Ah Chautauqua!

7:20

Kinney's Run

Woodlawn at Dusk

Both Evie and I  are up early, at 6:00. to a pitch black morning, as the sun rises later and later.  It's 36 degrees outside, no white Christmas predicted but who knows for sure.  We have our coffee, are listening to Morning Joe, both on our devices.

Yesterday, like the previous day, was an easy six hour drive from the Dayton area.  Mostly sunny skies,   little traffic on the highway, our only detour was to Trader Joe's, to pick up more wine and other goodies, $137.00 bucks worth!  What's so cheap about TJ"s when you buy wine, cheese, and other 'fancy stuff.' Everything's fine in our house, always a worry when we walk in, wondering how it survived the past few weeks.  Again, lots of smaller branches down in our parking area and yard, fairly typical for our Willow and Maple trees.  We unpacked quickly, a chore, since we have done it so many times, from Hudson mostly, about thirty times a year if not more.

I was still jazzed, pumped, antsy, whatever, after the drive, so I went out side and picked up the large branches, raked the yard, cleaning it up a bit.  Then, I went for a walk at dusk through our woods, always mind clearing and therapeutic, to just be alone, a part of nature.  We are lucky to have it near enough to enjoy even though it's only a  twenty five minute stroll.  Lots of branches down, leafless trees, open views, long shadows, darkness encroaching, a good way to end the day.

For dinner, we had our ribs, garlic and butter pasta, and cole slaw.  We have a line up of shows saved from over the past few weeks on our DVR, so we caught up on episodes of Homeland, The Good Wife, and The Daily Show and Colbert.  It's amazing how quickly we get back into routine, like Pavlov's dog.  As Evie was plating our food, I was washing the dishes.  When we finished our meal, I wanted a bowl of ice cream, our typical ending to a meal at the lake.  I hadn't thought about ice cream for two weeks, nor wanted it.  Yet here I was, eating a bowl to satisfy my craving.  We're back, for sure.

Today, I pick up our mail, get my teeth cleaned, and drop the car off, the Accord, to see what needs to be done from the accident from a couple of weeks ago.  There's certainly damage on the back fender and side.  I just hope nothing has happened to the axle and frame.