Four Below On A Super Bowl Sunday Morning

7:03

8:34

Well, it's 8:40, and I've had my fill of the news, much of it about you know who. It gets depressing, as my quotation below the blog suggests. And I didn't feel like writing my blog this morning until I realized that I haven't missed a day since late 2009—6,170 consecutive posts. So I will carry on.

Sitting On Buckets In 2 Below

Heading Home

Saturday was cold, and I felt it whenever I went outside as the temperatures never got above single digits, and if there was a wind, it was devastating to be outside. Saturday mornings don't change much despite the seasons. I'm usually up early, read, write the blog, and have breakfast of some sort. Yesterday, however, because of the cold, I didn't head off to the Transfer Station with trash until late morning because Evie was prepping our dinner, and I was helping. So around 10:00, after helping Evie, I went out and shoveled a couple of inches of snow, cleared off the car, and got the Outback ready for my trip to the Transfer Station. Once that was done, I helped in the house until 11:30 when I took off with the trash to the Transfer Station, surprisingly busy despite the cold.

When I returned home, Evie was making BLTs for my lunch—a lucky guy. I loved them, watched something on TV, but I can't remember what, maybe some college basketball. By 1:00, I was reading upstairs and took a brief nap. I came downstairs around 1:30, and Evie was finished prepping our dinner and was relaxing in the living room. We were able to relax most of the afternoon, although I made myself go for a 20-minute walk around the neighborhood, and that's when I discovered the wind. When I walked north, the wind on my face felt like I could eventually get frostbite. Fortunately, I didn't stay out very long.

By 6:00, we were both showered and ready for company, Linda and Ron. They came bearing a couple of bottles of wine, so we quickly opened the white and sat down in our living room to enjoy it. For snacks, we had Dot's spicy pretzels and a nice, piping-hot bowl of cauliflower soup, the recipe courtesy of 'the godmother of Indian cooking,' Madhur Jaffrey. 

Saturday Night Dinner

By 7:00, I was carving our spiral ham, and Evie was serving up the coleslaw, green beans, and potatoes. We managed to enjoy our feast by not talking about politics, a smart strategy. We concluded dinner with Evie's homemade apple pie with a crumb topping, topped with vanilla ice cream. Linda and Ron left in subzero weather around 9:00, and we both then cleaned up the kitchen, so it was nice to come down to a clean kitchen this morning. Once the dishes were done, Evie went up to bed, and I stayed up for half an hour before joining her, tired out from the day.

* "One of the things Trump has done is occupy a significant chunk of our attention every single day. Our consciousness is being polluted, and protecting ourselves against that at the same time we preserve the ability to act politically is a difficult balancing act. Consciousness is a very precious realm. It’s the realm of our privacy and our freedom to think. So I think we need some kind of consciousness hygiene, particularly at this moment, where this one politician has figured out ways to command our attention. Consciousness is more relevant now than it even was 10 or 20 years ago, as something to think about, protect and nurture." Michael Pollan

SO SAD, BUT TRUE