A Welcome Morning Sun

Beautiful Female Cardinal

Surprise, as the clouds have parted, allowing the sun to shine briefly, its reflection filling the lake with light.  It will warm up today, into the '40s, tomorrow, into the '50s, then drop drastically on Christmas, into the teens.  Although the lake is now open, it seemed too windy and cold to kayak.  I will wait till tomorrow when it briefly warms up. 

7:29

8:00

8:09

Tuesday was a strange day, as neither of us walked in the morning as usual.  We had our typical morning, the day gray for the most part, with some snow on and off during the day.  Around 10:00, I left to pick up some groceries.  We decided to see what it was like to order from Walmart and pick it up outside.  They have an area designated for pick-ups.  I parked at a numbered spot, called a phone number, told them my name, that I was to pick up between 10;00 and 11:00, and they then gathered my groceries and brought them out to the car in plastic bins.  I had to bring my own bags, and they then packed them for me although I helped. The only glitch, there were at least ten cars ahead of me so I waited for at least 20 minutes to get my groceries. At least we now know what to expect.  Had I arrived 25 minutes later, I might have been first in line.

A Gaggle Of Geese

I noticed over the past day or two that our Outback was making a strange noise, a vibration from the left back. I looked under my car, checked the wheels but did not see anything.  So after a lunch of another chicken sandwich, I drove off to the Subaru dealer in Fluvanna for a 2:00 appointment, fortunate to get an appointment so quickly.  They quickly diagnosed a stripped stud and bolt on my back wheel which was creating the problem.  While they took apart the wheel and brakes and repaired the problem, I walked the snowy Riverside Walk for a half hour.  A hundred and ten bucks later, I was on my way home, happy I only spent 100 bucks when I was worried it could have been more.

A Creek Along Riverside Walk

Chadakoin River

I was home by 3:30 and Evie had been busy with projects around the house.  She also made our dinner, pasta sauce with mushrooms and Italian sausage, getting everything done before her Zoom call with her sisters at 5:00.  I was happy to just enjoy a glass of wine and read my new book, The  River until it was time for dinner.

We had the pasta and spaghetti with a salad and watched the news with Shep on CNBC, then a couple of episodes of Midnight Diner, a series fast becoming our panacea for Trump madness, as the ending is always comforting.  We ended the night with two more episodes of Deadwood.