Every Day Is Exactly the Same

Up at 5:30 to a pitch black house, just like yesterday, and it was 18 degrees outside, about two inches of snow fell overnight, I lit the fireplace to warm the house up, made the coffee, took my sour dough starter out of the fridge, to ready it for bread, turned on the radio to NPR, sat down on the couch, got out my computer, and my day begins.  It's now 7:00, the sky is beginning to lighten over Bemus, with a long thin  but thick bank of clouds over Bemus, above it a slight rose tint moving up towards a clear, blue sky. I do love the lake at this time of year, covered with snow, always an interesting hue in at dawn or dusk, today a gray tinged with a white paste.  It looks like a good day.

We went over to Stan and Anne Marshaus's home last night for a Miami University gathering as they were playing in the GODADDY Bowl.  We spent most of the evening talking with Stan's high school neighbors, Tom and Lola, he's a retired post man from Perry, Ohio, and quite a talker.  I asked him about the post office and got quite an insight into how inefficient and screwed up it was, a typical analysis of any retiree about the job they have just left.  All of us look back at our work and see mostly the bad rather the good of the job, how things are not like they used to be, how people have changed, how inefficient things have become.  I remember hearing it from the older faculty from Reserve when they retired, and now I hear myself saying the same things, though I try to avoid it.  I not sure what this says about us, the retirees, jobs in general, or it's just the arc of life and work, from innocence and excitement, to experience and disgust or apathy at change, the inevitable part of any experience.

It's now 8:40, the bread is rising in the hot room, I have taken a couple of pictures as the sun was rising, those above, and the temperature has dropped from 19 when we got up to about 8 degrees right now.  We are hoping to snow shoe at Long Point this morning but we are going to wait for it to warm up a bit or, if it doesn't, Evie will go work out at the Turner Center.

It's almost 11:00 and we are going off to Long Point to snow shoe.  I have downloaded all the past month's pictures to Picasa and saved the albums on my external hard drive, just to be safe.  Lots of little things fill one's day, as I have been busy since 8:00 and, by the way, the bread is shaped, sitting in the hot room till after our walk.

We had an amazing walk through Long Point Park, with a few cross country skiers.  There was little wind, the sun was out, the trees were decorated with drifts of snow, especially the evergreens, and it was just good to be outside, enjoying the natural world, the crisp air, the blue sky through the barren tree branches, the groomed trails, the feeling of doing something physical that's also good for you.  I want to go back tomorrow and cross country ski.

While Evie  got things ready for our dinner with the Cassells, I got the Apple TV set up after a few wrong turns.  Inevitably, it worked out so I can now spend even more time in front of our LED TV.  Finally, the birds have returned to the feeder.  Because we were gone for a couple of weeks, they ate till it was empty, then moved on to other sites.  When we returned, I filled it and it has taken two days before they have rediscovered the filled feeder, and now they broadcasting it, so more and more are returning, mostly chickadees so far.

Slovenian Flag Flies Proudly Over Lake Chautauqua

When I got up this morning it was 12 degrees outside, with a light snow, not much else and the winwas already blowing.  We just got back from shopping, picking up a pork loin for tomorrow when Cassell's stop by for dinner, and a few things at the store.  We then went to Turner Gym and worked out for about an hour, perhaps a bit more and it felt good to do something physical.  I did a few yoga poses as well, and shop hoops for about 15 minutes, so I got a varied workout.  Evie likes the elliptical the most, and the rowing machine, so that's where she spends her time.  Had breakfast with the boys this morning at the Bemus Point Inn, and all are back in town, had great holidays, and I enjoy being with them quite a bit, though they all have the Institute as a point of interest, like I would have if I were with Reserve faculty.  Stan invited us over for food and drinks tonight because Miami of Ohio is playing in the GODADDY BOWL, whatever that is.  We  thought we would go because we would meet more new people.  Aren't we getting social!  Not really. 

It's almost 4:30 and the sky is either clouding up or it's already getting dark.  Evie has spent the afternoon arranging and rearranging our living room, driving herself nuts, because it will never be quite right, like a Turkish carpet, it will always have a flaw because only Allah is perfect.  I am thinking of going out and snow shoe on the lake for a bit and hope I have better luck than my cross country skiing yesterday when my skis got wet just as I crossed on to the lake, froze immediately, and I could not move.  I had to take them off and walk back off the lake, bring them into the house, to melt.  

At the Lake Again

It's pitch black out my front window, though about 3 inches of snow fell last night, and I have yet to see a light on the lake, the first fisherman.  It's strange to be back at the lake and making last night's dinner seemed so boring with no grandchildren around and the evening, too, seemed strange with no kids to put to bed.  It's going to take awhile to get used to being back at the lake.

