My So-Called Ice Storm

When I awoke around 9:30 today, there was the tiniest dusting of snow and ice on my porch...and it was half-melting even then. The sky was gray and the day was chilly, but it was the damp chill and flat gray sky of rain, not the biting chill and pearly gray sky of snow.

Since it wasn't doing anything by 11:30 but looking gloomy, I decided I would be fine running my errands today. I rode next to the Newton River Park and headed for the Haddon Township Library. Why "next to?" The paths in the park are still covered with last week's snow. There are lots of tracks where humans, dogs, and water fowl have run and played...but not people on bikes. I rode on the street alongside the park instead.

The Library was very busy when I arrived. There were piles of DVDs and kids' books to put away, probably due to last week's weather. Tons of non-fiction DVDs. Maybe a lot of mothers wanted their kids to learn something while they were snowbound.

I helped a mother and her adorable toddler daughter look up a book series the mother wanted to read more of. The daughter wore a beautiful gray coat with a large black velvet collar trimmed with braid and a bow on the back. The mother said she actually found the coat mint at a second-hand store!

I ended up taking out several books. Two recipe mysteries, one recent American Girl mystery, the Samantha tale Cry of the Loon, a book on crocheting, the newest Garfield comic book, and a book written by a woman who lost her job at a prestigious magazine when it shut down...and used it as an opportunity to learn how to slow down and enjoy life. I thought I could learn how to do the same.

Made a quick stop at Dollar Tree for sponges and a new brush. The top of the brush I bought last August snapped off the handle! After I left there, I had lunch at the Bagel Shop. It was about quarter after 2 when I came in, and the place was completely empty except for the people cleaning up the back dining area. I had a wonderful lunch of beef chili and a whole wheat bagel slathered in strawberry jam to myself.

Rode straight home after that. Or at least as straight as I could. The sidewalks on Cuthbert Road were icy, and it took me 10 minutes to just cross the street! I rode down some side streets instead and took the back way home.

After I got in, I put my things upstairs and went back out for a walk. It was raining a little by then, a fine misty rain that made me slightly wet, but otherwise caused no real trouble. The sidewalks were a little icy, but the street was clear. I walked down Manor Avenue and back up and around to Kendall, dodging ice and the sharp salt pellets on driveways.

When I got in, I started this month's cleaning with the bathroom. It wasn't quite as bad as when I last cleaned it, probably because I did my cleaning late last month. Still needed to get done, though. I did some reading, too.

When I finished, I switched to McBride while I made salmon, broccoli and cauliflower topped with Colby cheese, and a spinach salad for dinner. In Tune In to Murder, McBride has to defend the gentler partner of a popular morning radio host who loved playing nasty pranks on his listeners. He's killed the night after his partner had discovered him making a solo contract...but is that 911 call that Ron made before he was killed the real thing? I liked the use of sound - radio's calling card - to solve the crime. And Linda Young is right. The 911 call DOES sound so fake, it's surprising the police even bother using it as evidence.