Lazy Bones

Mist in My Bones

Butter Motivation

Hot Ginger-Butter Popcorn

Bundled Herbs; Something Accomplished

More Rain and Mist

This is one of those days that nothing could be better than bed and butter. Even the dogs are reluctant open sleepy eyes to greet yet another gray and rainy day. My mind entertains all kinds of baking ideas that involve butter, but I've awakened to a serious case of lazy bones.

My body has melded with the mist and my bones are rusty; I don't want to move. Instead I hunker down into a sweatshirt and wait for Todd to bring me coffee. Usually if I don't peek out of my office for morning java, it's because I'm writing or on the phone with a client or resource. But this morning it is simply because both legs are in agreement not to take the stairs. Lazy bones.

It's time to up my vitamin B complex and start taking vitamin D. Movement is necessary, too, but the only motivation today is my craving for butter. Is this some primitive response to winter coming? It's not just me. Sales of baking ingredients skyrocket in the fall. Only I'm too unmotivated to bake. So popcorn is the next best medium for butter.

In my kitchen I see the projects intended for the day. Reluctantly, I get out the thick, waxy ballet-shoe thread--the only thread I own--and  bundle and wrap tarragon, curry and basil to hang for drying. Then I do the dishes from last night's stew and salad. Only in autumn can you eat a stew of winter root veggies along with a fresh lettuce salad with cucumbers and tomatoes. It's the last of one season and the beginning of another.

By now my bones are groaning. But I press on, step outside to breathe in misty air that feels frosty as I exhale. A flitting bird swoops down to seek shelter under my porch and we startle each other. I'm disappointed to not get a good enough glimpse to identify it. I miss the birds already and was hoping for migrators to stop at Elmira Pond on the way south but all fly high and fly on by.

The fresh air is only enough to get me popping the corn and melting the butter to which I add ginger sauce. Tomorrow is a town day and I hope that will cure my lazy bones.