Heated Debate and Master Read

I’m lucky enough to be married to an extremely tropical young lady.  Since she has the misfortunate to be married to a rock hearted (headed?) New Englander we have the great annual debate – When does the heat get turned on?  Some years her campaign begins in early September.  When her family visited one year in August they were pulling out blankets and quilts. 

I resist and not for just the economic reasons – I kind like a brisk morning with the windows open.  Over her forced residency in New England she’s toughened up.  Last winter we got her out into the snow a couple times – completely unheard of in prior years when she disappeared from external environments from November to March.  This year as the temperatures headed south I kept expecting to hear a demand for heat but none was forthcoming.  Male pride, being what it is, prevented me for suggesting it when the frigid morning floors started to exceed the “brisk” zone.  This week the overnight temps were in the low 30’s and yesterday saw the first frost.  Thankfully she finally made the request and the heat is on.  When I asked her about the extended wait – she simply stated – “I’m not a wimp!”  Truer words were never spoken.

My Date Last Night - The Snow Bunny

Since this is more of a routine weekend we were able to return to our normal Friday night haunt – Zorba’s.  I’ve synchronized my one day a week keto vacation with Fridays (no fool, am I) so I can sample the mystically imbued pizza.  We had the platonically worshipped, hot waitress who said the entire staff was happy we had returned to our pizza ordering ways.  They felt something was wrong with the cosmos during the six months of prime rib.

Dessert Last Night - Definitely Keto Vacation Day - So Goooooood!

These Friday night dates have become something we both look forward to because it gives us a chance to sit across the table from each other and catch up.  Although this happens repeatedly during the week at home there’s always something distracting going on – a television, Buddy’s latest faux pas, or the ever present telephone calls.  We end up spending an hour an a half just talking (I’ve been trained to avoid looking at the ever present, huge Zorba’s TV’s laden with sports programming) and we’ve kind of discovered we enjoy each other’s company.  Who saw that coming?

I just finished reading the master Stephen King’s latest offering Doctor Sleep.  It was the usual immersion with characters so real and well written but facing the supernatural creeping in when least expected.  He’s done a very interesting thing in taking the characters from his earlier novel, The Shining, and letting us know what happened to them.

Great Read

The little boy, Danny, is now a 40 year old recovering alcoholic.  He’s called upon to save a young girl, also blessed with the shining talent, from a roving group of creatures who feed on the shining by torturing the children possessing the talent.  In typical King fashion he makes these supremely evil folk seem mundane by having them cruise around the country posing as senior citizens driving huge RVs.  He taps into the frustration we all feel when we get stuck behind one of these monsters going up a hill and then imbuing them insidiously evil power.  Be careful the next time you curse at one of them seems to be the message.

I call King the master because he has the ability to transport you with words, a rare talent.  He’s chosen a genre the more snooty literary elements look down upon but his talent is relentless and at least to me, irresistible.  Add to that, I’m sure he has some serious psychic ability (just read last year’s blog entry when I was reading Under the Dome).  Doctor Sleep is a great read, but since it’s King – that’s a given.

Last night ended up back in the family room where the wife and I watched a movie – appropriately – The Heat. 

Playoff Beard - Vigrous Exercise Tonight

Go Red Sox, tonight!!!