A Bright. Shiny New Morning

7:27

8:52

The sun's not out yet, hidden behind the clouds but for us, it's a bright, new morning.  It's a chilly 24º out but we are nice and warm and relaxed for the first time in years.  It's all white outside our windows, the lake and yard covered with snow.  I am surprised that no one has been out ice fishing off of Long Point. The ice must not be frozen thick enough yet. 

Hallelujah

Yesterday was a day made for watching TV and we did our share of watching.  We did, however, get in our daily exercise mid-morning, after breakfast, and the blog. Evie wanted to snowshoe and I wanted to cross country ski so we decided that Long Point State Park was our best choice.  It was a good choice as most of the trails were grooved by either cross-country skiers or snowshoeing.  Since the snow was a foot and a half deep, the grooves made it easier to glide or walk.  We were out a good hour and I worked up quite a sweat even though I took my time, stopping occasionally to enjoy the moment and view of the woods.  

We both were cold by the end, my feet and Evie's hands and we could not wait to get home and have a piping bowl of Evie's vegetable soup.  And that began our day perched in front of the TV as we watched the flawless inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.  Lady Gaga's singing of The Star Spangled Banner was amazing but twenty-three-year-old Amanda Gorman stole the show with the passionate reciting of her poem, "The Hill We Climb."  President Biden's speech hit all the right notes, empathetic and uniting. He continues to impress me with his energy and ability to give a good speech. We watched it to the end then spent much of the afternoon tuned to either the petty bloviations of Fox News or plaudits of CNN and MSNBC. It never changes.  I liked the attempt by the new President to resurrect the importance of the White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki by having her answer questions just hours into the Presidency. 

Around 6:00, I finally coaxed Evie out of the TV room so that she could make dinner. We had a pound of ground chuck from the Lighthouse so she fried up some mini burgers and we had we had sliders with mayo, ketchup, and pickles as we watched the rehashing of the Inauguration and waited for the Inaugural Celebration at 8:30.  The virtual celebration was moving and set the right tone for the new administration although I was irked that this historic evening was often interrupted by commercials.  The ending of the celebration, with Katy Perry singing Firework in front of the Lincoln Memorial as fireworks blazed over the Mall, was a spectacular ending to what we hope will be a spectacular new America. We can always hope.