A Gray, Windy and Wild Morning

8:06

Woodlawn

Melting Ice

Ice Block at Wells Bay

Pizza and Wine at Bergens 

Betsy Bergin with Fox's Statuette

Woke up late, 8:00, to howling winds, lots of branches down in the yard, none major fortunately, 26º and it supposed to stay this way a good part of the day, with some snow later, none yet.  And it's getting much colder the next couple of days, highs in the teens...winter has arrived.

Yesterday was sunny and suprisingly warm most of the day.  I started it off with classical yoga, a full class for a Saturday and we worked most of the day on learning how to do a front bend, almost any kind of a bend without putting pressure on the lower back.  It was interesting, a revelation, and I am still not quite sure I am doing it right.  It was a good way to start the weekend.  I stopped at at the Transfer Station, arrived home and because it was sunny out, I put on my boots, life jacket, and kayaked for about an hour.  I paddled about thirty yards off shore, just beyond the ice and paddled down to Sandy Beach, where Wells Bay began when I was stopped by ice, the entire bay locked in.  So I paddled back the other way, beyond the campground to Whitney Bay, and encountered no ice blocks, just a single fishing boat, going after walleyes, having no luck so far.

I did not do much during the afternoon, no hike or walk, as I was feeling lazy. But at 3:30, I decided to go see LINCOLN, the movie, at the Mall.  I had mixed emotions, not sure I would like it though if anyone could make a compelling movie about the President, it would be Stephen Spielberg.  And I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the film, especially the performance by Daniel Day Lewis, who 'became' Lincoln in my mind.  It makes you see how hateful the two parties have always been towards each other, how good men have different ways of looking at the world and find opinions different from their own 'intolerable' if not crazy.  And it's also clear politics have always been dirty, resorting to bribes, perhaps money, almost anything to get votes.  Lincoln, of course, was not above it but came across as a master politician, someone who understood how to get what he wanted.  Tommy Lee Jones was 'perfect' as the leader of the abolitionist group, who compromises 'equality of races' for equal before the law.  It makes the Emancipation Proclamation possible even though it did not say 'negroes were equal to white men,' just in front of the law  When the voting was over, Stevens(Jones)  takes the what appears to be the signed proclamation home to his black maid, a woman he loved but most likely had not married.  I wonder if this is a true story.  There were lots of parallels between then and now, and my sympathies and Spielberg's lay with the liberal Republicans then, not the Democrats, who were then mostly southerners.  How times have changed!

I made salmon and garlic spinach for dinner, and just as I was pulling it out of the oven, my neighbor, Joe Bergen, stopped by and invited me to dinner.  I explained that I just pulled the fish out, but said I would stop over later if that was all right.  So I ate dinner, watched some of the Ohio State game and went over to Bergen's around 8:15.  The Kinney's were there as well as their son Andy and his girl friend Megan.  They were just starting to have pizza, so I planned it poorly, but they did not seem to care.  I sat with them, sipped wine, and we talked and reminisced until 10:30, boring the heck  out of Andy and his friend.  Joe and Betsy are going to Maui in a couple of weeks, so we talked about Hawaii, about movies, about the Kinney's sailing in Greece, lots about travels, good food, and movies, as both the Bergens and I had seen Zero Dark Thirty.  It was a fun night, much better then sitting home bored in front of the TV.  When I arrived home, I read for awhile  and it was easy to get to sleep as the howling winds had yet to begin.  I woke at 6:00, went back to sleep till 8:00.   NPR is off, so the winds must have done something with their transmitter, so I am listening to MSNBC,

Nothing planned for the day, hopefully a walk, then just lounging around, watching the two NFL games, perhaps making a meat loaf with mashed potatoes if I am really hungry.  If not, hot dogs and beans, easy and good.