An Amazing 17 Below, Clear Skies, A Pink Haze Rims the Lake

17 Below

6:59

7:24

I woke at 7:00, knew it was supposed to be a cold morning, checked the weather gauge, and was shocked to see the temperature.  So,  I went to my computer, checked other temperatures in the area, -6 in Jamestown, -3 in Buffalo, so I thought 17 below might be wrong.  But I then checked the weather station at Sea Lion Drive and they posted a -19.5 so I assume our 17 below it correct.  I did walk out to get the paper, breathed in the crisp, cold air but it did not seem much different from other cold mornings like this,  I suppose you had to stay outside for a period of time to feel it.

No yoga Tuesdays means we are always on the look out for someplace to snow shoe or cross country ski.  So, Evie put on a pair of old skis, shoes, tried them out in the Woodlawn area, found they hurt her feet, so she strapped on her snow shoes and we drove into Mayville, to snow shoe and cross country ski the trail next to Webb's.  It's really a snow mobile trail but its been groomed and driven on by so many snow mobiles that it was like a small snow highway, through the heavily wooded section of Mayville.  It was once a train track, so its often built up above the surrounding areas.  We passed maybe six snowmobiles on our trek; fortunately, they were careful, slowed down, raised their arms to signal those behind that they should slow down.  It made me want to take a ride on one sometime but I am not aware of any place that rents them.  We were cold going out, much warmer heading back with the wind at our backs. W e went from #394 to Morris Road and back, perhaps an hour on the trail.  It was easy because of the groomed trails, lack of a heavy wind.  We drove over to take a look at the finished ice castle, an amazing volunteer effort by the Mayville area residents, cutting the ice into blocks with chain saws, hauling out of the lake to build the castle.  Quite a difference from last year when it was so warm there was no castle and the weekend, as I recall, was cancelled, no snow thus no snowmobiles.

Snow Shoeing Webb's Trail

Mayville Ice Castle

Our typical afternoon, of veggie soup and tuna sandwiches, some reading, relaxing, then about 4:00, we drove off to Hollyloft Bike and Ski Shop to see what kind of cross country ski packages they might have.  We brought along our thirty year old skis to see if they might have shoes to fit them.  One is so obsolete we would need new bindings, the other we could get shoes for but the skis were really worn out on the bottom.  We finally decided on a ski package for Evie, with a wider, shorter skis with good shoes, and she could not wait to get home to try them out.  Unfortunately, it was dark and too cold, so she will have to wait till this morning, more likely this afternoon as its still too cold out.

We had another easy dinner, as we are getting lazier and lazier, a couple of hot dogs and the black eyed pea and kale stew I made a couple of days ago, not bad but I am not sure I would make it again.  We watched another newer movie, THE KINGS OF SUMMER (2013), a quirky but original coming of age comedy.  The main character, Joe Toy, chafes under the discipline of his widowed father, vows to run away from home.  He talks two buddies (the cool guy and the loser)  into going with him, both, too, unhappy with their parents unreasonable, often silly restrictions.   Warning...there is not an adult in the movie to admire, perhaps one of the weaknesses of the film, to stereotype all parents as doofuses. Anyways, the boys manage to build a cottage, how, don't ask, and gather supplies, and take off.  They manage to pull it off, reveling in their new found freedom, in the beauty of the natural world, jumping in streams, lying in fields of green,  though they struggle, eventually, with food, ending buying from a Boston Chicken outlet.  As we watch, we keep waiting for trouble.  It arrives in the form of, what else, a woman, girl really, who Joe has fallen for.  He brings her to the hideaway, gets her to promise to never tell.  Unfortunately, she falls for his best friend, the cool guy, destroying the harmony of the trio. Things fall apart and Joe ends up living there alone. Eventually, the solitude becomes too much for him, and he's saved from himself by the girl, who because of her worry for him, tells Joe's father where to find him.  All's well that ends well...the boys find that there parents now treat them differently, and the boys and the girl friend all end up being friends again.  Evie liked this movie, me a bit less.