Sun Shiny Morning

6:37

For the first time in quite awhile, at least here at the lake, the sun beat me up.  I was up about 6:37, came downstairs and the sun was already ablaze over Long Point Bay, filling the living room and kitchen with light, a surprise.  The sun's journey back and forth, in front of our house, always fascinates me.  And since I have retired, get up early, I also pay more attention to it whereas when working, I paid little attention to it like many things I missed while working and raising a family. It's chilly out, 30º, hardly a ripple on the lake, the start to a fine day.

We were both up early yesterday and even before I left for yoga at 10:00, Evie had put together the makings for our dinner of Greek pastitisio, a macaroni and ground beef dish, spiced with cinnamon, dill, parsley, cayenne pepper,  feta cheese and to be topped with a bechamel sauce.  I left about 9:30 for class, enjoyed it because there were only three others, so we could work on asanas that involved lots of props, one that a large class cannot accomplish.  Afterwards, I stopped at the bank, the ATM broken, so I went inside for cash.  Funny how you get used to the ease of any ATM and it seems like a hassle to have to actually go into a bank, to a teller, for your money.  I stopped at the Tri James office, bought twenty dollars more of stones, to fuel my obsession.  Now, my road and part of my parking space look pristine, waiting for next year's winter when the snow plow destroys it..

Later Morning Fishing, In Sleet and Rain

When I got home, Evie had dinner finished and even made some amazingly healthy cookies (we think), with coconut oil, not butter, pistachios and walnuts, coconut, all kinds of good healthy things and, oh yea, chocolate chips.  We have not had cookies around in awhile so it seemed like a real treat to have one of two or three during the day.  Yum.  Around 1:30, Evie went off to the YMCA, had a good workout, and was home by 3:30, just as it was clearing up.  Most of the day up to that point was miserable, either rain or sleet and Mayville even had an inch of snow in the morning.  When it cleared up, I got off my couch, put on my work pants, and drove off to get another load of stones, as I am starting to spread it on my parking space.

Late Afternoon Clearing at 6:25

I forgot to mention that in the mail yesterday we received from Ohio University's basketball office, a memory book of our 1964 Final Eight Team, which was honored in early February in Athens, Ohio.  It's filled with pictures from that year, but many (taken by Evie) of that weekend, and from other weekends from the past six years when the team got together to celebrate and renew our friendships.  It was a nice touch, with commentary on the 1964 season as well as photos of some team members, their families, and biographies of what they have done with their life, how OU and basketball influenced their careers.  Needless to say, my biography was by far the most thorough and wordy, a page an a half, doing exactly what they asked, whereas my teammates included the bare essentials, a paragraph or two, a bit embarrassing for me.  If it had not been for Evie taking pictures over the years, however, we would not have had much of a Memory Book.  So, it was a surprise to get the book, especially since there was a change in the coaching staff. I expected the staff to just forget about it.  Pretty nice.

We had the pastitsio for dinner, with a salad, and I made some Parmesan toast, in the oven, which complimented the meal, giving some crunch to it.  We continue to enjoy FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, a look as I mentioned not only at the football crazies in Texas, but it's also a somewhat exaggerated but still fairly accurate look at teenagers, their angst, their relationships with others, how their love and violent emotions spill over, complicating their lives.  We also watched American Idol, and we really enjoyed it.  Most of the finalists, at least in our estimation, are really talented and it's going to hard to settle on just one winner.   Watching contestants grow over the season is much of the fun of any reality show, but American Idol is particularly thriilling (since it's the only one we watch).