Winter Arrives, Lake's Frozen---No Kayaking Till Spring

8:10

Frozen 

Well, I slept in till 8:00 though I had a restless night.  It was strange to get up and find it light out, the lake and sky its usual silver gray.  It's 30º out and will stay in the 30's most of the day.  The long range forecast looks fine for our drive on Tuesday to our daughter Jill's in Bristow, VA, perhaps some rain but no snow or ice.

My only tasks yesterday were to drive to the Transfer Station around noon, attend yoga at 9:00, a mixed levels class.  It was more challenging then most I attend, but I managed to keep up.  When I walked out, one of the younger students asked how long I had been taking yoga, I told her a couple of years, and she said I was 'really good.'  Wow. I think she meant to say it was amazing to see someone my age manage to handle this class!  After class,  it was coffee, then to Sam's for gas and a rotisserie chicken, then home, off to the the Transfer Station and that was it for the rest of the day.

We both must have been suffering from the Post Viking Club Blues because neither one of us felt like doing much yesterday.  How could Saturday match the excitement of a Friday night at the Viking? I guess I could have gone for a hike but instead, I started packing for our trip and Evie gave the upstairs bedrooms a good fall cleaning, moving all the geraniums out of one of the bedrooms because they were buggy and not doing well, alas.  The plants in our other bedroom seem to be doing well.  I watched some basketball, saw part of the Ohio State loss to North Carolina but mostly I read my biography of John Wooden.  It's a tomb so I may not have it done by the time we leave on Tuesday, no big deal.

At 6:00, we settled down with a glass of wine, some horseradish cheese and crackers, and listened to Garrison Keeler's Prairie Home Companion.  Around 7:30, Evie made hash browns, then cole slaw and we had half of the chicken for dinner.  Not much to watch on Saturday night unless you like football or basketball and Evie doesn't usually so, fortunately, the finals of the women's NCAA Volleyball Tournament was on ESPN so we watched the ladies from Penn State defeat Brigham Young in three matches,  highlighting the amazing athleticism of women's volleyball.

We then watched a new series we are beginning to enjoy on HBO called GETTING ON.  It's an improbable comedy, set in a geriatric ward, perhaps black comedy is a better description as you could as easily laugh as cry.  It reminds us both of the classic ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST movie and book and there's even a big nurse.  And he is big, about three hundred pounds, named Patti.  It's amazing to think of the casting, how they can take older women and make them look like they belong in this ward for mostly the terminally ill.  Leave it to the Brits to make a comedy out of this situation.  This GETTING ON is an American take off on the British show.

Much of the humor comes from the institutional madness, something anyone who has worked in an institution can identify with.  For example, one of the new waves of change that came from the higher ups involved calling patients 'customers' rather than 'patients', as if this will make a difference.  Sound familiar, another idiocy from those who have never worked in the hospital.  It takes some time to get used to this comedy  but the actors are both funny and sad, having to put up with all the guff from those above.  And the head resident is absolutely nuts, only interested in her 'fecal' study, as she darts around the ward gathering samples!