A Touch of Rouge

7:25

7:30

It's 7:30 and Evie just came downstairs as the tinge of pink appeared just above the horizon.  A couple of fishing tents are already out on the ice, perhaps 150 yards from our house   The rouge that started on the horizon has turned a good part of the sky pink.  I have been up for an hour, listening to NPR, trying to get up enough energy to write my blog.  Until I start writing it, I sometimes dread the thought of it, but once I start, I am fine.

7:25 Early Birds

I began yesterday like always, with coffee, NPR, a breakfast of granola, yogurt (plain) and blueberries, then off to yoga for the first time in a month.  A good friend, Stan Marshaus, the retired golf pro from Chautauqua, called and was interested in going.  So he picked me up at 9:00 and we drove to Lakewood on a surprisingly warm morning.  I had some trepidation about going because of my cold, sneezing, the usual symptoms but I was fine.  Everyone was happy to see me back, and class went well.  I think Stan enjoyed it as well, at least he said he did, commenting that his back and breathing felt better.  So far, so good.  The trick, however, is to keep coming to get full benefit, something few people seem to do.  Yoga, like the treadmill, many try/buy it, few end up staying with it.

I was home by 11:00 and it was such a beautiful morning, a blue sky, sunny and in the 40's, that I strapped on my cross country skis and gave the lake another try.  Fortunately, it was better than the previous day and though it was not perfect, as I still sunk through the crust a couple of inches, I was still able to glide and enjoy the lake.  It was warmer than I was used to, so I ended up without a hat, unzipping my jacket.  I went as far as Sandy Bottom and back, the only skier on the lake, of course, though there were some fishing tents out off of Long Point.  On my way back, my tracks were getting slushy, so I was lucky to get out on the lake when I did.  I am afraid it will be too wet today but we may give it a try.

The Solitary Tracks of A Cross Country Skier

We had a lunch of Linda Mc Clure's soup, and watched some TV, what I cannot even remember, perhaps Sports Center.  Evie had a hair cut scheduled for 3:00, so I thought I would read some and take a nap before going with her.  I woke up about 2:30, got up to get ready to go and discovered she had left an hour earlier, letting me sleep in.  It was fine with me and I think she enjoys shopping without me telling her to hurry up!

I have had a hard time finding a book to read, trying a couple of mysteries, the Robert Crais, the Jussie Adler-Olsen but ended up getting quickly in to Cormac Mc Carthy's, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.  I have tried him before knowing that he is much admired but was turned off by his style and the darkness of his vision.  For some reason, I was immediately pulled into this novel, dark for sure, about as violent a book as I have ever read, but I like the writing, the characters, especially the sheriff who narrates sections of the book.

Around 4:00, I went out and started shoveling the three feet of snow in front of our garage, hoping to get our Accord out sometime this week.  I was careful not to pick up much snow, pushing it rather than shoveling, to avoid another injury to my iliiopsoas, part of the hip flexor.  I got most of it cleared so I hope today's melt will allow me to pull the car out of the  garage. Evie came home just as I finished with a car load of groceries.

We were then able to enjoy a glass of wine at dusk before Evie started to make dinner of garlic spinach, salmon, homefries, and a salad.  While she preps, I usually join her, quickly washing and drying the  prep dishes, so that we have less to do after dinner.  The salmon was picture perfect, with a glaze of orange marmalade, mustard and balsamic vinegar, as was the spinach.  I have been wanting salmon recently so this was the perfect dinner for me.  We binged once again on House of Cards, watching three more episodes, with seven more to go.  I will say that it's often more interesting watching someone climb a ladder to a position of power rather than their attempts to stay in power, just as Obama's election in 2008 was so much more exciting than his years in office.  It's the nature of things.  Around 10:00, I went up to bed, anxious to get back to my book, to see how many more people Chigurh kills.  Yuk.  He is about as monstrous an individual as I have ever seen in a book or film.  And, by the way, I did see the film and loved it, as much or more than the book.