We watched a quirk comedy, City Island, with Andy Garcia and Julia Marguiles.  Set in the present, Garcia is a frustrated want a be actor, who works in a prison.  He just happens to discover one of the young hoods about to be paroled is his love child from his first girl friend.  He brings  the young man home to his family and he's the catalyst for the family discovering each others' secrets.  I would give it 2 1/2 tomatoes.

I just got back from a walk up the hill and around the neighborhood and I must readjust my estimate of snow---we have had 6-8 inches over night and it's still snowing.  It's a beautiful light snow, the kind that sticks on trees, making their green tipped with white frosting.  I saw Corky digging out; he heads to Florida in a week, and Becky Deault, who was out walking her cat and taking the snow off her car.  It felt great to be outside in the white world of snow, walking up the hill, enjoying the outdoors, the woods and the lake.

Went into Mayville and to the library though the roads were quite slippery.  Later in the day, I went for a walk through the camp ground, around 3:30 and the sun was out, making it a nice afternoon to walk.  No one was around so I felt like I had the woods to my self.

Another Seven Hour Drive: Darien to Chautauqua Lake

A restless night, as I stayed up too late last night watching the Stanford/Virginia Tech game with Ramiro.  It was hard to get to sleep and I keep waking up.  Get over it.  Both Evie and I were up at 5:45, rare for her, so we beat all the Albarrans up, though Rami woke soon after us.  The weather looks as if it will be fine, just an inch of so of snow along the way, nothing severe. The high is going to be in the high 30's in Darien, probably the low 30's in Chautauqua.  Let's hope the weatherman's accurate for once.
We have had a great stay here, especially having the Bissell's for a couple of days but we have to head home even though the kids keep begging us to stay longer. It's nice. Beth's been too nice to us, taking Evie shopping, making sure I have various healthy living goodies in my travel bag.  Leaving is always bitter sweet for us.  We miss the lake, but will miss the family as well.  Things change; nothing stays the same.  You have to move on.  Vacations end.  Grandchildren grow up.  I don't like it.  Get used to it.

I am now at the lake, an easy drive, with little if any snow not only in the air but on the ground.  I thought there would be alot more snow at the lake but we can actually see the lawn in some places, though the lake is frozen, and we saw fisherman walking out to various spots.  Cross country skiing tomorrow!  The ride was easy, took us just about 7 hours, as we went the long way, through Danbury but there was little if any traffic.  All seems well at the house, we got the mail, lots of cards and magazines and bills, to keep us occupied for a few days.  It was a great two weeks with our families.

A Calm, Easy Monday

We decided to put off our trip back to the lake for a day, to the delight of our grandchildren; it's always nice to hear how much they want us (Evie, mostly), to stay.  The parents go along with it nicely as well.  It's always amazing to see the change in Tyler on school days, with tie an khakis on, so grown up looking.  He goes off with Rami as their trains are about the same time.  Mitch leave early too and we were happy to see him wearing the KREW hoodie we gave him for Christmas.  He has very definite tastes and I think we hit the bulls eye on this one.

Not too much on the agenda today, a much colder day, perhaps a trip to Costco, help Beth reorganize her house after the hordes, and a few walks with Cody; he missed me yesterday, giving me the stink eye every time I walked by.

The boys leave around 7:00 but Marisa doesn't have to walk to the bus till a little after 8:00, which is nice for her because she gets some special time with Beth, and today with Evie and me.  She is a delight in the morning as well, happy and excited to head off to school.

After taking for a walk, we took off for our traditional Costco splurge, ending up with a mattress pad/foam/gel for our bed, some towels, and a few miscellaneous. We then hit Sports Authority, as Beth needed to return some things; Evie picked up some workout tees, I think, and I abstained.  Then, on to Barnes and Noble, where I now sit, drinking coffee as Beth and Evie hit TJ for the second time in two days.  Evie said 'no clothes shopping' and it has already been at least 45 minutes.  O, well, I am happy happy, that I am here, and not there. It's a beautiful day out, too bad we are spending it in side shopping but we have to stock up for the winter.

Kids are all home, popcorn snack made, and Evie's breading the pork chops and putting together a homemade macaroni and cheese, my request. Marisa is doing her homework; Tyler came home with all A's on his exams, and Mitch is playing with his Iphone apps.  A happy household once they all got their snacks.

