early Morning

Nineteen degrees out, and there's a three inch layer of new snow; it's also snow a bit, and we can expect another couple of inches during the day.  I am up early because I have a stress test this morning in Westfield, so I have about a half hour ride north.  I hope the roads will be cleared.  I should be home by noon, as it takes 3/4 hours, lots of laying around waiting for this and that.  I have had them a couple of times before so I know what they are like.  I have to mention two movies we saw recently, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT and EASY A.  I have to say they were both disappointing, as if Hollywood cannot make a movie without yucking them up with stupid sex, vulgarity, and grossness.  The EAST A especially was one cliche after another, from the kids, to the obnoxious parents, to the lead female, someone we were sick of after ten minutes.  I did like Mark Ruffalo's character in THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, and the kids were good enough.  But the two mothers were so silly, so cliched, tried so hard to be a normal couple, that we tired of them.  Maybe we are just getting old but neither was much of much interest, alas.

Finished my stress test around 10:30, got my blood test, and was home by 11:30. Since then, it has been snowing almost constantly, as I have been sitting here, birding, reading, listening to NPR and reading my book, almost 700 pages so far.  I like a day like this because, as I look at the lake, I can only see so far and the far side is a slight shadow on the horizon.  We hope to go snow shoeing soon, probably through the campground, which should be fun, no one around, lots of pines up into the woods. Tonight we are having tilapia on spinach for dinner since Ron and Linda, with whom we were going to meet for dinner, stayed in Murraysville another day because of the weather.

Another Lazy Morning

Not much going on this morning.  Talked to Beth briefly and all's well with her family.  They head off to Lake Placid for a weekend of skiing on Friday.  I  am in process of setting up a stress test in Westfield for tomorrow morning.  Dr Arruda, from UH hospitals, wants me to have one before I get my procedure next week, a good idea, I think.

I have decided to get serious about birding, so I am downloading pictures of each of the birds that I have seen at our feeder, so that I can identify them for easily and quickly and take part in the annual bird count/watch for Chautauqua county.  These are the kinds of things you do when you are retired...look at birds.  We are also going to work out at Turner later this morning, once I get things settled with my test.

We had a great stir fry last night, with the remainder of last Friday's pork roast; today we are making an interesting dish with the leftover chicken from Sunday, casserole with quinoa, mushrooms, herbs, cream, marsala wine and chicken, with a crust of shredded sweet potato.  Sounds interesting but I hope it's good.

We worked out at the Turner for about an hour; I did some Yoga, worked on my arms, some on the legs, but mostly did work on my core, sit ups and the rowing machine.  Taking Beth's advice, I set the machine for 2000 meters, did it easily in 12 minutes, which seems to be my normal pace, though it's only the 4th or  5th time I have used the machine.  Tyler does it in 7 and 1/2 minutes, Beth 9 and 1/2, so I guess I am pretty slow but I am happy and will keep working to improve my time.  I also shot hoops for a bit, so I go lots of muscles involved.  I even propped my legs against the wall, yoga style, for five minutes.  It felt good.

I made the best bread of the year yesterday, one I found on King Arthur Flour, it's a sourdough multigrain sandwich bread.  It uses wheat flour, potato flour, a mixture of nuts and grains, and sour dough started.  It makes great toast and Evie and I have been eating it with peanut butter and jelly all day.  At the moment, it's clouding up and beginning to snow, as a storm is coming in over night, though it's not supposed to be too severe, about 4-6 inches overnight.  We'll have to wait and see how bad it gets, if at all. The pictures above I took about 4:00 in the afternoon, just as it was beginning to snow.  I love the silhouettes of the trees and the rhododendrons, the almost black on white at this time of day.

I am sitting here sipping wine, fire is burning, NPR is on, dinner's in the oven and all is well with the world.  I just got back from a great walk outside, in the snow, a short one, just around the neighborhood and up the hill but it was invigorating.  There's something about walking in the snow, especially when it's dark, that pleasures me, gives me energy, and makes me feel good about myself, like I have done something healthy as well as aesthetically pleasing.  Maybe I am being too artsy fartsy.

