Pictures

  It’s too cold to take any new pictures today, although at 26, it’s a lot warmer than it was this morning.  But I wanted to see if I could figure out how to include photos, so I’ll experiment with some old ones.  Wow!  There they are.  Only took me 15 tries to make it work.  (Perhaps if I had read the directions…) The top photo is the view to the east at sunrise from our dining room – not taken this morning when the sky was thoroughly grey.  The second picture is the house, taken from the driveway which comes up the hill from Gulf Road to our west.

I find that I’m much more oriented to the compass here, in part because there often isn’t another frame of reference, and in part because the sky and the sun’s path across it from east to west is such a big part of the landscape and the timescape.  The original house, a plain rectangle, was placed on the property facing north west in the front.  When Karen built the addition, she added it at a slight angle so that it faces true east and west.  It means that the master bedroom, the main part of the addition, faces due east, and the extension of the living room, the other part of the addition, faces due west.  It makes for some odd angles in the living room, but having spent some time here, I can certainly appreciate the choice.  It’s just glorious to have the big window in the living room facing sunset, and the tall windows in the bedroom facing sunrise.  There will be no sleeping in during the summer, when the bedroom will flood with early light.

Having been to the pool three mornings in a row, we are regulars.  The Monday/Wednesday class is a great workout, and I can already feel the positive change in my hip.  The Tuesday/Thursday class is much more gentle, but great for balance and flexibility. Both teachers are excellent, and it’s fun for Jay and me to do it together.  We are starting to find our routine – early, leisurely breakfast; out with Charlie for a walk (a very short one on these very cold mornings); off to the pool; errands in Cooperstown; home for lunch; and various household chores, reading and writing in the afternoon.

Today’s errands took us to the bakery for more rye bread (pretty decent), our third time there. Adele greats us as regulars, glad to hear we enjoyed Jay’s birthday cake.  When the other customers leave, she mentions something about her late husband, and in no time we are sharing stories of loss.  Her husband of 28 years has only been gone for eight months, and her grief is still raw. In this small community, there are no support groups for grief and she has found few people willing to talk about loss. We welcomed her to the club nobody wants to join.

Ah, here comes more snow.  And the dryer just finished.