And Another Year Begins

Nick In Vail

Mitch In Banff

While we have been enjoying our families the past week here at the lake, two of our grandsons and their fathers have been off skiing, one in Colorado, the other in Calgary.   It looks amazing in the mountains, with the blue skies, perfect for skiing or snowboarding.

7:58

I was up just after 6:00, to a frosty morning, the car and sidewalk covered with ice.  At the moment, it's 7:30, Beth and Evie are up as well, and the lake is calm, mirror-like, with shadows from the shoreline.

Yesterday really didn't feel like New Year's Day although I am not sure how New Year's Day is supposed to feel.  I guess football games might be one characteristic, another, pork and sauerkraut, so if they are the measures, it should have felt like New Years Day.  It was a typical morning, the five of us, Beth, Evie and I up early, Tyler then Marisa to follow.  I was ready to do something by 9:30 so I spent a good hour in the yard, picking up the deadfall from the previous night's wind and doing some raking of leaves, filling up a couple of barrels and taking them up the hill.  Although it was gray, the rain held off so that it felt good to be outside.  I also filled our bird feeders.  For some reason, the various birds have disappeared from our feeders and we wondered if our feed had gone bad.  This has never happened before.

When I finished up, Evie was busy making Tyler his breakfast, doting on him because he was flying home later in the day.  So she made him his favorite, peameal bacon, fried eggs and toast.  By the time he finished, Marisa was up so she made her breakfast as well.  What a granny. 

The rest of the late morning and early afternoon involved Beth and Evie making sure Tyler was packed and all his clothes were washed and folded before he left.  He's notorious for leaving things behind so all four of us checked and doubled checked to make sure he was packed and ready to leave for the airport at 3:00.  I had a late lunch, corn chowder and a leftover chicken thigh while all this organizing was going one. 

Beth left for the airport with Tyler at 3:00 even though his 5:30 flight was delayed until 6:30, then 7:30 and finally 6:50.  Fortunately, the roads were fine, no ice, rain or snow so she was back by 6:00.  While she was gone, Evie and Marisa watched an old romantic comedy we both had seen before, MAID IN MANHATTAN with Jennifer Lopez, a good way to spend a cold, wet afternoon.  I, however, had enough sitting in the house and reading and went for a forty-five minute walk through the woods.  As always, it felt great to be outside, to feel the cold air, and be in the woods despite the fact that the snow had melted and all seemed brown except for the gray sky. 

The Woods

When I returned home, I made myself a bloody mary and watched the first half of the Ohio State game before sitting down around the fireplace with the girls for a glass of wine.  Evie had already seared the pork chops and peeled the sweet potatoes, covering them with an egg wash, so all she needed to do was put them in the oven to roast and we had dinner.  Beth, meanwhile, put together a salad and we had a typical New Year's Day dinner.  We were at sixes and sevens as to what to watch and decided on one of our favorite films, A MAN CALLED OVE, a sad but wonderful movie about a curmudgeon who eventually finds his humanity.  I highly recommend it.  It's a Swedish film with English subtitles on Amazon Prime.  Once it was over, I was happy to get back to my Greg Iles novel and the world of Natchez, Mississippi.