Cross Country Skiing at the Audubon

We had a great morning of skiing at the Audubon.  It was sunny most of the morning, and we got a really good work out, as it took us around an hour and fifteen minutes.  We did not see anyone on the way, so we had the preserve to ourselves.  We enjoyed the amazing pines, branches topped with snow, which create a dark cathedral in parts as they are so dense.  Next time, it would be fun to bring some food along and have a picnic, especially on a day like today, though it was in the low 20's. There are a couple of large ponds, frozen now and covered with snow.  They are bridges built across it in various parts and viewing stations so you  can sit and watch the wildlife.  We really didn't notice any on our trek, though we weren't paying a great deal of attention to birds. The Audubon is open on Mondays, Fridays, and the weekend and really caters to the natural world, with exhibitions, meeting rooms, a lounge, and areas for kids to learn about the natural world.  There is also a gift shop. rest rooms, and upstairs, a large meeting room for gatherings of members and guests.  I also saw where kids are encouraged to have their birthday parties there.  We have become members, so we get their newsletters, and they are always doing cool things during the month.

Sun Rising on Monday

It strange to have a blinding sun greet me as I write, at least for the moment.  The skies are mostly clear, with a smattering of clouds off over Tom's Point, as the sun struggles to clear the hills over Bemus village, just above Sandy Beach on our side.  It's 14 degrees in Buffalo, 19 here at Woodlawn, 56 in our house when I  got up, though Evie turned it up about 20 minutes ago, so it's now 61, quite warm for us.

Today is leftovers day, both our chicken from last night, and pork from Friday night;  we are also going to make a sourdough multi grain bread from King Arthur, and we hope to cross country ski at the Audubon. about a 25 minute drive from our house, just south of Jamestown. We are members, they are open on Mondays, and its a beautiful preserve, with wildlife, lovely forests, and some ponds.

A Gray, Snowy Sunday

Up at 6:30 and it's 18 degrees outside, pitch black, though now, at 7:20, it's a foreboding dark gray sky, a fluorescent gray lake, with a sprinkling of lights over at Bemus, though I cannot yet see the light of a fisherman on the lake.  I am listening to Terry Gross on Fresh Air, as she is interviewing Mark Walberg about his movie The Fighter.

The only things on the agenda for today are a walk at CI, a visit to Smith Library to pick up a book, and a roast chicken, though I have not made up my mind what recipe to follow, whether a Thomas Keller, an Emeril, or Tyler Florence. I have decided to be the expert on roasting a chicken, so I will work my way through various recipes to find the best.  I was not happy with the vertical roaster last time as the lower quarter of the chicken was cooked but not browned and crispy, the way I like it. The reason I mention these recipes is that I downloaded a recipe program from the new MAC APPS, called Yummy Soup.  It  organizes recipes for you, allows you to download them easily from any website and email them on to friends.  I am struggling with it a bit for now, but am getting a handle on it as I make a mistake and then correct it.

Yesterday at 4:30, before we began getting dinner ready, we went out cross country skiing on the lake during a brief blizzard.  There were fishermen straight out from our house, about half way across the lake, and went we went out, we could not see them, just hear their voices, and we could hardly see the houses on Woodlawn, as we skied along the lake.  We fought a fierce wind towards the north, with snow whipping our faces.  We only stayed out for about 15 minutes but it was great to be out in it, knowing that we could come in whenever we wanted.  My beard was covered with snow, frozen ice sickles hung from it, like a frozen Santa Claus.  It felt good to come into a warm house, with dinner in the oven, a cocktail to look forward to.

About 8 inches of snow over night; Shane was here about 6:30 clearing the road and drive way, and I went out and cleared the walk and our car.  Although its cloudy and cold, it's a pretty morning, a slight wind, nothing excessive, just right for our walk in an hour.

It' about 6:00 and I am sitting here with Evie, we are both reading, as the chicken roasts in the oven, filling the house with good smells.  The fire is burning, it's snowing outside, and we are warm and happy after a good day.  I cross country skied at CI this morning, a good workout, as I was really sweaty when I returned.  I also stopped at the library and picked up Patty Smith's award winning biography, Just Kids.  If I can get through my 1000 page book, I'll get to it.  Around 4:00, Evie and I snow shooed for about a half hour on the lake.  It was almost as blizzardy as yesterday, but the lake is still wet beneath the snow, so huge balls of ice formed on the underside of our snow shoes, making it  cumbersome to walk too far.  A few fishermen were still out but most have packed it up and headed home.  I watched parts of the Kansas City loss to the Ravens and thought of how depressed Tommy must be at the way the Chiefs played.  They were outplayed almost the entire game.

