Windy and Sunny Bristow Morning

Breakfast With Halle and  Her Ipad

Lots of sun this morning when I got up late around 8:00, and a strong wind, howling much of the night, shaking the house or so it seemed.  It's in the thirties, will stay there most of the day.  I don' think there is snow in sight but am not sure.

We had an uneventful drive yesterday, the usual seven hours, to Bristow, VA, from the lake.  The weather cooperated, just an occasional snow flake, no rain, though overcast the entire way.  Our drive through the Allegheny Forest was an amazing, like the ice palace in the movie Dr. Zhivago, as all the tree branches were painted white, either from snow or ice, not sure which.  So when you looked through the woods, all you saw was white trees, branches and all.  Amazing.  We got to Bristow around 3:00, having left about 8:00.

When we arrived, we found Hayden sleeping, as she stayed home from school with a fever.  Jill and Halle are fine but Drew also has a cold, so it looks like the energy level around here will be a bit diminished though young Halle seems to make up for it.  She is a non stop talker and doer!

Jill had made a beef stew for dinner, and it was just the right meal for a cold night in Bristow, tasting healthy and hearty, along with salad and bread.  Evie played with the girls after dinner, as they spent the night watching videos on YouTube, mostly of Hayden's favorite singing group, One Direction.  Both girls seem obsessed with this all boys band.  Jill and Drew went off to a neighborhood party around 9:00.  It was a bring your own booze and food party.  That's a new one on me.

The girls went down around 9:30 and we followed, not much later, both of us very tired from our drive.  Evie's still sleeping as I write as are Hayden and Jill and it's already 9:30.  Obviously, she needs lots of sleep to get her energy back, as does Hayden. Let's hope everyone feels better this morning.  Lots to do in the next few days.

Heading to Bristow, VA, Just Ahead of the Snow, We hope

Waiting for the Snow

Dawn

Flock of  sixty Buffleheads 

Up early, as we are off by 7:00 for Bristow, VA, to be with the Bissell's for Christmas. It's around 32º outside.  We cannot wait to see Hayden and Hall and their parents of course.  Weather is supposed to heat up later today, a couple of inches of snow, perhaps just rain most of the way, something we are used to.  Because of the heavy winds, our yard is once again littered with branches from our trees, both front and  back yards.  I get see either snow or sleet falling outside, but it's not sticking to the ground.  We hope to be off by 7:30 or 8:00, arriving in Bristow around 3:00.

Yesterday went too quickly, morning Yin Yoga and that's about it for the day, other than getting the house ready for our departure, making sure we have everything packed and in order.  You would think we would have this down by now but it's always traumatic, wondering if we forgot anything, always taking twice as much as we need.  But we have to be prepared for both snow and rain as well as some sunny days, or so we hope, after Christmas of course.  Evie had a hard time yesterday, no energy, but she managed to get things done, get packed, and we are ready to head to VA.

For dinner, we had pork burritos, with all kinds of fixings, watched the #50 and #51 episodes of Parenthood; we are caught up to this season.  We still really like it.  A restless night for both of us, but we are ready to hit the road.

Winter's Coming, Just Not Today

7:12

Woodlawn at Dusk

Up too early, at 5:45 and its thirty two degrees outside, and the dire weather reports are beginning.  It sounds like some snow will begin later today, also heavy winds, perhaps up to fifty miles per hour.  The real storm comes sometime tomorrow, at least that's what's predicted.  And we leave for Virginia tomorrow early, so we hope to get out of Dodge before the heavy snows arrive.  We will have to wait and see if the forecasting is accurate.  Right  now its 7:18 and there's a narrow streak of orange above the far shore, heavy clouds above, the last gasp of a sun for a few days if not longer.  And the wind has just begun to howl, like an animal.  It reminds me of the sounds of a winter storm.

