The Final Day Of Winter?

6:35

6:59

7:00

7:22

An amazing morning sunrise, as the clouds are starting to dissipate and we may actually have a sunny day.  The snow has stopped and the temperature, alas, will begin to rise, so that tomorrow, Saturday, it will be in the 50's and stay that way for the next week.

7:25

7:58

Yesterday was another wintry day and we loved sitting in our warm house, watching the snowflakes fall on and off during the day.  We did not do much different from any other day.  I did go to yoga at 10:00, the most well attended class of the week.  And I stopped at Sav A Lot, hoping to pick up some shallots but walked out instead with a 12 pack of Southern Tier Beer.  When I got home, Evie was taking it easy, enjoying just doing nothing for a change.  I had an easy lunch, of black bean soup and leftover sub from the Lighthouse.

And I was ready to watch one of my shows or take a nap when the unexpected happened:  Donald Trump gave a press conference and we were glued to the TV set for the next couple of hours. He came out listing his accomplishments(with no details) but soon reverted to the usual, bragging, name calling, exaggerating, lying, thin skinned, still nursing wounds from the campaign. And he continued to blame the media for all his problems, whining about the purveyors of fake news. One reporter described it as 'a verbal equivalent of a tweet storm,' And Trump "loved it. I am having a good time." We would have, too, if this were a reality TV show, not the President.  It's scary that someone so ungrounded, unhinged,  almost manic, is the President of the United States! Unbelievable! The best part was the reaction of Congress...most Democrats found his press conference terrifying, scary while most Republicans 'did not have time to watch it'...they were too busy! I love it. Wimps. And then there was Rush Limbaugh:  "This was one of the most effective press conferences I have ever seen. The press is going to hate him even more after this." True. And no doubt the 25.5% of eligible voters who voted for Trump are happy.

Majesty Of Winter In The Woods

After that, I needed something mind bending,  physical, so I went out and put on my cross country skis, intending to just take a short jaunt.  The woods, however, with white frosting on every tree limb, were too inviting so off I went.  There were no trails so I had to bushwhack most of the way through almost a foot of snow.  It was glorious, if I can use that word, and nature is my religion...'that's what arouses those feelings of wonder and mysticism and gratitude in me."  What a panacea to the press conference.  I was out close to an hour, taking lots and lots of photographs, one view seemingly better than the previous.

Victoria Verticals

It was equally nice to come home to a warm house and sit down with Evie with a glass of wine as the long day waned.  For dinner, Evie had gotten out a pork tenderloin, sliced it and pounded it thin, and we had a great pork schnitzel  dinner, with broccoli, baked potatoes and salad.  We watched some of the pundits dissect the press conference until it became too depressing.  We then watched two more episodes of THIS IS US.  By the time we finished, it was time to watch part of CNN's History of Comedy.  This particular episode focused on the changing role of women in comedy from Lucille Ball, Gracie Allen and Moms Mabely to Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner, Mary Tyler Moore.  It was really good, fun to watch.