random thoughts – Day 1,413 – (Monday) – shades of gray

Gray morning sky.

Today felt like we are turning the corner. Sunrise was at 7:04. Sunset was at 4:54, and at 5:16 this evening, it was still quite light out. Spring is 50 days away and counting.

At 8:00 a.m., while outside shoveling paths to the car, mailbox, gate, and driveways, the sun shone on the houses across the street from The BungaLowell, against a smooth sky that looked like the nicest shade of an old-timey, classic gray three-season wool business suit. 

The snow was heavy, wet, and dense. At the second shovel full of the stuff, something twinged in my back. It was good sticky snow, great for sculptures, but there was no time for that before work. Minimal shoveling was done before I was back inside the house logging in for work.

Gray evening sky.

After work, the sky was a different shade of gray than the morning, with more cloud texture. The windows of the homes behind mine radiated with a golden interior illumination. 

Out front, the puddle at the end of the driveway was a cold dark gray, murky and a couple inches deep, and I tried to step around it to retrieve the trash bin from the street. The puddle is two cars wide, so the bin route often involves dragging the bin through the neighbor’s part of the shared driveway and looping back into my own. The snow and slush along the neighbor’s side of the driveway was so dense that it was easier to drag the bin through the mucky puddle than take it over and through the neighbor’s slush heap. 

It’s a good thing I’m a little rugged. Of course, it’s not like it’s a choice or anything, it’s a matter of necessity.

Supper!

The infatuation with the cast iron fry pan continues and supper was a colorful arrangement of brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots, onion, Kalamata olives, and mushrooms sautéed in butter and oil, with a splash of balsamic vinegar and a sprinkling of feta cheese. There was enough made for two meals, but the first bowl tasted like more and soon it was all gone. It took less than 20 minutes to make, and soon I was on the couch, watching the latest streaming obsession, a Spanish thriller telenovela called Pact of Silence (Pacto de Silencio en espanol). 

Good food, good Netflix, good times. And spring will be here soon.