Warming Up To 8º

6:92

7:07

7:52

7:53

It’s 7:52, and I’ve been up for nearly two hours. I woke in utter darkness, but now the sun is rising in the south, and fishing tents are starting to appear on the lake. I’ve also begun making Turkish kuru fasulye, a white bean stew. I put a pound of white beans into the pressure cooker for 28 minutes, then add them to a sauté of onions and tomato paste, seasoned with Marash and Aleppo peppers.

Yesterday was another busy day and an early afternoon for both of us. I had yoga at 9:30, and Evie left for school at the same time. I was up early—as usual—reading the papers, surfing the internet, writing the blog, and waiting for Evie to read it before publishing. After breakfast—a banana—I went outside to brush the snow off the car, shoveled the parking areas, and pulled the Outback out of the garage for Evie to drive to school. I left at 9:10 for yoga.

Class was small, just three of us regulars, which made it feel a bit different from usual. Since I haven’t been lately, it was especially nice to be back, and this class focused on twists. Afterward, I stopped at Ryder’s Cup and chatted with my buddies—Neal, Bob, and Dave—all regulars like me and all retired.

I stopped at Walmart hoping to pick up some pancetta for the kuru fasulye, but they didn’t have any. Since I’d only had a banana for lunch, I bought a sandwich at Subway. I was home around noon, ate most of it (saving a quarter for Evie), watched my show Task, then went upstairs to read and take a short nap. Evie was home when I came back downstairs—tired from school but happy, as always, after spending four hours with kindergarteners.

Blue Skies Mid Afternoon

Fishing Hut In The Middle Of The Lake

Quite A Tent

Despite the winter advisory, it hardly snowed yesterday, and we had plenty of sunshine and blue skies. I’m not complaining. I read my novel for the rest of the afternoon until Evie had her Zoom call with her sisters at 5:00. I watched half an hour of my series, then joined her afterward for a glass of wine and the evening news. We were in the mood for an easy dinner, so Evie made French toast—a nice change—and we watched, alas, a couple of episodes of All Saints. After Evie went to bed, I watched a few minutes of the NBA before returning to my series, which never seems to end.

TRUTH OR LIE: "I think everybody, the American public, believes it's absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of the presidency," Caroline Leavitt said. 

FACT or FAKE NEWS:"Most modern Presidents before Trump put their assets into blind trusts or broadly diversified funds to avoid concerns from the public about the White House favoring policy decisions that would benefit a President financially. Trump didn’t do that. After returning to office, Donald Trump’s net worth jumped to $7.3 billion, up from $3.9 billion in 2024, according to a tally that Forbes published in September, 2025."