My days may seem the same, yoga in mid morning, a stop at the store or coffee shop, an afternoon of reading, perhaps a walk, then dinner, some TV and then to bed.  Not much different from most people I suspect except I don't work, a bit of a difference I agree.  Things change tomorrow, however, when we head off to visit our grandchildren for a couple of weeks.  Road trips are always exciting, a change, a chance to see someone different, a new place, a journey however routine.  Although it's Thursday early, I am already packed and ready to go.  I like to pack in stages, starting two or three days before the trip, adding to my  big blue IKEA bag (my luggage of choice)as I think of something I forgot.  All I have left to do is cancel the paper and I'm ready.

Fortunately, Evie's beginning to see some daylight, as her cough seems better and she's more albe to get a few things done during the day.  I hope today she will be able to make another step forward though she has to take it easy and not try to do too much; we don't want a relapse and pneumonia really depletes your energy, your mojo.

Yesterday' yoga was sparsely attended, only three of us and our teacher, fine with me.  All three of us got special attention.  Today will be much more crowded, I assume though many people are getting ready for the holidays.  After yesterday's yoga, I went to Ryder's Cup, wished Joyce, the barista and owner a Merry Christmas, didn't stop at Weggies but did go to the bank to get some cash for our trip.  Later in the afternoon, I returned some books to the Smith Library and picked up the latest Ian Mc Ewan novel, Sweet Tooth.  I then stopped at the Lighthouse Grocery, parking lot empty, and picked up a puny rotisserie chicken for an easy dinner.  Around 4:30, I walked the Woodlawn/Victoria woods and this is becoming my favorite time to walk, just as dusk is settling, and I walked home the last few yards in darkness.

For dinner, we had the chicken, a salad, and garlic spaghetti, watched some TV, read, and we both went to bed earlier than usual, as we have a big day ahead of us today, getting ready for our departure.

Nothing New...Gray, Foggy and Overcast

Look Familiar? 7:50

Beech

Dobbins Woods

Dobbins Woods

Dobbins Woods at 4:20

Up about 6:20, my usual time I guess, dark but now gray at 7:50, the shorelines around Wells and Bootey Bay casting shadows on to the lake.  It looks like another cloudy and rainy day, much like the past few days. It's supposed to get a little colder on Friday and the weekend, with snow possible, but probably it will rain instead.  The temperatures forecast to be in the low thirties.

I did go yesterday to yoga, Workout World, and we had only three other practitioners, making it quite nice. Our teacher, Chris, is new to the area so he has yet to attract as many followers as the other teachers.  I think the students will like him, once they start taking his classes.  We worked on floor exercises, especially the spine and back, which I need.  He also ends each session with something he calls yoga nidra, or 'yoga sleep', a type of meditation that mimics sleep.  It has even been used to help returning soldiers with PTSD. I  would describe it as a type of meditation, where the teacher asks you be conscious of each part of your body, slowly, over a fifteen minute time period, moving from toes, to legs, to arms, chest, and head, to the rest of your body.  If you do this properly, you easily forget about what ever has been bothering you that day, relieving tension and anxiety.  I am beginning to sound like a yogi!

After yoga, I took Evie to the doctor in downtown Jamestown.  She was told that she still has pneumonia and was prescribed a new antibiotic and a inhaler, to help her breathing.  We hope this will take care of her cough and listlessness.  She has to be ready for the grandchildren in three days!!!  While she was at the doctor's office, I paid my dues for the Viking Club, $75.00 at their Main Street office, worth it I suppose for the few times we enjoy visiting and I am helping to support a local institution.  I also dropped off some books at the Prendergast Library and picked up a couple of easy reads for our trip East over the next couple of weeks.

Late afternoon, I drove to Dobbins Woods, on Bly Hill Road, and walked it, as dusk moved in.  It was nice and crisp and though there was no sun, it was still great to be in the naked woods, leaves fallen,  trails muddy and untrammeled, as I was the only one there. The only colors, the green of the hemlocks, some pines, and a few scattered beech, with their yellowing leaves hanging on much of the winter.  Tromping in the woods, I find, like yoga, is restorative, of mood and energy.

For dinner, we had pork, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes, watched some TV, did some reading and went to bed about 11:00.

