More Wind And Cold And Snow

8:14

It's 7:20, the flag is swinging wildly, and the sky and lake are just becoming visible a Chautauqua gray.  It's 23º, not a very inviting morning.  Perhaps a good day to hibernate on a couch, watch a movie, read a good book, have a stew simmering on the stove.  

Yesterday was a pleasant surprise as the day started out cloudy but by mid-morning, the sun came out and we had sun and blue skies till late afternoon.  I was up early, of course, wrote the blog and had breakfast before Evie got up.  Once the blog was published, I drove to Lakewood for yoga with Julie, then stopped for coffee and talked with both Dave and Paul and showed them the photo I took of them a few days ago.  They loved it and Joyce said she will put it up on the Ryders Cup Facebook account.  We talked about books we have been reading and all three of us read one or two books a week.  

Snow And Blue Skies In Niobe

I did not linger for long and was home by 11:45.  Evie had been busy making chocolate chip and coconut cookies and had my lunch ready, tuna sandwiches and chicken soup because I had a car appointment in Niobe at 1:00 for an oil change.  Finn's is about twenty minutes away but I like him, the place and they are reasonable and experts on Subaru's.  I arrived there at 1:00, went for a half-hour walk in the cold, down to Little Brokenstraw Creek and back.  And to my surprise, the car was ready, tires rotated, oil changed, fluids checked, all for forty-five bucks.

  

Hiking Near Finns Auto

I was home by 2:00, in time to fall asleep while reading my new book.  Despite the sun and blue skies, we did not venture out in the afternoon, maybe because of the cold and I had my walk in Niobe at 1:00.  We were going out for dinner, unsure as to where but finally decided on the Viking Club rather than Rocco's because it was closer.  We left at 6:00, easily found a seat at the Viking's bar because it was a slow night.  We struck up a conversation with a couple, the woman celebrating her 70th birthday.  Her husband was interesting, having worked for a company in Jamestown for 40 years and traveled all over the world for work.  Because it was such a slow night, we decided to leave and try a fairly new restaurant just down the street from the Viking called The Green Door.  It was not very crowded when we arrived, so we found a seat at the bar but when we left it was packed, about 8:30.  We sat next to an older guy, a regular, probably in his 80's, who played the lotto and kept downing drinks while we talked.  He was clearly at home, had been coming to this place for 40 years.  We also talked with a couple from Chagrin Falls, who used to have a condo here but were now looking for a house. We really liked our dinners, chicken wings for me, a chicken sandwich and onion rings for Evie.  We will be back as long as we can find a seat at the bar.  

We were home around 8:45, watched a Colbert, some news, before Evie went up to bed early, leaving me to watch Luka Doncic play for the Dallas Mavericks as they took on Portland.  I watched him make three's in the first 15 minutes, then went up to bed.  I saw in this morning's boxscore he had another monster night.  

Sun On A January Afternoon

Because yesterday was a surprising day of sun and blue skies, I thought I would include this poem. I wake to the sun's rising each morning, anticipating the light. 

The Sun by Mary Oliver

Have you ever seen

anything

in your life

more wonderful

than the way the sun,

every evening,

relaxed and easy,

floats toward the horizon

and into the clouds or the hills,

or the rumpled sea,

and is gone--

and how it slides again

out of the blackness,

every morning,

on the other side of the world,

like a red flower

streaming upward on its heavenly oils,

say, on a morning in early summer,

at its perfect imperial distance--

and have you ever felt for anything

such wild love--

do you think there is anywhere, in any language,

a word billowing enough

for the pleasure

that fills you,

as the sun

reaches out,

as it warms you

as you stand there,

empty-handed--

or have you too

turned from this world--

or have you too

gone crazy

for power,

for things?