Snow, Where Have You Been?

6:45

Up at 6:45, to a dusting of snow on the ground and trees, as predicted yesterday by the weather man.  It's about 34 degrees outside, threatening gray skies, a good day to stay inside and pack for our trip tomorrow as we head to Kansas City to visit Tommy and his family.  It's actually a pretty morning, trees branches frosted with snow, kayaks as well, and just a dusting of white on the lawn as the snow begins to melt.

Yesterday was a day to get organized, to relax some, and get our energy and mojo back to undertake another long drive on Thursday.  I went to get a blood test early, then for coffee at the Sugar Shop in Mayville, a new cafe opened on their Main street early in the fall.  It's a very simply run place, with cookies and various cakes, luncheon sandwiches, coffee and of course some sweets.  They have fixed up the old building, so that it has three rooms, each a bit different, for sitting and eating or just drinking your coffee which is what I did.  There were a couple of groups of retirees there, some I recognized, and the group closest to me were talking about all the money they had saved on heating by installing instant hot water heaters.  I asked them about their products and learned one was actually a part time electrician though he was driving a truck, delivering gravel at the moment.  There is a conference in Dunkirk later in the month, geared towards energy saving devices for the home.  Unfortunately, I will be in Scottsdale at the time.

I spent a lot of time yesterday reading, finishing THE MARRIAGE PLOT, starting THE RIGHTEOUS MIND, which I know I will love since it's by Jonathan Haidt who wrote one of my favorite books, THE HAPPINESS HYPOTHESIS.  In this book, he explores why society, especially today's, is so polarized and concludes it's the nature of a free society and human beings.  Unfortunately, I also was notified that WHY NATIONS FAIL was available for my Kindle and since I have to read it in the next two weeks, I decided to begin it and put off THE RIGHTEOUS MIND till later since I own the book.  WHY NATIONS FAIL is the hot book now, written by a Turk who is a professor at MIT.  It's a fascinating read so far, debunks lots of Jared Diamond's hypotheses from GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL, which I loved reading about ten years ago.  Although I assume he is optimistic about the States, lots of what he talks about failing nations reminds me of the US to a large degree, especially the idea of a small group of elites extracting most of the money from the rest of the populace, a sure sign of a failing nation.  The marriage between politics and the economy is crucial to a nation's success because politics determines how the wealth is shared.  Economies that are inclusive, raising every one's boat, are successful; economies that are extractive, favoring a few, end up failing.

Enjoying the See Zurh House

Linda at See Zurh House

We went out to the Seezurh House last night with Ron and Linda, who else, where else, as they returned to the lake late yesterday afternoon.  Linda still has her cast on her foot, alas, but it should be coming off next week. It has not been fun for either of them, as it's really hard to do much of anything when you always need crutches.  She's doing well, however, looking forward to end of this hardship.  The See Zuhr was packed because they had a group of twenty five in the back, thus the bar was lively as well.  The Delmonico steak special is now available every week night and for 9.95, you get steak, potato and salad.  All but Evie took advantage of the special; Evie stuck to her chicken sandwich.  They also have just added Pabst Blue Ribbon on tap, so we had a pitcher for old times sake.  It tasted quite good, my new favorite beer... crappy but cheap, my mantra.  For dessert, I got a peanut butter ice cream and chocolate pie for the four of us to share.  It was huge and delicious and we devoured it, a perfect ending to a good night.  The Mc Clures will be up for about a week, then head back to Pittsburgh.

We got home about 9:30, watched Smash, the Broadway show, and talked with Tom and Marlena for about 15 minutes on Face Time, then went to bed around 11:00, back to Why Nations Fail.