A Quiet Snowy Morning

7:18

It's 7:25, gray skies, gray lake, and a couple of inches of snow fell overnight. Evie's up already because of kindergarten, and I have breakfast in Ashville at 8:00. It's 9:20 and I just returned from breakfast at the Ashville Country Store. The roads were snowy but safe, and I made good time despite the flurries. 

Lakewood Waterfront Yesterday

Southern Lake Is Frozen Over

Yesterday was what will come to be a typical winter day. It began with a 50-minute paddle, down to Sandy Bottom and back. I then did a bit of shoveling, not much since it hardly snowed. After breakfast and the blog, we both left around 9:40, Evie to school, me to pick up my battery-powered snow shovel at Home Depot. They had sent me an early text to say it was in. I stopped for coffee, then at Aldis to pick up some items Evie wanted before picking up my shovel at Home Depot. I couldn't pass up Wegmans since I was next door and Evie had made out quite a list, so I filled a couple of shopping bags with groceries and headed home.

Surprise, Sun, And Blue Skies

I was home around 12:15, on a sunny afternoon, and since I had a light breakfast, coffee, and a banana, I had lunch, a hoagie from Wegmans as a treat for myself. I watched my show, then read and napped. I woke just as Evie was returning from school, with her usual stories about the bad boy. After changing into something more comfortable, she watched her show, and I made up my mind to 'just do something,' and put on my boots and walked the Victoria/Woodlawn woods for 35 minutes. It was rough going because of the deep snow, 9-12 inches, but it was worth it, the blanket of white, the sky, the lake. 

Victoria Woods

Heavy Snowfall

Our Lake Front

Willow In The Winter

When I returned, Evie was prepping our wok dinner, and I helped since she had lots of veggies.  I fried the chicken thigh pieces in the wok, then took time out for some wine and news, before going back and cooking the rest: mushrooms, cabbage, celery, onions, tomatoes, spinach, and bean sprouts. I added various sauces, hoisin and oyster, as well as sesame oil and soy sauce. We served it over rice and both of us went back for seconds. We watched three episodes of our show before Evie went to bed, tired from her day, and I watched the last episode of SSGB. 

Leaning Trees Of Up Yonder

24º And A Placid Lake

7:43

8:34

It's 8:50, and I have been sitting here for 15 minutes, warming up from a 50-minute paddle. It was good to be back out on the lake despite the cold and the foot of snow surrounding my parked kayak. I kept waiting for the sun to appear, but the dense gray sky blocked out any sense of it.  

Kayak Morning

Woodlawn

Southern Sky

Tuesday was an interesting day, mostly because instead of a paddle, I spent the time outside, 35 minutes, clearing my driveway of six inches of snow, driving over drifts with my Outback, so it's easy to get in and out. That was about it for my morning. After the shoveling, my mojo to hike disappeared, and instead I sat around reading or on my computer. For lunch, I made a couple of meatloaf and ketchup sandwiches and watched my show. Around 1:15, we both left: Evie for a doctor's appointment in Westfield, and me to Home Depot to buy a cordless electric snow shovel. I realized after my morning shoveling that at my age, I shouldn't be out there lifting and shoveling wet snow, and an electric snow shovel seemed to fit my needs. 

I stopped for a coffee, then at Michael's, to return Amazon packages. I finally made it to Home Depot but they were out of shovels and expected two to arrive the next day. So I bought it and just received a message that the shovel had arrived, so I will be picking it up today. Since I was in Lakewood, I stopped at Aldi's and picked up a few things for our dinner, then at Walmart and bought a rotisserie chicken, thinking Evie would not want to fuss for dinner after her appointment.

Late Afternoon Gray

I was home around 3:00, and Evie soon followed me after a good appointment with her PA. His one healthy requirement for her: keep volunteering at her kindergarten classes, good for her and good for the kids. We took it easy until 5:00 when Evie had her Zoom call with her sisters. After the call, she heated up some stuffing, made gravy, microwaved the Bob Evans mashed potatoes, made a salad, cut up the chicken, and we had a delicious dinner. Easy, right! We watched a couple more episodes of All Saints, then Evie went to bed earlier than usual because she had to get up at 7:00 this morning to get ready for kindergarten. I watched some NBA, then the end of the Duke/Florida game, before turning to my series, SSGB.

Morning Sleet

7:46

9:19

It's 8:30 and still sleeting on a gray, foggy lake morning. I had hoped to paddle until I realized it was sleeting. We must have gotten another four or five inches of snow overnight, so I will be out shoveling for the third day in a row.

