Snow Flurries On A Cold Saturday Morning

The Girls

The Old Men Figuring Out The Tip

7:32

I woke at 5:30, went back to sleep, sort of, till 6:15, got up, walked outside our back door, startled a rabbit enjoying the light snow, much like the kind we have had the past few days, amounting to a few inches.  It's now 7:00, just finished listening to Click and Clack and am waiting for Only A Game.  A soft glow has replaced the darkness, an incipient dawn.  It's 23º, forecast typical, overcast with a chance of an inch of snow.  In fact, that's the forecast for the next week, so it looks like winter will linger, happy days.

At Bemus Point Inn with Stan Marshaus

Started yesterday with breakfast with Stan Marshaus.  We have not had our weekly men's breakfast since January because most of the guys are in Florida.  When I walked in, some of the regulars recognized me, wondered where I had been.  It's interesting how many people, mostly men, go out for breakfast, most retired like me. a comforting ritual beginning the day.  It was good to see Stan, a friend of mine since 1965 when we both started  teaching together at Painesville Harvey High School.  He was bemoaning the winter weather even though he has spent three weeks golfing in Florida in January.  We have a good mutual friend, John Allen, coming to visit us next week end on a visit from Hawaii. We are arranging a fun weekend for him.  He's the guy who when visiting us a couple of summers ago, thought Chautauqua was more beautiful than Maui.  Probably not this time of the year!

No yoga on Fridays so Evie and I went for a walk around the Chautauqua Institution, something we have not done in a couple of weeks.  It was a good walk though somewhat icy even though we both had on our clamp ons.  It was snowing some as we walked, the way Evie loves it, wind and snow hitting her face as she walks.  Two new homes have gone up over the winter and the Purell guy's house is coming along, the largest on the grounds by far, something like 13,000 square feet.  It won't be done this summer either.  We stopped at the library, said hello to Deborah, the friendly librarian, picked up a couple of books I had on hold and went home to a great lunch.  Evie had made both a mushroom barley soup and chicken salad while I was out having breakfast with Stan, so we had both for lunch. And lemon squares of course.  What a girl!

We had an easy afternoon, enjoyed the snowfall, and got ready for dinner with the Mc Clures. It had snowed enough that I went out an shoveled maybe three inches of snow off our walk and driveway.  One week ago, our yard was snow free, the grass green.   The Mc Clures came over around 6:00 for a beer and some appetizers.  It's a nice time of the day, still light, the lake slowly losing its whiteness, a light snow, some fisherman walking out, almost as a group, at 6:30, to fish like the previous night.  The Seezurh House was fairly crowded and noisy, the way we like it. All four of us ordered the fish fry though the meat loaf with Guinness Stout gravy looked mighty appetizing.  My fish fry was so huge that the two fillets hung over the sides of my plate.  We had a great time, talking about our winter adventures or lack thereof and looking ahead to our summer on the lake.  We got home around 9:30, watched an episode of The Killing, read, and went to bed.

Fish Fry at Seezurh House

I am into yoga, sort of, like the idea of mindfulness, have Thich Nhat Hanh's little book, The Miracle of Mindfulness on the table next to my couch.  But "Mindful Eating Hints' from Kripalu Yoga Center may be a little too much, even for me:  what do you think?

• Center yourself before entering the dining room(or restaurant, or kitchen). Pause, close your eyes, breathe, and relax.
• Move slowly through the dining room or restaurant(or read the menu slowly), and remain calm. Notice if you tend to get irritable waiting for your server.
• Use a small spoon for soups, or chopsticks. (At Kripalu, chopsticks are available at the Buddha Bar.) This requires you to interact with your food, and generally inhibits careless eating.
• Put your utensil down between bites.
• Chew each bite up to 30 times, and, most importantly, notice how long it takes each bite to become almost liquid in the mouth. Digestion begins in the mouth—why not give your body a good head start?
• Close your eyes when chewing. Pay attention to the sensations. What does it taste like? What does it feel like? What other qualities can you sense?
• Take five breaths between each bite, or between every few bites, noticing how you feel after swallowing. Do you feel nourished? Joyful? Full? What do you want to choose for your next bite?
• Aim to spend at least 20 minutes eating your meal. Time yourself without using any mindfulness techniques to observe your natural eating habits. Then use these or any other techniques to explore how it feels to extend the time spent with your food.
• Sit comfortably for five minutes after eating. Continue to breathe and observe what’s around you and any immediate effects of what you just ate.
• Be thankful for your meal after you’ve finished.