Blowing In the New Year

My original plan for today was to do yoga class, then run to the Collingswood Library and the Haddon Township Library and get all my volunteering for the week done in one fell swoop. The howling wind I awoke to around 7:30 this morning told me that just wasn't going to be a good idea. I passed out for another hour or so, then decided I'd at least try to get the Haddon Township run in, since I had to skip it last week.

I discovered when I headed outside after Applesauce Muffins for breakfast, bundled to the nines and feeling like Randy in A Christmas Story, that it was incredibly cold. Probably well below freezing. The creek was already starting to turn into one big icicle again. Wind or no wind, cold or no cold, I had errands to run. I dodged icy patches along Cuthbert and headed for the Haddon Township Library.

Ironically, I ended up not really doing much. There wasn't a huge stack of DVDs or books to put away today. I guess everyone's still away for the Christmas holidays. I returned what DVDs were there and shelved children's books, then browsed for a while. Eventually took out a Garfield comic book, the first Rebecca American Girl book, and the two Vesper Holly books that the library had, The Illyrian Adventure and The El Dorado Adventure.

The Vesper Holly books are some of my all-time favorite children's novels, written by Lloyd Alexander, the author of the Prydain series. Vesper Holly is basically an American, teenage version of Amelia Peabody - a smart, strong-willed young woman making her way in the archeological world of the 1870s. Her guardians are the befuddled-but-intelligent Professor Brinton (she calls him "Brinnie") and his sensible wife Mary. Unlike Amelia, her stories take place in thinly fictionalized versions of real countries...except for The Philadelphia Adventure, which is set around the very real 1876 Philadelphia Exposition and, along with The Illyrian Adventure, is probably my favorite of the bunch. (I recently discovered there was another one released in 2007 I haven't seen anywhere, The Xanadu Adventure. I may have to order that online if I can't find it around here.)

As I was checking out my books, Pat, the librarian in charge of the volunteers, gave me a little "thanks for helping" gift, a cute calculator that comes with a tiny pen and pad of paper. It'll be great for my new big knit purse! She also hit me with a surprise - she's retiring at the end of this week. I'm going to really miss her. She's been such a big help to me. I hope the new librarian in charge of volunteers is just as nice!

Rode over to the Westmont Plaza next. I quickly stopped at the Dollar Tree for sponges, then went a few doors down to the bagel shop. Had a huge bowl of delicious chicken chili and a toasted cranberry-whole wheat bagel with butter that really hit the spot on such a cold day. Read Meet Rebecca and listened to what appeared to be a group of nurses (they wore colorful scrubs) chatting about their favorite TV shows.

I had debated running some other chores, but it was just too darn cold. I rode home against the wind instead. Took me forever, thanks to the wind. I just couldn't push against it. I did see a train go over the bridge next to the Oaklyn Manor Bar on the way home. I was surprised it was so short, only a few cars. I've never seen a train that short around here before.

Spent the rest of the afternoon and evening baking and watching Good Eats episodes and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The DVDs were fun. (I wasn't as impressed with the restoration on Snow White as I was with the 2000 edition, but the sound did seem clearer.) The baking...not so much. I attempted to make bagels, but the batter was too sticky, and the bagels spread too much and wouldn't bake properly - two of the largest came out mushy.