An Empty Nest, A Partly Cloudy Morning, A Dusting Of Snow Overnight

7:28

I was up late for me, after 7:00, surprised by the sunlight in our bedroom.  The lake was snow covered once gain, as was the lawn, with just a thin layer of snow.  It's 32º but will get colder as the week progresses.  The clouds are puffy, dark and ominous, as the sun pokes through the edges, like something Brueghel might have painted.

Black Capped Chickadee by Beth

Acrylic by Beth

Yesterday was like vacuum, all the energy, the air, was sucked out of our house with the departure of Beth and Marisa, the downside of any visit of our family.  I did  try to get back into the old routine, going off to yoga in the morning, a pretty good class and talk at the end to my surprise,  and I went to Wegman's to pick up a few things.  And later in the day, I went for a hike, hoping I might be able to walk on the lake, but I sunk into a couple of inches of slush when I tried to walk it, so I went up to the Woodlawn/Victoria woods and followed the trail from Beth and my hike a couple of days earlier, the tracks still imprinted on the woods floor.  Other than that, we did little if anything during the day, just reading, watching some TV, a few minutes of basketball, some Olympics, but mostly we both just vegged out for the day.  We sure missed Beth and Marisa.

Drear of Winter Woods

We had the leftover lamb chops and rice for dinner, with brussel sprouts and salad and decided to catch up on some of the TV we had missed during the past week.  We watched last week's Downton Abbey and as we expected, Bates was a bad boy (finally).  I had read somewhere that the viewers were getting tired of Bates face, his threatening look, and I tend to agree.  We also thought the pig wrestling in the previous week's episode was silly but we loved the scene where Mrs. Patmore tells Daisy how proud she was of her by parting friends with her unrequited love, Alfred.  We then decided, after watching a bit of the new House of Cards, Season Two, to go back and watch all of Season One, a good choice because we have both forgotten much of it and watching it the second time, it seems better than ever.  I find myself wondering over and over if this series is an accurate depiction of the ruthlessness of politics. And I am beginning to  think, yes it is...innocence gone.