A Couple of Inches Of Snow, A Toasty 16º

7:20

A rough night, couldn't get to sleep, perhaps because I was too much into my book.  I finally did get to sleep and morning came too quickly, as I was up just as Only A Game came on NPR, at 7:00.  A slight glow outside, as it's hard to distinguish the lake from the shoreline.  It's now 7:40 and I can finally make out the near shore line of the reeds but Long Point is still invisible and no fishermen yet.  Evie's up as well, enjoying a cup of java (sounds pretentious) and her mini iPad.

Yesterday, like many days recently, is vague, hardly a memory in my head, as one day blends in to another.  No yoga to give me me a morning goal, so I substituted a trip to the Honda dealer, in Jamestown, to get a free oil change (every fifth one is free).  I dropped the car off, walked over to Tops, the grocery store across the street, bought a Tim Horton coffee, and browsed the store for some deals, as they have lots of ten for a dollar deals, like Barilla pasta, a buck a piece.  I filled my basket with items, none of which Evie wanted I suppose but hey, they were a deal and we would use them sometime in the next year.  I threw all of the groceries in my backpack, walked back to the dealer, but stopped at a flower shop, to find something for a vase Beth came us from Franklin Pierce in Vermont.  I found a green succulent, nothing special but it's green and flows over the edge of the vase.  I am becoming quite the flower guy.  I picked up my car, free oil change and no problems, enshallah and drove home the long way, along the lake, on the east side, enjoying seeing homes along the lake instead of the highway.

My Pathetic Attempts At Finding Green Plants

Evie went to the mall, to Master Cuts, for a hair cut with her gal, Casey, with striking red and black hair.  Evie really likes her, so it's fun.  I stayed home, forced inside by the single digits, and for some reason the word 'vicarious' came to mind, describing my life lately, perhaps since I retired.  And it seemed apt, as I do spend a good amount of time living through others, in my books during the day, in TV programs like Breaking Bad or Mad Men during the evening.  What happened to carpe diem, quenching the thirst for adventure with experience!  I suppose our forays into the woods, on trails,  either hiking or cross country skiing are adventures when we are retired, better than nothing.  Still, I hunger for adventure but when I think about all the planning, the packing, the getting there, the effort, I get tired, sit back on my couch, pull out a good book and am happy, even thinking I might want a dog.

Evie did some shopping after Master Cuts, and she picked up some tilapia, something we have not had for a long time.  She came home and before dinner, had a call from our granddaughter, Marisa, on Face Time, and the two of them talked for an hour.  It's amazing how comfortable the granddaughters are on Face Time, talking away, about themselves, about what they are doing at the moment, and watching Marisa's latest gymnastic moves.  It's a tribute to Granny that they are so comfortable talking with her, and something to enjoy because when they get older, it won't happen.  While Evie talked, I went outside and did some shoveling on the lake, beginning try to clear an ice skating rink but the ice was slushy in near the wall, hard to shovel.

Face Timing With Marisa, With Evie In Upper Right Hand Corner

For dinner, Evie breaded the tilapia, baked it for twenty minutes, as I chopped up the garlic, for spinach and made some tartar sauce, my brother in law Rich's method, with dill pickles and capers.  Evie had also bought a broccoli slaw with cranberries and sunflower seeds from Sam's, which rounded out a great dinner.  Nothing special on TV, the usual, Stewart and Colbert and two or three episodes of Diners, Drive In's, and Dives, which always leaves me hungry.  We stayed up later than usual, turning the bedroom light off at 11:30, maybe the reason I had a hard time getting to sleep.