Jim And Ripley

Monday turned out to be a good day, although it was too windy to get in a morning paddle. So we had a relaxing morning, with no hurry to get anything done. I wanted to get in a hike and texted my neighbor, Jim, to see if he wanted to go. He is usually up for a hike to give his dog, Ripley, a good run. So around 10:00, we drove over to the end of Lakeside Drive, parked and spent close to an hour walking the snow-covered woods. Ripley loved it, running back and forth, as we tromped along virgin paths. We met only one hiker, a guy out also walking his dogs. We blazed a mile and a half trails on the untrodden paths before getting back to our car. It was a good way to spend a morning.

Which Way Ripley?

This Way

The Silence Of Woods In The Winter

When I got home, I did some shoveling for at least twenty minutes, clearing the car and driveway and leveling off the foot-high berms along my road, created by the plow. By the time I was done, it was lunchtime. Evie volunteered to make me lunch, but i was happy to heat up the pasta from Sunday night's dinner and make a bowl of ramen, not the healthiest of meals but tasty. I watched a series called SSGB. It imagines the Nazis won WWII and are occupying Great Britain, an interesting concept.  

Snow Covered Victoria

Kayak Afternoon

Victoria/Woodlawn

Around 3:30, I realized the wind had died down and the lake was calm. So I put on a couple of layers of clothes, grabbed my paddle, cleared the snow of my kayak, and paddled for 40 minutes, down to Sandy Bottom and back. It was an overcast afternoon, but I still enjoyed being out on the lake. I managed to scare off a gathering of either ducks or geese, hanging out along the bank of Woodlawn Creek.

Northern Sky

Victoria

In Flight

Late Afternoon Sky

When I returned, Evie had made a batch of cookies, and I cleaned up the kitchen before wine time. We listened to the news, and I read a depressing essay by Heather Cox Richardson. She analyzes the US/Russian negotiations concerning Ukraine. It seems to benefit American and Russian businesses,  billionaires, and Trump's family by investing in Russian minerals and developing Ukraine's war-ravaged cities. In other words, the plan's goal is to enrich the US, not support Ukraine. Disgusting.

Around 6:30, we had the leftover meatloaf with baked potatoes, topped with butter and sour cream, and watched three more episodes of All Saints. After Evie went to bed I watched some Monday night football and another episode of my series, SSGB, before going up to read and sleep. Evening doesn't change much. 

Another Football Sunday

 

7:34

7:34

7:39

7:39

It's 8:30, and I have been up for over an hour. I wanted to kayak, but the wind seemed too strong, although the weather app said it was only 1 mph. Not so. So I have been here, watching the sunrise, then disappear behind the clouds, and listening to Ian McEwan be interviewed by David Remnick on The New Yorker Radio Hour. I recently read his newest novel, a dystopian read called  "What We Can Know. I really liked it. He mentions an interesting fact: reading books over the last ten years has declined by 40%, suggesting we no longer have much of a memory of history. 

Flag A Flying

8:34

Sunday began with a windy, cold morning, so both of us huddled down under blankets and enjoyed our coffee, listening to the news as usual. I was unhappy because it was too windy to kayak, but I wanted to do something. Evie mentioned that if we wished to have dinner, maybe a trip to Wegmans would be in order. While she made up the list, I went out and cleaned the snow off the Kia and shoveled our parking area again.   By 10:30, I was off, getting my Kia gassed up before stopping at Wegmans, always crowded on Sunday morning, either after church or instead of church like me. Fortunately, there were lots of checkout aisles open, so I was out quickly and was home by 11:15 with a car full of goodies. I helped put away the groceries and for some reason, lost my mojo, and went upstairs and read on my bed for half an hour. 

I was looking forward to breakfast at 1:00, when the Browns played the 49ers. Evie made us scrambled eggs and bagels, and we both watched much of the first half, the only enjoyment being our breakfast. At halftime, I went up and took a nap as usual and came down and watched the end of the rout with Evie.

We both were looking forward to the Bills/Steelers game at 4:30 and had it saved. The first half was a bore, the same old Bills and Steelers, with little scoring and lots of giveaways. Fortunately, the Bills perked up in the second half and looked like the Bills of old, scoring on both Allen passes and runs, defeating Pittsburgh at home 26-7. We were able to enjoy our dinner, meatloaf, salad, and four cheese pasta from Bob Evans. We then went straight from the Bills victory to a couple of episodes of All Saints, and by the time that was over, it was almost 9:00 so Evie went up to bed. I watched another NFL game, Washington/Denver in Washington, and my son-in-law, Drew, was attending the game. I found out Washington lost in overtime this morning because I didn't stay up to watch the second half. Another football Sunday ended. 

