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.