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frozen-over Saw Kill
Monday, February 2 2026
[REDACTED]
Early this afternoon I drove out to Lowes on 9W to get the plumbing bits I needed for the big hot water replumbing project I have planned, one where I route narrow half-inch PEX to the most distant faucets so they don't have to wait so long for hot water to arrive via fat inch-thick copper pipes. The dogs heard me trying to sneak out and came bounding out of the laboratory (they'd been sleeping on the beanbag), so I brought them along. It's amazing how expensve copper fittings are now; a one-inch T-fitting (which I needed one of) cost $20. The expense of all that I needed to buy today came to about $200. And, after using the self-checkout, the anti-shoplifting detector went off. But a staffer waved me through. (It's been over 17 years since I was busted for shoplifting in that very store, and I pretty much stopped shoplifting after that.)
Next I drove over to Adams Fairacre Farms mostly to get fresh vegetables, though I also got mushrooms, the makings for another pizza, and a $17 cherry pie.
Later today, I tried unsuccessfully to get Charlotte to walk with me up the Farm Road. So instead I shoveled out a new way to get there without trudging through the snow. I also started beating down a path westward from the Farm Road that is a continuation of that path from our house. I figured that the more easy-to-walk options Charlotte has on this side of Dug Hill Road, the less prowling she will do in neighbor's dug-out driveways and paths.
This evening I drove over to Woodstock, passing the Ashokan Reservoir just before the sun set behind the Catskills (and a police car drove through to make sure people weren't stopped to take in the amazing natural spectacle. The reservoir is, of course, completely frozen over and that ice covered with snow.
Gretchen and I had planned a dinner date with Lynn and Gregg at the Bearsville Cantina, so I picked up Gretchen in Woodstock and drove us there in the Forester I'd come in, since it was a lot warmer than the Bolt would've been. It was only 5:30pm when we got there, so we had our pick of whatever table we wanted, so of course we picked the one nearest to the fireplace. A tiny little girl (the kind ICE loves to pepper-spray) was "working" there when we arrived, and she was the one who brought us our initial basket of chips and salsa. I also ordered a margarita of course, though I would be the only one drinking anything stronger than tea. I don't remember much of what all we talked about over dinner once Gregg and Lynn arrived, though we did spent awhile discussing the recent suicide of someone working at the restaurant where we usually go for our double dates. Then we discussed suicide for awhile. None of us had ever actually been suicidal, though Gretchen was probably the person at our table with the worst chronic depression (something she controls fairly successfully with medication).
I usually get the Impossible enchiladas, but, following a tip from Gretchen, I decided to go with the tofu burrito instead. It ended up being more food, but it was bit bland for me, and no amount of the amazing house habañero hot sauce could fix it. As we were leaving the restaurant, we noticed that Saw Kill Creek running in the back was completely frozen over into a lumpy mass with a few black splotches where the snow had washed away but then the open water re-froze.
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