A warm snowy day.

Some of you have suggested that my dislike for winter is a condition of age. True, I’m getting older, but I can assure you that I have disliked winter since I was a little elementary school kid.  Part of the problem, I’m sure, is the fact that we were never really dressed correctly for winter; in fact, no one in the housing project we lived in was ever dressed correctly for winter.  When it got very cold, we would keep our pajamas on and wear shirts and pants over them.  We would wear boots over our sneakers but when our feet got too big, we would wear two pairs of socks and then put on the boots. (No one got new shoes until Easter!)  Gloves usually consisted of two pairs of old socks worn over the hand.  The kids that had gloves would beat the heck out of us with snowballs because they could make round ones. With socks on your hands the best you can do it a kind of egg shaped thing that did not match the aerodynamics of a nice round snowball.  I remember having chapped hands for weeks because I would take off my socks in order to make perfect snowballs. So fast forward fifty-five years and I still hate winter even though I now can afford the right clothing.

We had a little snow fall this morning, only about an inch or so, but it did cover all the brown snow and things look lovely. It is also rather warm, about 27 degrees, which makes it enjoyable to walk, which is what I did after starting yet another load of laundry. (I’ve yet to convince Cindy that wearing clothes several times is okay).  The little bit of snow was all it took to yet again snarl traffic to a standstill.  The frustration level of Russian drivers can be gauged by the number of them that decide to honk their horn, even though most of them haven’t a clue as to what is holding up the traffic.  They were very frustrated today and the decibel level was hovering around painful.

There were very few people shopping at the market today so I was able to get in and out in record time.  I once again purchased too many heavy things for my two little bags and that walk home was challenging, but at least I broke into a sweat.  Because of the snow, there were about five women mopping the entry floor to the little mini-market, so the floor was very wet and people were slipping around. The Russians love to use smooth surfaced stones, tile and marble on their floors, which if nice if they are dry, but oh boy, Slippery When Wet.  While shopping I got inspired to make a ‘mock’ cassoulet. I’ll let you know tomorrow if it worked out. 

The meal last night was a nice straightforward fish dinner with no fancy sauces.  Pan seared Mahi-Mahi fillets, finished with just a touch of butter and lots of fresh lemon juice, served with buttered boiled potatoes with just a hint of garlic and minted peas.  I did make a little tartar sauce that I decorated with lemon peel flowers but that was the extent of fancy. It was fresh, it was hot, and it was delicious.

Mahi-Mahi, fresh from the freezer!

Cindy’s home so it is time to play!  Ciao, Cindy and Wm