As I mentioned, I am reading one of Ken Follette's sagas, this one is called FALL OF GIANTS and its very readable, set just before WWI in Great Britain mostly, some in Russia, but lots of interaction with v various aristocratic families from Great Britain and Russia, set against the lower classes, who work in the coal mines, factory workers who emigrate from Russia, and the interaction between both, set just as WW I is beginning.  I have to admit I enjoy reading it and have learned quite a bit about that time as he's pretty good at setting the environment for that time.  Lots of  characters to follow, as he jumps back and forth quickly, with short chapters, which makes it easy to pick up at any time, for as long or short as you want.

Listening to ONLY A GAME: It's Saturday Morning

On Saturdays, first I listen to Car Talk, from 6:00-7:00, then It's Only A Game from 7:00-8:00, then from 8:00 on, it Weekend Edition Saturday.  So things never change...I have been listening to these three programs every Saturday for years, since they have been on and we have been at the lake on Saturdays.  So, that's my routine, followed by a trip to the Ashville Weigh Station with my garbage, always a good trip, to know all your garbage cans are empty, cans and bottles are gone...a simple pleasure.

It's 12 degrees, cloudy with a light snow, more to come supposedly, perhaps up to 8 inches by tomorrow morning.  Let's hope they are right.  I am ready to hole up, with a good book, a warm house, fireplace, and a busy wife.

Last night the Cassell's stopped by for dinner, all four of them, and their dog Molly.  We had a great meal of pork, apple sauce, roasted veggies, salad, and my homemade sour dough, all excellent.  Usually the Cassell's eat like birds, but they all went back for seconds on everything, which was fun to see.  Ian and Pat both look good, very grown up, and they stayed till about 9:00, which was nice as we thought they might want to hurry on to their condo at Holiday Valley and get some night skiing in.  We miss seeing them.

I cross country skied and Evie snow shoed over at Long Point today, a beautiful day to go.  Lots of cars in the marina parking lot, and the entire bay seems filled with fishing shanties.  We started out with a bit of sun and ended up the way we like it, with lots of snow flurries filling the air, blurring our view somewhat, but seeing the trees through the snow is what we like, especially with the snowflakes hitting our faces.  There were a number of people out today, either hiking or skiing, or walking their dog.  We came home, had soup, and Evie made tost sandwiches, that's Turkish kashar cheese on toasted bread.  It took us back and the cheese we got at Fairfields in Stamford was amazing, as good as I have ever had.

We hope to go out for a brief walk or ski on the lake at dusk; right now it's still snowing, there are fisherman right out in front of our house, about half way out, and we have seen the first snow mobilers of the year on the lake, as about six headlights, came towards us from Bemus, turned right, and headed up the lake towards Mayville.  I hope the lake is thick enough.

Every Day Is Exactly the Same

Up at 5:30 to a pitch black house, just like yesterday, and it was 18 degrees outside, about two inches of snow fell overnight, I lit the fireplace to warm the house up, made the coffee, took my sour dough starter out of the fridge, to ready it for bread, turned on the radio to NPR, sat down on the couch, got out my computer, and my day begins.  It's now 7:00, the sky is beginning to lighten over Bemus, with a long thin  but thick bank of clouds over Bemus, above it a slight rose tint moving up towards a clear, blue sky. I do love the lake at this time of year, covered with snow, always an interesting hue in at dawn or dusk, today a gray tinged with a white paste.  It looks like a good day.

We went over to Stan and Anne Marshaus's home last night for a Miami University gathering as they were playing in the GODADDY Bowl.  We spent most of the evening talking with Stan's high school neighbors, Tom and Lola, he's a retired post man from Perry, Ohio, and quite a talker.  I asked him about the post office and got quite an insight into how inefficient and screwed up it was, a typical analysis of any retiree about the job they have just left.  All of us look back at our work and see mostly the bad rather the good of the job, how things are not like they used to be, how people have changed, how inefficient things have become.  I remember hearing it from the older faculty from Reserve when they retired, and now I hear myself saying the same things, though I try to avoid it.  I not sure what this says about us, the retirees, jobs in general, or it's just the arc of life and work, from innocence and excitement, to experience and disgust or apathy at change, the inevitable part of any experience.

