The Big Melt Begins

6:42

6:48

7:35

It is bizarre to wake up in the morning, step out on the front porch, and hear the birds chirping in our yard and lake still covered with snow. At the moment, the sun is fighting its way through some clouds with little success but by 8:40, we had full sunshine and blue skies.  And later today, it's predicted the temperature may rise into the high 40's with rain predicted.  YUCK.

7:52

8:04

8:39

Tuesday began as always, with an early rising for me, listening to Morning Joe, then a podcast until Evie got up around 8:15.  We then finished the blog and then thought about our day, what to do, what to have for dinner, the only two things that seemed to shape our day.  We decided on a breakfast for dinner since we missed having it on Sunday brunch.  We knew, also, that we wanted to get in another cross country skiing morning before the conditions deteoriated.  

Groomed And Gliding

Around 11:00, then we drove to Mayville and decided on Webb's Trail again because we thought it would be groomed and still good enough to ski.  We were right as the snowmobiles had made it easy to glide although six or seven of them did fly by while we skied. We always forget that going it's all a slight up hill, making it work, but heading back is a lark, as we are on a slight downhill.  We were out for an hour, having skied through light snow, rain, and sleet as the weather gods cannot make up their mind.

Different Coat, Different Cap

Before we left to ski, Evie had made a pot of mushroom barley soup and left it to simmer as we skied.  So it was ready when we returned home.  I had a nice piping hot bowl along with a toasterd ham and cheese sandwich and was a happy camper, having gotten in a good morning of skiing and a tasty lunch.  We both spent most of the afternoon as usual, reading, napping or watching the non stop news about Tiger Woods car accident, giving the media something else to talk about than the Covid virus or Fled Cruz.   Midafternoon, Evie put together the dough for oatmeal and chocolate ship cookies, letting it chill till 5:00, then baking them just before dinner.  

Dinner was just what we wanted. Bob Evans sausages, eggs, a toasted bagel and a salad, a nod to health. We were happy to see Colbert is back on and he interviewed Bill Gates who has written a new book called How To Avoid A Climate Disaster.  Unfortuahtely, the world is not listening, reminding me of a Wendell Berry quotation: "To damage the earth is to damage your children." We ended the night with a  powerful, well acted but depressing film called Diane,  about a despondent widow who spends much of her day helping others to assuage her guilt, making casseroles for the housebound, serving meals at a Food Bank, visiting relatives in hospitals, or trying to save her son who is addicted to drugs. At least three relatives or friends die despite her efforts and when her son is finally clean, he attempts to force Jesus down her throat. The film then jumps to Diane years later, suffering from dementia, in the  back yard of her home, alone,obviously dying, wondering if she turned the oven off.  If the film weren't so sad making and depressing, I would recommend it.