It's 8:40 and I am watching the Stanford/Virginia Tech game after a great dinner of breaded pork chops and macaroni and cheese; Tyler devoured a couple of chops and all the kids enjoyed it.  Tyler then had a music lesson at 7:30 and I put Marisa to bed, told her a bad bad boy story, as Evie helped Mitch put a tree sticker on his wall.  It's really cool; Marisa has love and peace stickers on hers.  Ramiro has had to work late and he's not home yet, so he missed the 7:30 train.  I don't envy him his train rides back and forth, especially knowing that he has to head back in tomorrow at 7:00

Sunday Sunday

We didn't do much today except relax and recover from the past few days of family and over eating.  Tyler went off to work on a project with a friend, which took three or four hours.  Rami and I watched football on and off during the day, and Evie hung out with the kids.  They made funnel cakes with Mitch's Xmas present from us, and they were a big hit.  We watched George Clooney in  The American last night, a very slow, European style movie, which deserved its two and a half stars.  Rami and Evie went up to bed before it was over so Beth, Tyler and I were the only ones left up at 11:00.

Beth made spaghetti for dinner and we all devoured it, as the meals during the day with 'on your own', so the kids didn't eat alot until dinner.  I told Marisa another 'bad boy' story, a really bad one this time.  She is a doll at night, all snuggled up in her bed, loves to talk, but once you leave her for a minute or two, she' soundly asleep.  Mitch went up around 8:30, to karate with Evie, after watching the latest TV series obsessions with Tyler and Evie, old Twilight Zone programs.  They are fun and its amazing how many famous stars got their start in the programs, Robert Redford, William Shatner, to name a few.

A Lazy New Year's Morning

We have all been sitting around the coffee table in the sunroom, relaxing, having our coffee and watching, sort of, the news on TV.  The girls, though they did not get to sleep until almost midnight, were all up by 8:00 and have been upstairs playing, once again, in Marisa's room.  Only Tyler continues to sleep, and even Jill has been up since 7:30.  They have decided to head back home today, around noon, to avoid the rush on Sunday and get back in time to get organized for the week.  I think they made the right decision as the roads tomorrow are going to be a nightmare, especially on 95 south.  We had a mild celebration last night, as everyone faded out early, so only the boys were up to greet the New Years...too much good food and alcohol, I think.  Hayden and Halle are not too happy about leaving early but I think they will be fine once they get on the road.

It's a sunny day here, so unlike Chautauqua, which seems to be cloudy most of the time.  The girls were able to play outside a bit before breakfast of eggs and bacon.  Drew basically got things packed up as the girls played, they had breakfast, and were off by about 11:30, a car full of stuff, kids, pillows, books, and of course, Coco.  It looks as though they will have good weather all the way to Bristow; I just hope the short cuts a short cut.

Rami fixed my computer as it was telling me I had little if any memory left; he found that I had 45 gigabytes of emails somehow, erased them, and now I have another 45 gigabytes of memory, which is great. I also got Apple TV from the Albarrans, which once it's set up, will allow me to download and watch anything from Itunes on our TV, from TV programs to movies that Netflix does not have.  Both Tommy and Rami have it and tend to use it quite a bit.

Right now we are trying to figure out what to do with our day, stay home and relax, or head off and see a movie or do some shopping. At the moment, I just feel like sitting home and veggian out in front of the boob tube.  We'll see, as Beth wants to take Mom out shopping as a Christmas present.

Beth and Evie went off to find some clothes, so Rami took me off the Fairway, an amazing grocery store in a new development in Stamford, what was once a rough area, now being rehabilitated, with the financing done by Ramiro's group.  The store is huge, with every imaginable kind of food, from cheese to olive oil to coffee, to spices and goodies from any country.  The fruits and vegetable sections were huge, with four foot bins of brussel sprouts or arugula.  A section for olive oils from all over the world, with at least 50-100 varieties, many of which you could taste.  I did get a special coffee, peaberry coffee from El Salvador, and I found some kaskavale cheese from Bulgaria.  Both Rami and I tasted it and it was really good, salty but not to the extreme.  We also ate lunch their, had sushi and french fries; we loved the french fries.  He then drove me around and showed me the development, especially the renovation of the old Yale Lock company, now neat apartments with the industrial kind of  windows, and also commercial developments. It's a huge area, with some large companies having their headquarters there as well as condos on the waterfront.  We happened to run in to the developer as we were driving by, and Rami stopped to talk with him briefly.  We got home about 3:30 and the girls didn't get home from their shop a thon till about 4:15.

We are off for burgers in Norwalk for dinner; Evie and I will come home with Marisa and Mitch, while Beth, Rami, and Tyler will go to True Grit.

Just returned from BJ Ryans, had great burgers and fries, and some chicken wings for a healthy kick.  Then, Beth and Rami and Tyler went off to the movies, and I drove Mitch and Marisa home as they were really tired.  Marisa got a bad boy story and fell asleep almost immediately, as Mitch played his game on TV before heading off to bed.

Drew just wrote to say they made the trip in six hours, going the back route and avoiding the headaches and tolls on Interstate 95, a good route for the future because you can be a bit more certain of modest traffic problems, unlike 95