It's now 8:40, the bread is rising in the hot room, I have taken a couple of pictures as the sun was rising, those above, and the temperature has dropped from 19 when we got up to about 8 degrees right now.  We are hoping to snow shoe at Long Point this morning but we are going to wait for it to warm up a bit or, if it doesn't, Evie will go work out at the Turner Center.

It's almost 11:00 and we are going off to Long Point to snow shoe.  I have downloaded all the past month's pictures to Picasa and saved the albums on my external hard drive, just to be safe.  Lots of little things fill one's day, as I have been busy since 8:00 and, by the way, the bread is shaped, sitting in the hot room till after our walk.

We had an amazing walk through Long Point Park, with a few cross country skiers.  There was little wind, the sun was out, the trees were decorated with drifts of snow, especially the evergreens, and it was just good to be outside, enjoying the natural world, the crisp air, the blue sky through the barren tree branches, the groomed trails, the feeling of doing something physical that's also good for you.  I want to go back tomorrow and cross country ski.

While Evie  got things ready for our dinner with the Cassells, I got the Apple TV set up after a few wrong turns.  Inevitably, it worked out so I can now spend even more time in front of our LED TV.  Finally, the birds have returned to the feeder.  Because we were gone for a couple of weeks, they ate till it was empty, then moved on to other sites.  When we returned, I filled it and it has taken two days before they have rediscovered the filled feeder, and now they broadcasting it, so more and more are returning, mostly chickadees so far.

Slovenian Flag Flies Proudly Over Lake Chautauqua

When I got up this morning it was 12 degrees outside, with a light snow, not much else and the winwas already blowing.  We just got back from shopping, picking up a pork loin for tomorrow when Cassell's stop by for dinner, and a few things at the store.  We then went to Turner Gym and worked out for about an hour, perhaps a bit more and it felt good to do something physical.  I did a few yoga poses as well, and shop hoops for about 15 minutes, so I got a varied workout.  Evie likes the elliptical the most, and the rowing machine, so that's where she spends her time.  Had breakfast with the boys this morning at the Bemus Point Inn, and all are back in town, had great holidays, and I enjoy being with them quite a bit, though they all have the Institute as a point of interest, like I would have if I were with Reserve faculty.  Stan invited us over for food and drinks tonight because Miami of Ohio is playing in the GODADDY BOWL, whatever that is.  We  thought we would go because we would meet more new people.  Aren't we getting social!  Not really. 

It's almost 4:30 and the sky is either clouding up or it's already getting dark.  Evie has spent the afternoon arranging and rearranging our living room, driving herself nuts, because it will never be quite right, like a Turkish carpet, it will always have a flaw because only Allah is perfect.  I am thinking of going out and snow shoe on the lake for a bit and hope I have better luck than my cross country skiing yesterday when my skis got wet just as I crossed on to the lake, froze immediately, and I could not move.  I had to take them off and walk back off the lake, bring them into the house, to melt.  

At the Lake Again

It's pitch black out my front window, though about 3 inches of snow fell last night, and I have yet to see a light on the lake, the first fisherman.  It's strange to be back at the lake and making last night's dinner seemed so boring with no grandchildren around and the evening, too, seemed strange with no kids to put to bed.  It's going to take awhile to get used to being back at the lake.

We watched a quirk comedy, City Island, with Andy Garcia and Julia Marguiles.  Set in the present, Garcia is a frustrated want a be actor, who works in a prison.  He just happens to discover one of the young hoods about to be paroled is his love child from his first girl friend.  He brings  the young man home to his family and he's the catalyst for the family discovering each others' secrets.  I would give it 2 1/2 tomatoes.

I just got back from a walk up the hill and around the neighborhood and I must readjust my estimate of snow---we have had 6-8 inches over night and it's still snowing.  It's a beautiful light snow, the kind that sticks on trees, making their green tipped with white frosting.  I saw Corky digging out; he heads to Florida in a week, and Becky Deault, who was out walking her cat and taking the snow off her car.  It felt great to be outside in the white world of snow, walking up the hill, enjoying the outdoors, the woods and the lake.

Went into Mayville and to the library though the roads were quite slippery.  Later in the day, I went for a walk through the camp ground, around 3:30 and the sun was out, making it a nice afternoon to walk.  No one was around so I felt like I had the woods to my self.

