Getting Colder: 1º

7:24

7:53

It's 7:45, and we've both been up for 45 minutes. It's another white morning, light snow falling on the snow-covered lake and yard. Evie has school despite the temperature, and I'm hoping to make it to yoga. Once I finish this, I'll head out to shovel the driveway, clear the snow off the Kia, pull the Outback out of the garage, and get it ready for Evie.

Neighbors Cross Country Skiing The Lake

Yesterday was not your typical Monday because of the weather. For once, I slept in and had a relaxing coffee and breakfast since neither of us had anything pressing to do. Around 10:30, I finished breakfast and the blog, then went out to clear three or four inches of snow with the battery-powered snow shovel. It took a while, and I finished the job with a regular shovel. When I tried to open the garage door to get the Outback, one of the doors wouldn't budge—it was frozen shut. I attempted to heat the metal with a blowtorch, but to no avail. Finally, I called my neighbor Jim, who seems able to fix anything. He tried as well, then ended up using a tool to shave some wood off the door, and voila—it finally opened. It's great to have good friends and neighbors. I just wish I could help him out sometime; maybe I could proofread something for him. After all, I am an English teacher.

Yesterday At Noon

We weren't done until after noon, so when I came in, I had lunch—another bowl of kuru fasulye, what else—and watched something on TV, though I can't remember what. I then went upstairs to read and tried to nap, to no avail. So I came back downstairs to join Evie and read for the rest of the afternoon, usually on the couch. We were looking forward to wine time at 5:00 and listened to the nonstop news about the shooting in Minneapolis—nothing about Ukraine, Epstein, or healthcare.

Dinner was leftover chicken and rice with a broccoli, egg, and mayo salad. We watched the first episode of The Night Manager, then a Colbert before Evie went up to bed. I watched another episode of The Night Manager and some basketball before heading up around 10:00 to read.