Early Saturday Morning Gray

A Bundled Up Evie On A December Morning

8:01

Up just after 6:00 to a chilly living room, a dark sky, as the days shorten till the equinox.  It's now 7:30, Evie just came downstairs and noticed a fishing boat out on the lake, near Long Point.  It will be in the 40's, maybe 50's later in the day, maybe even clear up some.  It could have been a kayak morning except for the fact that we are driving to Dunkirk this morning to participate in the Empty Bowls project, which raises mucho money for the food banks in Chautauqua County.

Late Fall Fishing

I just realized this morning that the Jamestown Christmas parade was last evening, upsetting because we missed it again. It's always fun, a small town parade, with all the bells and whistles.  Anyways, yesterday was like Thursday, a day of large leisure.  About 9:30, however, we realized the lake was like glass, so we bundled up, put on our gloves, and went kayaking, the two of us, the only presence on the lake other than wildlife.  We paddled down to Bootey Bay, uprooting rafts of mallards, as we went.  It was in the 30's so our hands got cold, at least mine, so we were only out for around 45 minutes.  The shoreline has the peculiar beauty of winter, almost haunting to be honest, with the barren woods and leafless arms of the trees, reaching skyward.  It felt great, however, to be out on the water.

Flight Of Ducks, Frightened By A Gun Shot

We had the last of the leftover pizza for lunch, along with the butternut squash and coconut milk soup, watching more of the news, as the pundits sought to place blame, the Dems on guns, the Republicans on Obama.  Things never seem to change.  The only excitement of the afternoon was the spotting of a pair of loons, hearing their recognizable yodel.

Thick Billed Common Loon Sighting

The rest of the afternoon I read, Evie played Word Brain, waiting for Julie Mason's cocktail hour on Potus at 6:00.  Supposedly, she was going to be sitting in a bar, enjoying cocktails with various journalists, talking about politics.  Unfortunately, it was somewhat of a bore, so we decided to have dinner rather than continue listening.

Dinner was one of my favorites, cabbage rolls which Evie pulled out of the freezer.  We made about 50 of them a month ago, frozen a couple of dinners worth, so we had them last night, smothered in sauerkraut along with mashed potatoes, always better than eating out.  And the rest of the evening we binged on three episodes of Fargo, a take off on the Coen brother's film, with the same quirky sense of humor combined with ruthless violence.  I cannot believe Evie likes it because violence usually turns her off.  It's a difficult series to summarize so I will only suggest it deals with a small towns sheriff's attempts to thwart a war between two gangs, one city, the other rural.  But it's much more than that.

Fargo, Season 2

It's now 9:00 and we are off to Empty Bowls in a half hour.  I will end with a quotation from the Huffington Post:

"Spending time in nature -- aside from being one of life's greatest simple pleasures -- comes with a whole host of mental health benefits, from lower stress levels to reduced depression and anxiety to improved memory and focus."

So, get out there and enjoy the day.