A Bone Chilling Morning At The Lake

7:33

Up at 6:20, just above zero outside, like its been the last couple of days. The weatherman expects it to last at least through the weekend.  These cold spells are getting crazy and I don't want to see my gas bill, pity the people on the East coast who have heating oil.  Even I am thinking of how nice it must be in Florida.

Yesterday was a very cold morning of course and I had to chip the ice off of the windows of my car so that I could make it to yoga.  Not the way you want to start you day  but at least I did not have to get out there until 9:35.  Yoga seems to be gaining popularity as the last couple of weeks, all my classes, no matter which teacher, have been fairly crowded, a good sign.  And I have noticde there are a number of new people, as well as returnees, who, like me, have signed up for the monthly unlimited, and come every day to class.  It's the best deal by far, seventy dollars for a month, so people seem to be waking up to its value and availability every day if you wish.

Skiing In Sun

In Snow Storm

When I got home, Evie had made a pot of vegetable soup, but I had one bowl of my winter vegetable minestrone left from last week.  So I heated that up in the microwave, made tuna with mayo and celery, put it in a wrap, and enjoyed a healthy lunch, watching another episode of Banshee.  Evie decided to work out early afternoon at the YMCA, so she left about 1:30, and did some shopping as well at T.J's and Sam's Club, not getting back until late afternoon.  About 5:00, I needed to get outside, test the cold, so I went for a long hike through the woods, and up and around the campground, for about forty five minutes.  Despite the 4º temperatures, I was able to stay warm, as only my face, which was uncovered, got cold.  It was great to be outside at this hour, dusk, and I saw nobody on my walk, the campground quiet and empty, with nary a camper.

Dusk From Kinney's Trail

For dinner, we had rotisserie chicken, and Evie also made roasted asparagus, a salad with blue cheese dressing, and mashed potatoes and gravy.  She knows I love mashed potatoes and gravy, just the perfect accompaniment for chicken.  We watched Colbert and Stewart, then a movie I had heard about on the radio as one of the best independent movies of 2013 called The Spectacular Now.  It's a teen movie, but not your typical kind, laced with sex, vulgarity and grossness.  This one follows the life of
Sudder, the popular and hard partying kid in school, living the life of carpe diem, until his girl friend leaves him. He then takes pity on the school's 'nice girl', Aimee (she played the daughter in The Descendants whom we both loved).  Here, she's a wallflower, the classes forgotten girl, and they develop a relationship though he can never quite forget about his old girl friend. Because of his live for the moment philosophy, he does poorly in school, drinks constantly to keep himself 'happy' and only towards the end, when he finds out his absent father is a drunk, his life is leading nowhere, and loses his job, does he have an epiphany about himself.  Finally understanding himself, he lets his new girl friend leave for college, without saying goodbye, knowing that he has not been good for her.  The movie ends with him seemingly changed, having filled out his college application, and he drives to his girl friends college, meets her on the steps of the school building, she sees him, they look at each other and the movie ends.  I likde it more than Evie but then I am a sucker for teen angst and found this original and interesting.  3 1/2 stars.