A Boring Spring Morning

8:00

8:56

It's 33°, and the snow has mostly melted. The sky and lake are what I like to call Chautauqua gray — not a hint of color. It's windy as well, the lake surface ruffled. We have no plans for the day other than the weekly trip to the Transfer Station.

Yesterday was a day of recovery from my Thursday night NCAA extravaganza. Since I hadn't gotten home until 1:00 a.m., I slept in until 8:30 — rare for me. Evie was already up, enjoying her coffee. I joined her, and we sat around listening to the news until 10:30, neither of us wanting to do much. Finally, needing a few things for dinner, I drove into Lakewood, stopping for coffee before heading to Wegmans, always busy. I was home by noon, ready to settle in for some March Madness. For lunch, Evie made BLTs, and I watched the first part of the Santa Clara/Kentucky game, which Kentucky won in overtime.

I was tired most of the day and had little motivation to do anything beyond sitting around watching TV or reading. I'd had enough basketball by 1:30, so I went upstairs to read and ended up taking a good nap. I needed it.

The rest of the afternoon was spent between more basketball and reading, though the highlight was a Zoom call with our grandson Nick and his family. It was 87° in Kansas City, and Rhys, our great-grandson, was outside playing in his baby pool. He loves the water and shows little fear of getting his head wet — it was wonderful watching him play.

Happy Hour Sky

Lake Fog At 5:10

As usual, we had our wine time until 6:15, when Evie prepped dinner: cod fillets, a salad, and French fries. It was a great meal, and afterward we watched another episode of The Pitt, followed by a few episodes of ER, just for fun. After Evie went up to bed, I stayed down to watch more basketball, switching between games. At various points during the day and evening, I'd had my choice of four games. By 10:00, I'd had enough and headed up to read. I finished my thriller, El Dorado Drive, and started The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits, shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2025.

"The economics of war are being turned upside down. A Shahed-type drone often costs around $35,000. A Patriot interceptor costs about $4 million, which would buy over 100 drones. This is the new arithmetic of conflict: the attacker spends thousands, the defender spends millions, and even successful defense can become a form of attrition."  Fareed Zakaria