Today was one of those rare sunny winter days in Michigan---a perfect opportunity to do our first skiing of the season.  John injured his thumb while we were in Texas and hasn't been able to get a good grip on a ski pole until today.  We go across the river where we can ski for more than an hour through the woods and see very few people in the process.  What fun.  That activity was in lieu of going to church; last week we went to our home church twice and the week before to Kentwood Community (mega) Church with Carlton and Kayla.  So I guess we thought we deserved a break, but not entirely.  After we got home we rushed off to see "The King's Speech" which was equal to a good church service itself.  And after that we listened to 3 very fine sermons on CDs from out favorite preacher Steve Poos-Benson, senior minister of the Columbine United Church in Littleton, Colorado (where our friends Darlene and Kathy are members).  Life is good; how could it be otherwise married to John!  His nightly reading is currently The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss.  It's a novel that deals with a lot of big names of the Revolutionary era, especially Alexander Hamilton.  He has always been my least favorite of the Founding Fathers and the book has not heightened my opinion of him, but it did cause me to dig deeper on his life.  Turns out his wife Elizabeth was a very religious woman who (after his death in a duel with Aaron Burr) was very active in charitable works, especially as director of the New York Orphan Asylum.  Years ago I researched and wrote about one of her colleagues in charitable work but never realized the connection.