Winter Has Arrived With A Bang

6:26

7:07

7:26

It's just after 8:00 and I have been up since 6:30, watching the strikingly colorful sky turn gray at the moment as the sun hides behind the clouds. It's cold out there, 17º, and it's not even winter yet. And the lake is frozen near the shoreline so I don't have to go out for a paddle. We got three or four inches overnight so I will be out shoveling again this morning if I want to go to yoga. 

7:17

Yesterday was a day to hunker down in the house because it snowed on and off most of the day so by evening we probably received 15 inches in the past 24 hours. So we stayed in, and enjoyed our morning coffee and breakfast but by 10:00, we were both outside shoveling or rather pushing, the foot of snow off the car, then the parking area. It was in the twenties and the wind had not picked up so it was fine to be out there. 

That was it for the morning but two more times during the afternoon, I found myself out shoveling the three or four inches that had fallen, trying to keep up with it. Evie kept busy, putting together a spinach and feta cheese borek, using phyllo dough, a favorite from our days in Turkey. Once she put it together, it had to sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before baking.

Long Point Disappears Behind Snowfall

Lunch was another bowl of Evie's soup and a toasted cheese sandwich with jam. I watched The Wire of course, and am halfway through Season Two. Since I was up early, I was happy to spend a good part of the afternoon napping, reading, and shoveling snow until it was time for a sundowner. 

Trumpeter Swans

Juveniles

Hanging Out

Around 3;45, I looked out out front window, the snow falling, and saw at least 30 or 40 mallards along the shoreline, with six or eight swans just behind them. And looking to the left were 20 buffelheads, recognizable by a wide white stripe on their black head. It was difficult to get a  good photo because of the heavy snowfall.

Buffleheads

Evie had her Zoom call with her sisters at 5:00 and I shoveled the parking area for the last time. We then enjoyed a libation or two, crackers with red pepper jelly and cream cheese while Evie baked the borek. For dinner, we had the delicious borek along with the leftover Lex's chicken from Sunday night's dinner. We watched the usual, some HGTV, then ER, and finally some basketball before bed. 

By the way, mid-afternoon, we watched some of the funeral for Roslyn Carter on CNN. One of the highlights was the singing of John Lennon's song Imagine, by Trisha Yearwood and husband Garth Brooks.  The lyrics are especially moving and apt considering the world today. We also loved Rosalyn's grandson's eulogy. It's funny, moving, and worth listening to. 

Imagine: John Lennon

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky

Imagine all the people
Livin' for today
Ah

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too

Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace
You

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one