A Mix Of Snow, Sleet, And Rain

7:05

I woke to a dusting of snow on the ground, gray skies and lake, though it looks like some light off to the East.  It's a cold morning, 36º and will not get much warmer as the day progresses.  We were not sure whether to head West today because of the weather.  Our visit to Acadia Park in Maine was ruined last year by a Nor'easter and we don't want this to happen again. We decided, however, to go for it and hope for the best.

Yesterday was pretty much a duplicate of the day before, taking our time, occasionally packing or getting some things organized for our trip in between wasting time.  The weather was not inviting, so we never did get outside.  I did, however, drive to Lakewood, enjoyed a cup of coffee at Ryders's Cup and did some book reviews on my computer because I am behind and want to get it up to date before we travel.  I also stopped at Wegman's; why go to Lakewood without stopping at Wegmans, this time for Wegman's Mixed Fruit jams, to bring to Euclid and my sister and her family who love them.

4:30 pm

Late afternoon it began to rain, then sleet, then snow, complicating our plans not only for our trip West (rain every day) but  our Friday dinner date with the McClures.  We planned on driving over to Steeners but the weather made us change our mind and we agreed to meet at Andriaccio's, three miles away.  Well, it was a good thing we changed our minds because the three mile drive was a nail biter. We had a blizzard of snow most of the way, wet slushy roads, and blinding headlights, making it the first miserable drive of the winter.  It made me think for the first time about the coming of winter, what it really means for us, cold, snow, and occasional scary driving.  Andriaccio's was not very crowded for a Friday night, no doubt because of the weather.  We had decent dinners, fish frys for the guys, salads for the girls.  We were in by 6:00, out by 7:30, ready for the drive home.  Fortunately, it was not snowing and most of the roads were just wet, not slushy.

5:44 pm

We spent the rest of the night following the tragic events in Paris, the result of angry Muslims lashing out at perceived enemies.  For whatever the mistakes the West has made in the Middle East, it's ignorance, fear and self hatred that drives most of the violence.  The terrorists look at others for the cause but it's inside them, their insecurity and self hatred.  And there's no excuse for terrorism, the slaughter of innocents in the name of a cause or idea.  Ever.  "There are no ends, just means."  Camus quotation suggests that the means, not the end are what's important.  And the means must be pure. Violence towards an end (which is always illusory) is rarely pure, rarely reachs its end.