A Morning Of Blinding Sunshine, Clear Skies, And Twelve Below Temperatures

6:40

I got up around 6:30, light enough so I could see that it was a morning of clear skies, a hint of pink on the horizon, and cold.  I let our daughter's dog Cody out, and he took off briefly, chasing a rabbit I assume, but was back at the door within a minute, ready to return to the warm house.  I don't blame him.

We basically spent yesterday waiting for our daughter Beth to arrive, with Marisa, our granddaughter, who will spend the week with us.  Midmorning, I took another drive to Wegman's, to pick up more goodies for the week.  It seems like I have been shopping everyday this week...better get a Prius, get rid of my SUV if I am going to continue.  I figure between shopping and going to yoga for me, working out at the YMCA for Evie, we drive close to 20 miles a day which, with our Pilot, is about a gallon of gas or $3.55 a day, not bad really when you consider we used to drive out to the lake almost every weekend when we lived in Hudson, Ohio, a round trip of 300 miles.  You can see I am starting to think about having to get a new car since our Accord is 14 years old, our Pilot 10 years old. My dilemma: do I buy a two wheel drive car which gets great mileage, or a four wheel drive which doesn't.  I think I will put off the decision and wait another year.

A Snow Angel

Beth and Marisa arrived around 2:45, a little over seven hours from Darien, CT, with some snow covered roads, but not terrible.  Marisa jumped out of the car and ran and gave us both a hug...nothing like a granddaughter for affection. Both are  good and excited to be at the lake, even Cody the dog.  It was not long before Marisa and Evie were outside in the snow, sledding down a couple of hills, walking on the lake, making snow angels.  It was cold, however, so they didn't last too long and today looks like an even colder day.  Earlier in the afternoon, Evie had put together a dough for fresh pasta, so about 6:00, she and Marisa made some fresh fettuccine noodles, with Marisa doing most of the work, and she's becoming a pro.  I barbecued some chicken thighs outside and Evie cooked the noodles in chicken broth, our favorite way to cook the noodles.  Dinner was great, of course, and everyone was hungry.

Granny and Marisa Making Fresh Pasta

A Winter Dinner of Barbecued Chicken

I had ordered a DVD from Netflix which I thought Marisa would like called Pressure Cooker, about inner city kids who compete in a culinary contest that promises, if they win, scholarships to a school of their choice.  The documentary follows their lives, both at home and school, and we were affected the most by their sad home lives, the conditions they lived in, contrasted to the hopes that their culinary skills offered.  Marisa was not crazy about the movie but by the end, when the kids won scholarships, some worth sixty thousand dollars, it seemed better.  But we will remember the eight ball they have grown up under, for being both poor and black, not a combination for success in our world.