Six O'Clock Rising

7:00

7:41

I have not been up this early for quite awhile and forgot how dark it can be until we get near summer. It's already a toasty 36º, 30º warmer than yesterday at this time, and I have yet to see a fisherman or four-wheeler on the lake.  They will come. And they did, a four-wheeler at 6:45 and now, at 7:00, I count ten shanties or bucket boys out on the lake.

Yesterday began with frigid temperatures but by the time I got out on the lake to cross-country ski mid-afternoon, it had warmed up into the 30's.  I had to scrape the frost off both the inside and outside of my windshield before driving to a yoga class at 9:00, a pain.  Class went quickly, a good sign and Julie, our teacher, told me about how she takes a route to the studio which avoids the potholes by the bridge.  I had never thought of going that way but did on the way home, via Ramsey Road and Carpenter Pringle, which takes longer but does avoid the potholes.  Cool beans.

When I got home, Evie was at rest, as her sciatica has returned.  Thus, most of the day, she took it easy, avoiding anything that might strain her hip/back.  It's frustrating because she is unable to either workout or cross-country ski.  Lunch was a couple of fried eggs on grits and sausage, with some leftover homefries. Yum.  The rest of the afternoon was taken up with watching some Bloodline, finishing my book, napping, and waiting for Huckabee Sander's press conference.  Hilarious.

Late Afternoon Skiing

Around 4:00, I went out to ski, wondering again what the conditions would be like because it had warmed up.  It was surprisingly good, so I skied down to Whitney Bay and back, enjoying just being on the lake.  The only rough spot was where the snowmobiles had made ice tracks on the lake, and it was rough skiing over the ice.  I keep saying this may be my last day to ski on the lake but yesterday may have been that day as today it's supposed to get up in the high 40's if not 50.

Fishing In The Middle Of The Lake, Off Of Prendergast Point

Both of us had been craving a pizza and a salad, so Evie ordered a pizza from Coppola's in Bemus and I drove over to pick it up at 5:30, checking to see if any renovation was being done on the Hare N Hound but it still sits there, ravaged by a fire.  At least it's been sold.  When I got home, we relaxed as the afternoon waned, with a glass of wine, listening to more of the same, breaking news which is not breaking.

The pizza and salad were perfect, with a Pepsi, of course, and we watched a silly episode of Black Harbor, once again DVRing the Olympics so we could race throuh the commercials.  Around 7:30, I heard a strange noise on the lake, went out on the front porch, and saw the blue blinking light of the Police boat on the lake.  It enables the emergency crew to move on ice as well as water.  They beached the boat at the entrance to Victoria Road, about a couple hundred yards from our house.  We could not see what was going on but could hear laughing so we assumed it was not something serious, probably a call about a fisherman who was missing but turned up.  At least that's what we hoped had happned.

Emergency Ice Boat Parked At Victoria

We then turned to the Olympics and had to wait till after 10:00 to see Sean White's exciting final run on the Halfpipe, as he won an unprecedented third Gold Medal.  It was exciting to see someone hit the final run, knowing that he had to pull off a perfect run to win the Gold Medal.  I was not too enthused about watching the Winter Olympics but the last two nights have been exciting, certainly worth watching.  Afterwards, I started a new book, also a recent film, RED SPARROW.  It's set in Russia, a CIA thriller.  So far, so good.