View from the City, Very Early Morning, December 24, 2008

It is 3:46 am and we have not yet made it out of the city for our holiday in the Adirondacks. The bags are packed and ready by the door.  We thought we would leave the city yesterday, but had a visit from a friend that extended into dinner and drinks, so we decided to stay the night here. We had our first holiday presents, including two scarves, two sweaters and two new pair of much-needed and much-appreciated winter gloves.  Anthony received a mini Etch-a-Sketch and I received some vintage playing cards for my collection of games for the house.  Audrey, our dog, is ready for some major Adirondack snow in which to roll and rollick.  Before we get on the way, we will stop to stock up on food and supplies for the holiday.  I have never cooked a beef tenderloin, but there is one sitting in our refrigerator now that I hope to have in the next few days.  We have a cooler that plugs into an outlet in the back of our car, which is necessary to keep the food cool during the long drive, which usually runs 4.5 to 5 hours.  I must confess that, looking at the footage from the President-elect's trip to Hawaii, I wish we had made plans to go somewhere warm for the holiday, but it was not in the cards this year.  I must make a New Year's resolution to plan our trips early this year or we will never get out of the city, other than our frequent jaunts to Fourth Lake.