The bizarre winter of 2014 continued unabated the last 24 hours, as we went from a 68˚ high on Friday to an 8˚ forecast low tonight. Abby and I were repeatedly awakened by sleet battering the windows accompanied by thunder.

At noon, lightning struck close enough to shut down the electricity for a couple of hours. I fired up the generator in the RV and got it warmed up, then Abby and I assembled a dog step and a pants rack, chores we’d put off mostly due to the distraction of television. Just as we were about to go out to the RV, the power returned and I made lunch.

Because of the cold and the windblown sleet, we stayed in and watched whatever was on cable television. I Am Legend, which we’d seen and is not bad, was followed by Cowboys & Aliens, which we’d also seen, and is terrible. But the surprise of the day turned out to be a movie I never saw despite its wild popularity in the early 1980s, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. So many people told me I needed to see it and that I would love it, but plot summaries and previews told me I wouldn’t like it. Now that I have actually seen it, I have to say, wow, E. T. is awful. Stupid plot, stupidly written, lamely directed, pointlessly long. The list goes on.

Now there’s a thin coat of frozen crust on the ground. Abby’s office’s automated system told us she can come in an hour later. I am essentially doing nothing tomorrow.