First Chautauqua Snowfall

7:28

Peace And Love

It's 8:20, and I have been up for an hour. Because of the heavy winds,  I did not get to kayak. Right now, it's snowing, and we must have gotten a couple of inches overnight, adding to the half a foot we had when we arrived home yesterday at 3:00.

Nothing Compares To Holding A Baby

Yesterday was a lucky Saturday because we had an uneventful road trip home. We left Virginia at 8:00, and our seven-hour drive was easy, with lots of blue skies and no snow flurries. We stopped for gas at Shawnee Springs and again at Wendy's in Warren, Pa., and didn't see snow on the ground until Warren. We picked the right day to travel. 

Virginia Skies

View Of Altoona, PA

When we arrived home, we had close to six inches of snow covering our parking area. Our new snowplow guy made a mess of our road, stripping it of the gravel, covering our driveway. The plow also created two-foot mounds on either side of the road so that I couldn't get my car out of the garage. It took us a while to unpack the car because I had to shovel the walkway. Once it was unpacked, we turned on the water and took some time putting things away. Once that was done, I went out and broke down the mounds with my snow shovel so that I could get my Outback out of the garage, but I still can't get to the garage door. Frustrating. 

Allegany Forest

Around 4:00, we made the mistake of calling our Internet provider, hoping to get Hulu and Disney+ free as one of the perks for signing up. Well, I won't go into the details, but an hour and a half later, we finally got it done. By then it was time for dinner, so Evie baked six red skin potatoes in the microwave, served them covered with cheese and chili from Wendy's, and we had an easy dinner. We watched our show on Hulu, of course, three episodes, and then Evie went up to bed, and I struggled to find something to watch, finally joining her. 

We had a great Thanksgiving stay with Jill, Drew, and the girls, and were sorry to miss Halle's 21st birthday party on Saturday, although she had 20 of her closest friends to help her celebrate. 

Friday Birthdays And Lots Of GrandChildren

Halle Turns Twenty-One

Halle And Family

6:57

Up as usual at 7:00, joining Drew, but it's not going to be fun because we will be hitting the road by 9:00, heading back to the lake, hoping for decent weather. It's 7:20, and surprise, Evie's up, so we may leave earlier than planned. 

Christmas Season Begins

Friday, for whatever reason, went fast, especially the morning. For Drew, it was a busy one, grabbing Christmas trees and ornaments from the garage attic, then setting up two trees, one in the house, one on the porch, then putting on the lights. Fortunately, once that was done, the girls took over and decorated the trees with Christmas ornaments. By noon, we were eating lunch, turkey sandwiches with mayo and stuffing. 

Julia And Reid

Four-Year-Old Luke

Anna And Halle

Grandkids

We finished our lunch, straightened up the house, and by 1:30, the gang arrived: my sister Ellen and her daughter, Julia, husband Hampton, and three kids, Anna, seven, Luke, 4, and Reid, a couple of months. And the fun began. The kids were great, especially since Evie brought the Treasure Chest for them to go through and grab whatever they wanted. The girls, Halle and Hayden, also played with them so the adults could enjoy a couple of beers and wine. My sister Ellen is so fortunate to live close by her grandchildren so that she's able to enjoy them a couple of times a week. We envy her. I spent time holding Reid, and he actually relaxed on my lap and maybe smiled.  Julia and Hampton live in Alexandria, and it was fun to catch up on their lives with their kids. Their lives sound hectic, both working from home, but fortunately, they have great maternity leave, making it easier. It was wonderful to see them, and we hope they can come visit us at the lake.

My Sister Ellen And Evie

Anna, Her Mom, Reid, Hayden, And Jill

Halle And Anna's Art Work

Jill And Reid

They left around 5:30, and we decided to have sushi for dinner and bundt cakes to celebrate Halle's 21st birthday tomorrow. Jill ordered the sushi, and Drew and I drove back to Virginia Gateway, again, and picked up the sushi and bundt cakes. We were back by 7:00 and filled up on amazing sushi, too much, really, because we had some leftover. We sat around feasting on various sushi rolls and watched a movie called Four Christmases, a comedy with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn. We celebrated Halle's birthday, a day early, with Bundt cakes, finished the movie by 9:00, and we went to bed except for the girls.