Fire Up The Lawn Mower (not quite)

6:53

7:22

7:36

7:39

Awake at 7:00, to a clear sky, a slash of orange over the far shoreline.  Now, at 8:00, the sun is blinding, filling the now ice covered lake, warming the cold 25º morning.  A couple brave souls are out in the middle of the slow melting lake.  Today should get up into the 40's, tomorrow the 50's, before snow is once again forecast for Thursday as winter, hopefully, returns to Chautauqua.

Yesterday was my typical Monday, a good yin yoga class with Danielle, followed by coffee at Ryder's Cup, then a stop at Home Depot for the first time in months, to pick up a clothes rack and blocks for raising the one end of our bed, to help us both sleep more peacefully and avoid acid reflux.
When I returned home, Evie had made tuna and tomato melts for lunch and I warmed up the cauliflower soup.  She then drove off for her workout at the YMCA while I ate lunch and watched some Sports Center.

Woodlawn, Early Morning

At 1:45 I left for the doctor's office, where I was having my first Wellness Visit, a new requirement from Medicare.  Basically, you fill out six or seven pages of questions and then meet with a nurse to go over them, mostly to make sure that you are safe and healthy, especially I assume if you live alone, are unhealthy, or dependent.  It makes sense and hopefully heads off problems before they get out of control, like senior abuse, drug addiction, or lack of proper care.  My PA also gave me a quick, not required physical, to take advantage of the visit, a good guy.  And I signed probably for the 5th time, my willingness for my medical records to be shared with other doctors or hospitals.  Wouldn't it be nice if all hospitals and doctors offices were on the same page, the same app rather than each having their own.  I also stopped at the pharmacy to pick up a couple of prescriptions and the hardware store before getting home around 4:00.

Evie was watching the build up to the elections in Iowa, so I joined her and we both sat there and watched TV for an hour, listening to the pundits make predictions and listening to the two sons of Donald Trump talk about how wonderful their father  would be as President.  We then adjourned to the living room for a class of wine and some roasted peanuts and raisins and listened to more politics on POTUS.

Dusk

Bemus Farm At Dusk at 5:26

Around 6:30, I went outside and grilled some burgers for our dinner and Evie heated up the kuru fasulye to complement the burgers.  They were great, just what we wanted, with pickles, mayo and ketchup.  And we watched Billions, a Showtime series that we would like much more if it didn't feel obligated to include a scene or two of soft porn, like it's necessary to keep its audience.  We also watched Bill Maher's Real Time before turning to the political coverage at 9:00 when things began to heat up.

It was interesting to watch how the Democratic caucuses worked, as we watched a group of Bernie Democrats in Ames, Iowa, mostly students, try to convince the undecided to join their group. They were articulate, passionate and knowledgeable, and made us both encouraged about the young voters in America.  The only thing that took away from our optimism was the role that religion continues to play in our politics, as one can easily see my the last three winners of the Republican primaries in Iowa, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, and last night Ted Cruz, all evangelical Christians who vote for candidates only if they share their Christian values.  I had enough by 10:00 when it was basically clear Cruz would win, Hilary and Bernie were a tie.

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