BILLY LYNN'S LONG HALF TIME WALK: BEN FOUNTAIN

A National Book Award finalist, this book grabbed me right from the first page, as Bravo company, a small group of young war heroes from Iraq, continue their Army sponsored Victory tour of the United States, the Bush government's attempt to ramp up the fading enthusiasm for the war.  Billy Lynn, the nineteen year hero of the conflagration and main character, is thrust, along with his  buddies, into the world of big business, contractors, and entrepreneurs, as they honored at the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Day football game.  Good old American extravagance, kitsch, capitalism, circuses, greed, and patriotism confront the realities of the Iraqi war, symbolized by these boys, trained and hardened by Iraq to be killers (or be killed).  Uncomfortable almost anywhere but with each other, the young men are paraded, in this case, in front of eighty thousand rabid Dallas Cowboy fans and a national television audience.

We see the group's mindset through the eyes of Billy and a third person narrator.  The contrast between the ridiculous pomp and extravagance of an NFL game, the obvious symbol of American vulgarity and excess, is too much for these young men, especially Billy.  They are glad handed, feted, honored at halftime, but ultimately realize they are just a diversion for the Cowboys, for the fans, for the Nation, a brief attempt to make everyone feel good about themselves, by thanking and honoring, but ultimately forgetting that these young men are risking their lives each day for something no one is sure of, least of all Bravo company.

The major action revolves around the promise, to the boys, to enrich them by making a film about their heroism.  Producers, big money, litter the special day, as negotiations continue between the boys' agent and Norm, the owner of the Cowboys.  Eventually it becomes clear that Norm, though he 'loves these boys,' offers them a pittance for their story.  Profit triumphs honor and the boys refuse to be bought cheap, and leave the stadium, defeated and embarrassed, by the glitz, the abundance, the inauthenticity of it all, including their own sense of being 'heroes', a role they know is not true.

Ultimately, they realize they only have each other, and they head back to base, to fly back to Iraq and duty the next day.  In between all of this, Billy improbably falls in love with a Dallas cowboy cheerleader, who requites his affections, and he briefly contemplates listening to his sister's pleas to go AWOL, and save his life.  He considers it but knows that his real home is Bravo company, that the cheerleader loves him for being a part of Bravo company, not Billy Lynn.  An eye opener and as clear a picture of a soldier and his feelings as I have read in a long time.  It's troubling to see what the military has done to these misfits, all in the army to escape life (Billy joins to avoid a jail sentence).  They are both sacred and profane, human and vulgar, courteous around their elders, scatological, sexist, and racist among each other, schizophrenic as a necessity.

A troubling book about the United States, its values, its notion of 'exceptionalism,' its place in the world, and its young, especially young soldiers.

Rain and Overcast Morning

7:50

Kinney's Run at 5:00 in the Afternoon

Up at 6:00, to the sound of raindrops on the roof, forty degrees outside, with the temperature staying in the thirties and forties the next couple of days.  No cold weather or snow on the agenda until Friday though it could be just rain, the day we take off for Virginia.

As usual, my day started with Yin Yoga, a good class, not as crowded as last time, and it went quickly, as I was able to keep my thoughts from intruding on what I was doing, breathing and holding a pose.  Interestingly, the most read article in the NYTimes yesterday (The Power of Concentration) was about yoga, meditation or mindfulness, how studies show it improves not only one's emotional health (you feel good after it) but it increases work efficiency, creativity, and brain activity, no matter what your age.  Interesting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/16/opinion/sunday/the-power-of-concentration.html?pagewanted=all

My Yin class continues to be all women, so it's often very noisy when I enter, with everyone chatting; it doesn't stop when I enter, by the way, so I don't feel like an intruder any more.  I stopped at Wegman's, the bank, and service station on the way home.  No coffee.  Saving money for Xmas!

Evie is starting to feel better though she has little energy, so we just relaxed in the afternoon, getting dinner ready, chili on pasta, and watching the final episode of Homeland.  Not quite up to our expectations but still exciting.  And it sets the story for next season, with Brodie on the run, the doubt as to his patriotism, still troubling for the viewer as well as Carrie. Terrorists have blown up the CIA headquarters, killing hundreds, the car used for the bomb just happened to be Brody's.  Was he involved or framed by Al Qaeda? We shall see.