Another Seven Hour Drive: Darien to Chautauqua Lake

A restless night, as I stayed up too late last night watching the Stanford/Virginia Tech game with Ramiro.  It was hard to get to sleep and I keep waking up.  Get over it.  Both Evie and I were up at 5:45, rare for her, so we beat all the Albarrans up, though Rami woke soon after us.  The weather looks as if it will be fine, just an inch of so of snow along the way, nothing severe. The high is going to be in the high 30's in Darien, probably the low 30's in Chautauqua.  Let's hope the weatherman's accurate for once.
We have had a great stay here, especially having the Bissell's for a couple of days but we have to head home even though the kids keep begging us to stay longer. It's nice. Beth's been too nice to us, taking Evie shopping, making sure I have various healthy living goodies in my travel bag.  Leaving is always bitter sweet for us.  We miss the lake, but will miss the family as well.  Things change; nothing stays the same.  You have to move on.  Vacations end.  Grandchildren grow up.  I don't like it.  Get used to it.

I am now at the lake, an easy drive, with little if any snow not only in the air but on the ground.  I thought there would be alot more snow at the lake but we can actually see the lawn in some places, though the lake is frozen, and we saw fisherman walking out to various spots.  Cross country skiing tomorrow!  The ride was easy, took us just about 7 hours, as we went the long way, through Danbury but there was little if any traffic.  All seems well at the house, we got the mail, lots of cards and magazines and bills, to keep us occupied for a few days.  It was a great two weeks with our families.

A Calm, Easy Monday

We decided to put off our trip back to the lake for a day, to the delight of our grandchildren; it's always nice to hear how much they want us (Evie, mostly), to stay.  The parents go along with it nicely as well.  It's always amazing to see the change in Tyler on school days, with tie an khakis on, so grown up looking.  He goes off with Rami as their trains are about the same time.  Mitch leave early too and we were happy to see him wearing the KREW hoodie we gave him for Christmas.  He has very definite tastes and I think we hit the bulls eye on this one.

Not too much on the agenda today, a much colder day, perhaps a trip to Costco, help Beth reorganize her house after the hordes, and a few walks with Cody; he missed me yesterday, giving me the stink eye every time I walked by.

The boys leave around 7:00 but Marisa doesn't have to walk to the bus till a little after 8:00, which is nice for her because she gets some special time with Beth, and today with Evie and me.  She is a delight in the morning as well, happy and excited to head off to school.

After taking for a walk, we took off for our traditional Costco splurge, ending up with a mattress pad/foam/gel for our bed, some towels, and a few miscellaneous. We then hit Sports Authority, as Beth needed to return some things; Evie picked up some workout tees, I think, and I abstained.  Then, on to Barnes and Noble, where I now sit, drinking coffee as Beth and Evie hit TJ for the second time in two days.  Evie said 'no clothes shopping' and it has already been at least 45 minutes.  O, well, I am happy happy, that I am here, and not there. It's a beautiful day out, too bad we are spending it in side shopping but we have to stock up for the winter.

Kids are all home, popcorn snack made, and Evie's breading the pork chops and putting together a homemade macaroni and cheese, my request. Marisa is doing her homework; Tyler came home with all A's on his exams, and Mitch is playing with his Iphone apps.  A happy household once they all got their snacks.

It's 8:40 and I am watching the Stanford/Virginia Tech game after a great dinner of breaded pork chops and macaroni and cheese; Tyler devoured a couple of chops and all the kids enjoyed it.  Tyler then had a music lesson at 7:30 and I put Marisa to bed, told her a bad bad boy story, as Evie helped Mitch put a tree sticker on his wall.  It's really cool; Marisa has love and peace stickers on hers.  Ramiro has had to work late and he's not home yet, so he missed the 7:30 train.  I don't envy him his train rides back and forth, especially knowing that he has to head back in tomorrow at 7:00

Sunday Sunday

We didn't do much today except relax and recover from the past few days of family and over eating.  Tyler went off to work on a project with a friend, which took three or four hours.  Rami and I watched football on and off during the day, and Evie hung out with the kids.  They made funnel cakes with Mitch's Xmas present from us, and they were a big hit.  We watched George Clooney in  The American last night, a very slow, European style movie, which deserved its two and a half stars.  Rami and Evie went up to bed before it was over so Beth, Tyler and I were the only ones left up at 11:00.

