Hockey Gold - USA vs Canada

Becky and I watched the USA vs Canada Olympic hockey game this morning and were very excited to see the USA get the gold medal in a 2-1 overtime game. It was an awesome game and very tough for both teams. I really did think that Canada was going to win because they seemed to dominate throughout most of the game. Then came the 3 on 3 sudden death overtime. Wow, what an ending. And what a way to end the two weeks of the Olympics. The closing ceremony will be on this afternoon.

We were downstairs watching the game by 8:30 this morning which meant we missed a few minutes of the first period. I thought it was starting at 8:30. We didn't much and we certainly saw a lot of the game. And of course the overtime too.

Jack Hughes scored the winning goal in overtime and the goaltender Connor Hellebuyck won the MVP award for the tournament. This was the first time the USA team won Olympic gold in hockey in 46 years... since that Miracle on Ice against the Soviet Union at Lake Placid in 1980.

And the USA women's hockey team beat the Canadian team in overtime a few days ago.

Open The Bars

I saw some online reporting this evening concerning the US vs Canada hockey game tomorrow for the gold medal. 

Today New York Governor Kathy Hochol made the following statement:

"Tomorrow, it's a gold medal morning. I've directed the State Liquor Authority to suspend enforcement of alcohol service hour from 6-10 AM so bars and restaurants can open early and fans can watch the U.S. go for gold together. Go USA."

We all know that the governor is a Buffalo girl and watching important hockey games in a bar is a tradition. Well, this is for most of New York but some places, like NYC, are under a state of weather emergency because of a coming blizzard so they cannot open. I also saw a list online of Buffalo bars that will be open very early tomorrow morning for the game and be serving drinks... and food.

Lion Hearts: A Novel

Lion Hearts by Dan Jones, 2025. The third novel of the Essex Dogs Trilogy. I read this book in a week and enjoyed it very much as I did the first two novels in this series of Middle Ages history and the Hundred Years War between England and France.

At the end of this book it certainly looked like there will be another one in the series.

The author Dan Jones is a popular historian and journalist who has written at least a dozen books on the history of the Middle Ages throughout his career and only recently began writing these historical novels.

There are a lot of his books I've put on my to-read list including ones about the Crusades, the Templars and many others.

Another Box to Clean Out

I cleaned out another box of "stuff" today that contained lots of paperwork, maps, guide books, tickets, etc from our trip to London and Paris in 2018. Most of the stuff I threw away. I did keep a small amount of our personal guide pamphlets that I think we would enjoy looking through one more time but everything else went into the recycle container unless it had personal info that went into the trash.

There must be another box somewhere with our "stuff" from our 2019 trip to Dublin, London and Edinburgh. It will be fun to go through that one too.

Winter Flowers

I went out in the backyard today because it was the first time in many weeks that there was no snow there. It had melted with the rain and 40 degree temperatures since last night. I was surprised to find some snow drops blooming. There were also some daffodils that had popped up. It looks like Becky's green thumb is at work.

Later this afternoon there will be snow coming to bury those plants again.

Some Spring Fever

Earlier today and this evening we had gone out around town. It was a sunny day and the temperatures were in the high 30's and low 40's and the snow was melting. Some people had spring fever. We saw people jogging in shorts and t-shirts. There were people all over the place walking around in shorts. From our table in JT's we saw lots of folks on Elmwood Avenue walking around and we saw one woman with a bare mid-drift outfit. It's amazing how quickly people in Buffalo jump into some spring fever before it's spring. All they need is a little bit of improved weather and some sun to get the fever.

JT's Tonight

Tonight we went to JT's for dinner to use that gift certificate we got for Xmas from Sean and Ashley. First we had gone to Hallwalls to check out an art show. Then we went over to Elmwood Avenue and parked the car on Bidwell. We stopped at Talking Leaves bookstore for a bit looking at potential belated birthday gifts for Sean. Then we walked down the street to JT's.

It was about 5 pm when we got there which is a little earlier than we usually get there. There were only a couple tables in use plus the bar was busy as usual because they have their happy hour food specials at the bar. We got a nice seat near the front window just under the heaters. It was very comfy.

We started off with splitting a Caesar Salad after I got my glass of Tuscan Blend red wine and Becky got an NA. Becky had the Rigatoni Bolagnese which is something I usually get. I ordered their Black Spaghetti and Shrimp. It was a wonderful meal.

Wd did have a little confusion with the gift card that I had on my phone but they are used to those things while we are not. All went well and we may sure the waiter, who was very good, got his tip.

Overall a wonderful evening.

Hallwalls Amid/In WNY 2026

Becky and I went to Hallwalls this afternoon to see the Amid/In Western New York shows. We missed going to the opening a couple of weeks ago because not only the extremely deep frigid temperatures that night but there was also a big Sabres related event next door which would talk up most of the nearby parking. We would have had to walk a long way to park. We didn't go to the opening but Becky wanted to see the show.

So today we left our house around 3:45 and got there just before 4. We spent about 20 minutes, with the gallery to ourselves, looking at the art work of 11 area artists.

It was nice to be able to take our time looking at the artwork without the crowds of an opening reception which is how we usually see art shows. At least for me. Sometimes Becky will go down to a gallery during the time an exhibit is displayed to check out the artwork without the crowds.

The thing about the show today that I didn't like was the video exhibit which is in this photo. There was some really obnoxious loud audio from a video installation. The video of the camp fire was interesting but that audio drove us out of the gallery.

The Lost Symbol - A Novel

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, 2009. This is the third novel in the Robert Langdon series. I read the first two books in the series about twenty years ago... The Da Vinci Code, 2003 first in April 2004 and then Angels & Demons, 2000 in June 2004. So why read the third book now. I saw that the sixth book in the series was just published this past Fall and then I found the Da Vinci Code on a book shelf recently. It reminded me of those early books and I saw that the third one was available at the library to download the e-book. I got it right away and then I read it in six days. 

I got to say I had mixed feelings about this novel. In some ways I just kept reading and couldn't put it down for long periods of time but I was also constantly being disappointed by almost gibberish story telling. I think I got through the book so fast because I was skipping and skimming paragraphs which I don't usually do very much with books that I'm reading... and enjoying. 

When I looked back GoodReads at those first two books I saw that I gave both of those book 3 star reviews which means I had a problem with them. I also never wrote anything about them either.

So there are three more books in this Robert Langdon series and I don't think I will bother with them. This guy seems to write the same book over and over again but not in a good way.

Foggy Day... and Night

We had a foggy day today and then it was a foggy night too. We don't have very many foggy days. I think that may be because of the nearby lake and the wind coming off it. We just don't see very much fog and especially during the winter. I can't remember the last time.

Growing up in the Philadelphia area we always had lots of fog throughout the year. Also down the shore and up in the Pocono Mountains. Most of the time it didn't matter to me but then when I started driving it did. That was after the family moved to Harleysville in the Fall of 1968. Suddenly I was driving back and forth between Germantown and Harleysville to see my friends. That is when I really discovered the problem of the fog. There was lots of it on the road out to the country and I was constantly having to deal with it... very carefully. That went on regularly all the next year and then I was gone. In the Navy.

And the Navy was a whole other experience of fog. First I saw some strange fog out in San Diego and then it was the new experience of the fog at sea. 

Later I would again experience that fog driving from Germantown to Harleysville when I moved back to the city after getting out of the Navy and visited my mom. I liked it better when she moved down to Chestnut Hill and I stopped doing that drive in the fog. 

Then we moved to Buffalo and said goodbye to the fog. Well, even the fog we did very occasionally got in Buffalo was nothing like that fog on the Pennsylvania roads or out at sea.