April Showers Bring May Flowers...Maybe

7:00 on A Gray Morning

Still Frozen Lake, Yesterday Morning at 7:45

A wet, gray miserable, looking morning, no sun to speak of, rain clouds, gray lake, not a hint of color, ah spring at Chautauqua!  I was awake at 5:30, got up at 6:00, to headlights in our backyard, the paper delivered.  No spectacular sunrise this morning, just a gradual lightening, from darkness to gray.  Today brings rain, perhaps thundershowers, heavy winds of up to 50 mph tonight.  Yuk.

Yesterday was a good day because I was able to get out of the house, my back much better.  I decided to try yoga, for the first time in close to a month, and it was therapeutic, as fortunately, much of our poses were for the back.  I walked out after an hour and a half feeling much better, having learned a couple of stretches for a healthy back.  It was good to be in my winter routine, yoga then a coffee at Ryder's Cup, then home, to relax before a lunch of soup and a sandwich.  While I was gone, Evie made another Turkish standby, lentil soup, a pulse most Americans had never heard of until the 1990's though it has been a staple of many cultures for centuries.  I assume with the immigration of Eastern cultures in the 1970's, many from India, lentils became available in specialty shops, but now it's fast becoming a healthy alternative for meat for many Americans...lentil stew, lentil chili, any kind of dal.

We also welcomed back the blue herons, feeding along our bank, as you can see from the photograph.  It's similar to the Great Egrets that we photographed when in Florida.  It 's hard to tell them apart except for the coloring.

Blue Heron

Florida's Great Egret

 Evie had another good workout in mid afternoon, which is fast becoming her routine.  Once the weather turns more amenable, we will start getting hikes in but for now, it's great to have a yoga studio or gym available for exercise.  I do feel guilty about our having to drive twice a day to Lakewood, a total of probably 36 miles, knowing we are doing our share to exacerbate global warming.  My brother in law has a new Chevy Volt, which he loves.  It gets up to 38 miles on one charge, which would be a perfect car for our short trips to exercise.  We are just not ready for a new car yet; I like not having a car payment, haven't had one for five years, just maintenance for our two cars, one fourteen years old, the other ten. Let's hope they keep on chugging, like 'the little engine that could.'

Snow Mobiles in April

 We were once again shocked at seeing snowmobiles on the lake, speeding by our house, sending water tails into the air.  I have heard the lake is still a foot thick but there are most certainly open areas, especially near shore.  Dinner was lemon  Greek chicken, with spinach and rice, another comfort food for our family, reminding us of Greece because of the oregano and lemon, and  the fact that it was often served at the tavernas we ate at when camping in the 1970's.  

We watched Stewart and Colbert, then American Idol, which I have to admit to enjoying.  Why shouldn't I?  It's fun to see these kids improve over the past couple of months, become quite good entertainers and singers, better really then the judges.  It's hard to believe the show has been on for thirteen years and is still going strong.  I feel better about watching it when I googled it on Wikipedia and found that the show has been described  as "unparalleled in broadcasting history" and "the most impactful show in the history of television"  Wow.  I wouldn't go quite that far but it has been extremely successful.