An Overcast Saturday Morning

Evie's First Perch Of Spring

6:41

Overcast skies when I rose at 6:20, a decent wind, a wrinkled lake and 41º, as it looks like it will cool off for the next few days.  It may clear up later in the day, but I am not counting on it.  We have a full weekend ahead of us with no plans.  Let's see what the day will bring.

Yesterday began with coffee, writing my blog, then a quick paddle on a calm lake but gray morning. We were hoping for rain and it was predicted but we got just a whisper although when I went to yoga, it looked like there had been a cloud burst in Lakewood.  Yoga was interesting, as our teacher is a novice, very unsure of herself, so I felt like I had to be supportive of her rather than the other way around.  She is a little younger than me, very nice, wants to do well, but lacks confidence,  always asking is this ok.  On my way home, it looked like it had rained again but when I got to Woodlawn, the roads were dry, so we had missed most of the rain.  Evie, however, had been busy in the yard and had done some watering from the lake, on the newly seeded areas of our lawn.  She also made sure to water the two new trees we planted last fall.  They seem to be doing well.

I had a couple of schnitzel sandwiches for lunch, with the leftover pork, and watched the final episode of Games of Throne, Season 1.  Unfortunately, the one character I liked, the only seemingly good guy in the entire realm, was beheaded in the last scene, quite a surprise as I thought he would be a major player in the ensuing seasons.   Evie took off for the gym around 1:30, did some shopping and I did some reading, tried to sit out on the dock but it was too chilly.  So I came inside, read and took a nap, watched a few minutes of the NBA playoffs before getting bored.

Evie was home at 4:00 and though she stopped at T. J. Maxx, she did not buy another pot.  Just another quilt for our beds, which makes it perhaps quilt #9, as we have an attic full of quilts from my Mom, sister, nieces, and our kids.  Since it was a Friday,  TGIF even though we are retired, neither of us felt like fussing in the kitchen so we drove off to Steeners Irish Pub since we haven't been there in a couple of months.  We knew it would be busy, tried to time it so the after work drinkers would be about ready to leave the bar.  It was a little early, however, as the bar was still packed, though we were able to garner a seat for Evie, then I pulled over a stool from another area.  So we were happy to be sitting at the bar once again, hoping to strike up a conversation.  Everyone, however, seemed to be drinking with friends, so we were stuck with talking with each other.  Horrors.  We ordered beers, then looked through the specials.  Evie ordered a portabella sandwich with bruchetta which ended up mediocre.  I risked a heart attack and ordered, for the first time I can remember, their homemade french fry basket with five bean chicken chili and cheese.  It turned out to be big enough for two or three people although I did a pretty good job of it.

Fries Smothered In Chili And Cheese

And just as we ordered, the friends who introduced us to Steeners Pub, Barb and Dana Johnson, walked in and sat down with us.  Evie was happy.  We got to know them last spring when Barb painted our upstairs bedrooms.  They are a fun couple, both residents of the area all their lives.  The last time we saw them, in February, was at the Viking Club, when their grandchildren were up from Florida to visit.  We talked with them for a good forty five minutes, trying to get bites of our dinners in between the talk.  It was a fun way to end the evening.  We finally headed home around 8:30 as I had had enough of my fries, chili and cheese.

At Steeners With Barb and Dana Johnson

We were happy to be home, threw on our sweats, settled down to watch some TV and have another piece of raspberry pie with ice cream, the best.  We watched a couple of week's old CBS Sunday Morning and I was surprised to see a section on one of my English students from Western Reserve Academy, Sonia Vallabh, being interviewed with her husband.  They have a tragic but also amazing story.  A few years ago Sonia found out she carried a gene which doomed her to Prion disease, a rare form of Alzheimer's and death by 50.  Neither she nor her husband accepted this.  So even though she had just gotten her law degree and he had a great job, they both quit their jobs, enrolled at Harvard and got degrees in biology and now work in a lab at Broad Institute in Boston, doing research into a cure for her disease.  What a couple and inspiring story.  

Sonia And Her Husband