Overcast and Unseasonably Warm Monday

7:36

Sunny Sunday Afternoon

Awoke around 6:30, after a restless night, one of those night's where you keep thinking the same thing over and over, like the movie Groundhog Day.  It's now 7:25 and I can make out the other side of the lake, though its overcast, no sun today.  It's strange to have it in the forties, even overnight, this late in the year.  Global warming?  Perhaps.  I still am optimistic about the winter, that we will have lots of snow, like two years ago.  I am afraid we may get a severe snow storm at least once, the kind where we may stranded down here on Woodlawn for a day or two, as most of the weather events over the past two years seem to be severe.

Yesterday was a day just like the others, hoping that Evie feels better, has less of a cough, and finding the energy to keep active.  She does seem a bit better despite her wracking cough on and off during the day, something the doctor says can last for a couple of weeks.  It's discouraging for her because she has no energy and Christmas, getting ready for the it and our visits to our grandchildren is fast approaching.

Chautauqua's Bell Tower

Since I was up so early yesterday, I went for a walk at the CI around 9:00, much earlier than usual for a Sunday.  It's not much fun going on walks without Evie, so I force myself to get out and 'just do it.'  Big deal.  The sun did come out for part of my walk, amazingly, and it felt good to be outside, to walk the empty CI, and enjoy the sun on my face, the light wind, the variety of homes and landscaping, the lake, the new houses that are going up.  Just trying to be in the present, practice my mindfulness!  

A couple of eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast, a cup of coffee, and I was happy for the rest of the day.  Another leisurely Sunday for both of us, reading and watching TV, surfing back and forth between football and coverage of the horrific events in Newtown, hoping there was a good movie on another channel.  There wasn't alas.  The only humor this morning took place courtesy of Fox News, when a Republican from Texas said more guns are the answer.  "I wish to God she(the school's principal) had had an m-4 in her office, locked up so when she heard gunfire, she pulls it out ... and takes him out and takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids." People are nuts, and so are many of our Congressmen. Evie had put a pork shoulder in the oven late morning, so that by 6:00, it was falling apart and we mixed a quarter of the  pork with barbecue sauce for sandwiches, stacked high with cole slaw.  

We watched a couple of episodes of Parenthood, then about 9:30, we watched the taped replay of the service in Newtown.  We wanted to watch Obama's speech, so we skipped through the parade of religious figures who preceded him.  I felt sorry for all the people who had to sit through this.  Obama was good, empathetic and in control, but it was not at the level of some of his other great speeches, perhaps it could not since the subject was the random murders of twenty children.  What possibly could he say that would give comfort.  The Scriptures sound like platitudes, especially  since this is the fourth time he has had to speak at a memorial service at tragedies like this.  I know he spent part of the afternoon with the families of the the victims.  No matter who is President, you have to admire their courage to confront these tragedies, to give succor to the families.  What can you say to twenty sets of parents, to think of something to say to each pair?  I am glad he did not politicize the speech, to talk specifically about the need for gun control.  He just said things have got to change, that our roles as parents is to protect our children and we are not doing  that.  Things have to change.  Amen.

I obviously believe in gun control.  It's fine for hunter's to have their guns.  But that's about it.  And no one needs am assault rifle unless you are a police officer or in the military.  Most Republicans would disagree with this; most Democrats would agree but are too wimpy and worried about being reelceted to challenge the gun laws.  Recently, the momentum has been with the NRA and gun rights, making it legal to carry a concealed weapon on some college campuses, almost anywhere in a state like Florida.  Why?  How crazy is that?  Bring a gun to the supermarket, to the theater, to my English class, to a sporting event?  Where did this craziness come from?  A few nutty NRA's, and Republicans and wimpy Democrats went along for fear of the wrath of the NRA and it's members.  Things have to change.  An amazing statistic I just heard on MSNBC.  Since MLK's assassination in 1967, over a million Americans have been murdered because of guns.