Beth made spaghetti for dinner and we all devoured it, as the meals during the day with 'on your own', so the kids didn't eat alot until dinner.  I told Marisa another 'bad boy' story, a really bad one this time.  She is a doll at night, all snuggled up in her bed, loves to talk, but once you leave her for a minute or two, she' soundly asleep.  Mitch went up around 8:30, to karate with Evie, after watching the latest TV series obsessions with Tyler and Evie, old Twilight Zone programs.  They are fun and its amazing how many famous stars got their start in the programs, Robert Redford, William Shatner, to name a few.

A Lazy New Year's Morning

We have all been sitting around the coffee table in the sunroom, relaxing, having our coffee and watching, sort of, the news on TV.  The girls, though they did not get to sleep until almost midnight, were all up by 8:00 and have been upstairs playing, once again, in Marisa's room.  Only Tyler continues to sleep, and even Jill has been up since 7:30.  They have decided to head back home today, around noon, to avoid the rush on Sunday and get back in time to get organized for the week.  I think they made the right decision as the roads tomorrow are going to be a nightmare, especially on 95 south.  We had a mild celebration last night, as everyone faded out early, so only the boys were up to greet the New Years...too much good food and alcohol, I think.  Hayden and Halle are not too happy about leaving early but I think they will be fine once they get on the road.

It's a sunny day here, so unlike Chautauqua, which seems to be cloudy most of the time.  The girls were able to play outside a bit before breakfast of eggs and bacon.  Drew basically got things packed up as the girls played, they had breakfast, and were off by about 11:30, a car full of stuff, kids, pillows, books, and of course, Coco.  It looks as though they will have good weather all the way to Bristow; I just hope the short cuts a short cut.

Rami fixed my computer as it was telling me I had little if any memory left; he found that I had 45 gigabytes of emails somehow, erased them, and now I have another 45 gigabytes of memory, which is great. I also got Apple TV from the Albarrans, which once it's set up, will allow me to download and watch anything from Itunes on our TV, from TV programs to movies that Netflix does not have.  Both Tommy and Rami have it and tend to use it quite a bit.

Right now we are trying to figure out what to do with our day, stay home and relax, or head off and see a movie or do some shopping. At the moment, I just feel like sitting home and veggian out in front of the boob tube.  We'll see, as Beth wants to take Mom out shopping as a Christmas present.

Beth and Evie went off to find some clothes, so Rami took me off the Fairway, an amazing grocery store in a new development in Stamford, what was once a rough area, now being rehabilitated, with the financing done by Ramiro's group.  The store is huge, with every imaginable kind of food, from cheese to olive oil to coffee, to spices and goodies from any country.  The fruits and vegetable sections were huge, with four foot bins of brussel sprouts or arugula.  A section for olive oils from all over the world, with at least 50-100 varieties, many of which you could taste.  I did get a special coffee, peaberry coffee from El Salvador, and I found some kaskavale cheese from Bulgaria.  Both Rami and I tasted it and it was really good, salty but not to the extreme.  We also ate lunch their, had sushi and french fries; we loved the french fries.  He then drove me around and showed me the development, especially the renovation of the old Yale Lock company, now neat apartments with the industrial kind of  windows, and also commercial developments. It's a huge area, with some large companies having their headquarters there as well as condos on the waterfront.  We happened to run in to the developer as we were driving by, and Rami stopped to talk with him briefly.  We got home about 3:30 and the girls didn't get home from their shop a thon till about 4:15.

We are off for burgers in Norwalk for dinner; Evie and I will come home with Marisa and Mitch, while Beth, Rami, and Tyler will go to True Grit.

Just returned from BJ Ryans, had great burgers and fries, and some chicken wings for a healthy kick.  Then, Beth and Rami and Tyler went off to the movies, and I drove Mitch and Marisa home as they were really tired.  Marisa got a bad boy story and fell asleep almost immediately, as Mitch played his game on TV before heading off to bed.

Drew just wrote to say they made the trip in six hours, going the back route and avoiding the headaches and tolls on Interstate 95, a good route for the future because you can be a bit more certain of modest traffic problems, unlike 95