9º And A Frozen Lake

Trumpeter Swans And Ducks

8:15

I woke later than usual, around 7:20, to a frozen lake, five or six inches of snow, and a frigid 9º.  No swans or seagulls, or ducks this morning although I did hear the oh-OH of swans in the middle of the night. Where all of them are now is a good question.  Heading South? 

Yesterday was another winter storm watch but we really didn't get much snow during the day and it started snowing heavily around 5:30 or so and continued for at least three or four hours, dropping four or five inches on a windy night.  I didn't get in a walk or hike for some reason, probably because Evie wanted me to go to the store in the morning.  So I left around 10:30, after a relaxing morning, and drove to a quiet Wegman's, aisles empty of shoppers for the most part.  And when I checked out, I was the only customer in line.  Fortunately, most shoppers wore masks as did all the employees.

For lunch, I had my white bean stew over rice and struggled to find a new series because I finished Dalgliesh on Acorn. I started a couple new ones but none grabbed me. Either I am hard to please or the series are too much the same.  After my lunch, I read and rested while Evie worked in the kitchen, making spanakopita appetizers because we were having friends over for drinks and appetizers, for the first time in a couple of weeks if not longer. She also put together our dinner, chicken and rice, so that it would be easy to warm up after our gathering.  We then spent much of the afternoon watching the swans, ducks, seagulls, and mergansers, dipping and diving for vegetation in the soup of ice and water in front of our house. It was amazing to see such a disparate bunch of waterfowl, feeding together. 

Our neighbors had been wanting to get together once Evie's quarantine ended so we invited them over Monday morning.  Barb and Jim arrived at 5:00 on a snowy afternoon, bearing a delicious blue cheese and crackers to go along with the Spanakopita, cashews, pretzels, and rice chips, a feast to say the least. It was fun to see them since we had not been together since their Christmas party in December.  We easily devoured the spanakopita and blue cheese and crackers, along with a couple of beers or glasses of wine.  They stayed until 7:30 and like earlier, walked home on a windy and snowy night.  What a fun evening.  We had the chicken and rice for dinner, watched Jeopardy and a couple of home improvement shows before going up to bed. I watched maybe five minutes of the college football championship but had little interest or knowledge of the teams so I too went to bed. 

7:30 PM