A Blanket Of Snow

Photoshopped Cross Country Skier

I woke at 6:00, thinking it was perhaps 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning.  So I got up, made coffee and searched for something to listen to on Sonos.  I settled on a radio show called The Avid Reader which discussed their top books of the year.  I found myself listening to it rather than reading anything on the Internet, confirming what I always told my students: you cannot do two things at once...you either listen or read.  This morning I find it difficult to keep my vow to avoid politics on my blog but after the past week, especially after yesterday, I have to bite my tongue.

7:48

So other than the breaking news all day long, Saturday was normal for us.  No yoga or working out on the weekend, a long coffee and leisurely morning until I got enough energy to get the trash together, cleaned off the snow from my car, and drove to the Transfer Station, not very busy this time of the year.  We both wanted to cross country ski but were unsure of the conditions.  We worried that the trails might be wet underneath the snow, and our skis would ice up, making it impossible to ski. We decided to chance it and drove to the Rails To Trails path in Mayville.  We assumed that snowmobiles would be banned until the trails were groomed and we were right, the trail was untouched by skiers or snowmobiles.  We strapped on our skis and skied off into the open fields of the trail.  We skied this trail last week so we knew it was straight and flat.  We did take a right towards Stockton this time, however, and had some difficulty finding our way because there was no snowmobile path to follow.  We skied until we arrived at a house and a street and turned around and headed back.  Unfortunately, I found a wet spot and had to take up my skis and strip off the ice before I could continue.  And then I had difficulty getting my skis on because the bindings had froze as well.  That's why we worry about water beneath the snow.  Once I got my skies on, we headed back, into a bitter wind of course, so that as we skied, I felt like we were on the set of the movie Fargo; cold, bitter winds, and fields of snow as far as the eye could see.  We were happy to get back to the car and happy to have gotten in some cross country skiing despite the weather.  We felt righteous.

We did not get home until 1:30, so it was time for lunch, the vegetable soup Evie had made Friday morning and bagel with tomatoes and Kashkaval cheese.  I watched some basketball but soon got bored and went back to the living room to read and nap.  Evie, however, never able to take a nap and always busy, prepped out dinner, a pot roast with all the fixings, veggies, tomato paste, garlic, and red wine.  It slow cooked in the oven much of the afternoon, filling the house with its rich aroma. What a great way to spend the afternoon, reading, napping or watching TV and breathing in the aroma of dinner cooking.

We had our usual Saturday happy hour, enjoying a cocktail or two, a good cheese and crackers, and endaname, to keep us healthy.  We listened to the news until we could not stand it anymore and the groove on some great tunes.  We did not eat until around 8:00 and dinner was just as good as we hoped.  Nothing like a good pot roast, gravy, veggies and mashed potatoes.  We watched Real Time with Bill Maher, laughed and cried at the absurdity of our world.  We went to bed at our usual time, 11:00, wondering what news we would wake up to.