Less Than Zero (Almost)

7:15

8:00

8:01

8:40

Up at 6:30 to one of the coldest days of our five years retirement here at the lake, zero degrees and dropping, a slight wind, clear sky above, a few low hanging clouds over Bemus.  It does not look as if it's going to get much warmer during the day, the high in the single digits, truly an Arctic day here at the lake.

If you are still in suspense, wondering if I finished The Goldfinch before my digital loan expired yesterday, relax, I finished about 2:30 in the afternoon, an hour before it expired.  Hoo Waa. And I checked to see when the book disappeared from my Kindle, and it happened last night late, not as I thought, at 3:00 in the afternoon.   I loved the book, would recommend it to anyone but not the way I went about reading it, like I was a high school student, having to finish a book last minute before the exam, not fun.

Besides the anxiety of wondering if I would finish the book in time, I was out shoveling our parking space three times, in single digit cold, as it snowed most of the day and each  time I shoveled, another three or four inches had fallen.  Surprisingly, it was not that cold until the last time I was out, around 4:00 PM, when I really noticed the cold air.

Dinner at McClures

Not much else happened during the day.  Evie is feeling better but is still wiped out from her fever and coughs quite a bit both during the day and night.  It's going to take awhile for her to feel chipper again, I fear.  Late afternoon, she revived some, took a shower and we went over to the McClures for dinner though we were worried about how she would feel.  Fortunately, she felt good most of the evening, so we could enjoy their company.  And Linda's dinner, Ina Garten's 1770 House meat loaf, with garlic sauce, mashed potatoes, peas, and salad was just the panacea for Evie.  We had fun catching up with the McClures, who spent Christmas and New Year's at the lake.  Around 8:30, we decided to not press our luck and drove home in near zero weather, few cars on the road fortunately.

We stayed up till 10:00, watched another episode of Orange is the New Black, then went up to bed.  I just started the much acclaimed and celebrated Wolf Hall on my Kindle, so far, so good.  At the moment, the sun is blinding, rising over Wells Bay, a welcome change from the past few days of cloudy mornings.  "Hello Sunshine, My Old Friend, I've Come To Talk With You Again."

Hard to believe this will be the scene in six short months.  Love the seasons!