A Sunday With Nothing We Have To Do!

8:00

Fishing Huts Off Long Point at 8:00 

It was a little after 7:00 when I woke, morning light in the bedroom, so I went downstairs, started the coffee, walked outside in 9º weather to get the paper, a few snow flakes falling.  Guys are out fishing, why not, today's much warmer than yesterday's 10 below.

We both wanted to get in some exercise early, so I went to yoga at 9:00, Evie dropping me off so she could go to the YMCA.  A small yoga class, three of us, perhaps because of the below zero weather. The Y was mostly empty when Evie arrived, busy when she left around 10:15.  We met at the Ryder's Cup, where I had a French Press coffee, and we headed home.  On Friday, a recipe caught my eye on one of my blogs, an Indian flavored black eyed pea and collard greens stew, so I decided to make it Saturday.  I let the black eyed peas simmer on the stove for forty five minutes while I took the trash to the Transfer Station.  When I got home, I chopped up the garlic and ginger, heated it with Indian spices, then added the collard greens, till wilted, then the black eyed peas, and let it simmer for about a half hour and it was done.  I hope to have it for lunches, as a side for dinner.

Lunch was vegetable soup and a bagel, and then we did little the rest of the afternoon, watched OU come back from fifteen down and beat Miami in basketball, some Olympics, and Evie caught up on some phone calls. And our granddaughters, Hayden and Halle (with some neighborhood friends), called Evie on FaceTime late afternoon, which was fun.  We sure miss not seeing them.  I went cross country skiing around 5:00,  and it was sunny in the middle of the lake, shadows in close.  The snow was not conducive to good skiing, slow and mushy still, and my skis froze, so I had to take them off, and try to scrape off the ice.  It's frustrating because the lake looks perfect and yesterday was a busy day on the lake, lots of fishermen, with snow mobiles zooming up and down the lake, even a couple of planes in the sky, flying just above the lake, enjoying the blue skies and sunshine.

Sun Setting Over Woodlawn at 5:00PM (I'm on the lake, skiing)

Since we had an easy dinner of frozen eggplant Parmesan, we were able to relax at dusk, watching the lake darken, with a glass of wine and cheese and crackers and listen to Garrison Keillor.  The eggplant was just as good as when Evie made it a month ago.  With a big salad, we had more than enough.  We watched some TV, the often outrageous Bill Maher.   This time he took on the seniors, retirees like us, who he argues are responsible for much of the national debt (because of Medicare and Social Security), yet we are mostly conservative and hate the government that takes care of us. Go figure.  Interesting point of view, accurate too, but what is the answer? The real problem, the last year of seniors' lives makes up 30% of the costs of Medicare.  No easy answers to this one either.