Leisurely Sunday Morning

Up at 5:15 again, to a dark house and sky, with a few flurries, as I drink my coffee, hit the Internet, check the weather (warmer today), turn on NPR, and read the entry from SUNDIAL OF THE SEASONS.  Last night we went to a Jamestown High School basketball game, which was fun.  A pretty good crowd, though  strangely subdued, perhaps because of lack of cheerleaders.  The team has two very good black players, along with a cast of average white kids, none of who have the quickness, jumping ability or skill of the two black players.  One, a cocky perennial, or so it seems, trouble-maker, is an amazing jumper (at 6' 1", he dunked two alley oops over taller players.  We left with Jamestown ahead by 10 at the end of the third quarter and went literally across the street to Taco Hut, fast becoming Evie's favorite restaurant, where she had the Flautos.  It's a very busy, well run Mexican restaurant that has been in downtown Jamestown for at twenty to thirty years.  Though the city continues to crumble, this restaurant survives and prospers...good food and modest prices are the key.

I think I must be becoming a Tea Partier, as I finished my first Vince Flynn novel (he's idolized by the WSJ and the likes of Rush Limbaugh); Matthew Rapp, a rogue CIA agent, assassin, a former All American lacrosse player from Cornell, doesn't pay much attention to the rules or law: he does what needs to be done...rid the world (USA) of bad guys.  In AMERICAN ASSASSIN, we see Matthew as he is beginning his career, a rough diamond, just learning how to kill and survive.  He ends up assassinating a Turkish arms dealer, a German (ex Nazi) banker, an numerous Arabs, Palestinians, even a Russian.  What a guy!  I have to admit I enjoyed the book, cheered when he undid the bad guys.  Go USA!  We are the best...exceptionalism at it's best.  When I first picked up the book, I didn't realize that Flynn was the darling of the conservative right; it just looked like a good book.  But as I was reading it, it began to dawn on me that this might have an appeal to a certain segment of society, the right and obviously, ME.  Scary.

Today, we are having some new friends for dinner,  Roberta and Jack Mc Kibben, friends of the Gregory's, whom we met this fall.  They live in Chautauqua Shores; Roberta is our age, Jack is in his 80's, a second marriage for both.  She's a trip, non stop talker, and he's relatively calm, a nice guy, who was a roommate of Bob Mathias at Kiski School, the 1948 decathlon champion.  Both are having health problems, so we will have a lot in common to talk about!  Roberta has been really nice to Evie; they invited us to their Christmas party, so we wanted to reciprocate.

We just  got back from cross country skiing on the lake, the first time this winter.  I also went out for the first time and it was really good to get out on the lake again.  It's warmed up quite a bit, in the mid 30's, and the snow is now as dry and fluffy as we would have like but it was still nice.  Evie bushwhacked for me, so I just followed in her tracks.  She was out for about 45 minutes,  but I came back early as i didn 't want to overdo it.  There is lots of activity on the  lake, as it's partly cloudy, so we are getting some sun.  A perfect day to fish as there's little wind and it's warmer than usual.  The Scholtz's are up for a weekend of skiing at Peak and Peek,  the first time we have seen them since October.  They live in Pittsburgh, so it's an easy drive for them.  Not much else going on...Evie's getting our Sunday breakfast ready, my favorite meal of the week, fried eggs, a couple of strips of bacon, and sour dough toast.  And, yes, Walt, Evie makes it for me every Sunday!  I'm a lucky man.