Darkness On An Early Morning

6:50 AM

6:50 PM

I was up at 5:45, much earlier than I have been the last couple of weeks, so I am surprised at the utter darkness on the lake, a few lights flickering along Lakeside Drive.  It's warmer than yesterday's 17 below thank goodness, at 10º, the high in the 20's.  Perhaps I am up early because I have breakfast this morning over at the Bemus Point Inn at 8:00.

Yesterday was a cold but amazingly beautiful day, sunshine all day, brilliant blue sky, an almost blinding whiteness on the lake.  Because it was so cold early, we both decided to get our exercise inside in the morning so I went to yoga, Evie to the gym.  Yoga was crowded, unusual for Elise's classes but it was nice to see the interest picking up.  Evie walked four miles, so both of us felt pretty good when we returned home.  

For lunch, I made some quinoa, to go with the black eyed pea and kale stew I had made a few days ago.  And, surprise, it tasted pretty good, a healthy lunch of grains and vegetables.  One more day and I will have finished the stew!  By mid afternoon, it was 30º warmer than early morning's 17 below, so Evie strapped on her new skis and both of us went out for a workout on the lake.  It still was not perfect, mushy at times despite the cold temperatures, and I had to de-ice Evie's skis once because the water had frozen on them.  She did love her new skis and boots, so we will be out on the trails more often. Unfortunately, my ski binding broke, so I may have to get new bindings and boots if I want to keep up with the 'little woman' and her skis.  

We had a relaxing sunset, sipping wine, enjoying a blue cheese dip Evie made, as the lake slowly darkened and a single fisherman, who had been sitting on a bucket just off of Victoria for at least five hours, finally trudged into the shoreline.  I talked to him briefly when I was skiing but he was pretty close mouthed, did not have much to say, his bucket surrounded by perch.  When I asked what he used for bait, he said perch fish eyes.  I skied on.  For some reason, the waxing moon lit the night, creating eerie but hard to photograph silhouettes of the trees on the snow.  

Evie had pulled a frozen pork stew out of the freezer, so we had that with quinoa and french bread for dinner, not our favorite meal of the week but filling.  We watched Colbert, then some Idol before going to bed, as I am almost finished with my James Lee Burke novel.  I am ready to move on to something new to read, for sure.