Three Beautiful Things 12-23-2023: I Made Myself Exercise, Errands in Coeur d'Alene, Baked Chicken and Christopher Foyle

1. No kidding. This morning, for the first time since joining the Fitness Center, I didn't feel like exercising. But I resisted the siren call of crossword puzzles and the comfort of our warm living room and raced out to Smelterville and dashed into the workout room. Once I got my legs and arms moving on the first machine, it felt great and I ended up putting in a solid fifty minutes of aerobic exercise, inspired by Jethro Tull's Aqualung, stopped only the the joint closing at noon. 

2. The sunny skies and clear roads made it a perfect day to dart to Coeur d'Alene. I joined a squadron of merry shoppers at Costco and picked up a few items, fueled the Camry, and scurried over to Supercuts for a holiday trim. I wrapped up my excursion to CdA by joining more happy shoppers at Pilgrim's and purchased some produce, Nancy's whole milk yogurt, and a couple of Debbie's favorite styles of Bitchin' Sauce, Original and Cilantro Chili. I think I'm ready to fix our Christmas Eve/Wedding Anniversary pot roast dinner on Sunday. 

3. Before I left the house for Smelterville and CdA, I took out a package of chicken drumsticks to thaw. Once back home, I seasoned the chicken with lemon pepper and surrounded the drumsticks in a baking pan with quartered pieces of Yukon gold potatoes seasoned with Montreal Steak Seasoning. I also steamed some broccoli and Debbie and I enjoyed this simple, hearty meal. 

I was in the mood this evening for some British television. I've been s-l-o-w-l-y working my way through the eight seasons of Foyle's War since June of 2015. Whatever the opposite of binge watching is, that's what I've been doing for eight and a half years now with Foyle's War.

So, this evening, I fired up the the third episode of the fifth season, an intense story about WWII coming to an end and four psychologically damaged soldiers who return home to Hastings after brutal experiences in combat. As the town prepares for an end of the war celebration, someone murders a local doctor (with a German name) and, on the cusp of retirement, Christopher Foyle goes to work to identify the killer. The murder doesn't take place until nearly halfway through the episode because much of this broadcast focuses on the difficulties the newly returned soldiers have returning to civilian life and, at the same time, the way their difficulties puzzle and confuse the loved ones they rejoin.