Clouds Are All

6:24

7:54

8:26

It's just after 8:00 and I was awake at 6:00, sat around until 7:00 with coffee, and then went out and fought the northern wind and waves for 40 minutes. The clouds were amazing, the kind we usually get during the fall, so I couldn't stop taking photos. Because of the wind and waves, though, it was difficult to take photos, as I had a hard time steadying the camera. Today feels like a fall day, 54º when I woke with a high around 64º. We love it.

Kayak Morning

Sun Rising

Southern  Clouds

Paddling North

Bald Eagle

Great Blue Along Woodlawn Creek

Sunday was another Joey Bimbo afternoon. The morning, however, was busy. It started with a good paddle, out for over an hour. When I returned, we finished the blog and published it. Around 9:30, Jim, our neighbor, asked if I wanted to go for a hike. Of course, I was up for it, so we left at 10:00 for a hike around Bentley Preserve in Ellicott, 20 minutes away. He warned me it might be wet, so I wore my bean boots. It wasn't too bad — a couple of muddy spots, but for the most part it was fine. Jim brought Ripley, his dog, along, so it was fun watching him disappear, then reappear after Jim's whistle. Much of the hike followed a creek, green with algae. It was, however, wilder than most hikes — overgrown, with lots of mature trees. We were out for just over a half hour. On the way home, we stopped at Outlet Greenway Preserve, a hike I was unaware existed. It's a short walk to a creek with no bridge, so it's difficult to continue to the lake unless you can ford the stream. I was surprised at how tired I got after the hike, and felt a bit nauseous. I figured out why on the way home — I'd forgotten to have breakfast.

So Evie made us breakfast around 12:00: scrambled eggs and toast, and I felt much better. I tried to nap for a half hour but was up by 1:00 when the Buffalo Bills game started. They were underdogs but defeated a very good Houston team, so western New Yorkers were happy. After the game, I had to save the women's World Cup game in Berlin and watched the first half. 

Sunday Afternoon 

By then we'd had enough TV, so we sat on the front porch, enjoying a glass of wine and the empty lake. We ate around 6:30: the leftover mushroom and meatball pasta, salad, and rolls. Evie wasn't that interested in the basketball game, so we watched another episode of ER. After Evie went up to bed, I watched the US team completely outmatch France, and despite being behind at halftime, they won 97–79. By then, I'd had enough sports, so I watched the first half of Sunday Night Football as the Giants beat Dallas. I was in bed reading by 10:00, having had enough television for the day.

I checked to see if this meme is accurate on ChatGPT and it is.  

A Joey Bimbo Kind Of Day

6:36

8:13

Joey Bimbo was a character from a cartoon we loved in the 1960s. It pictured an overweight guy sitting in a lounge chair, watching TV, with a couple of empty six-packs of beer strewn around his chair. So a day like yesterday, given up to eight or nine hours of TV watching, reminds me of the Joey Bimbo cartoon.

Today's a totally gray morning, sky and lake, with no hint of the sun. The lake, however, is absolutely flat — perfect for skiing or paddleboarding. I was up at 6:30, out on the lake for 75 minutes, paddling across to Long Point, then back to Bootey Bay and home.

Kayak Morning

Nancy And Jeff Skiing Early

Northern Gray

A Rare Photo Of Two Herons

Great Blue

A Leisurely Morning Paddle

Scrunchy

On Neighbor's Dock

Saturday morning was the usual; the afternoon and evening were given up to watching TV. The morning began with a good paddle, a few shots of birds, then the blog and breakfast. Evie announced that she wanted to do a good cleaning downstairs. Before we started, though, we gathered the trash, and I headed to the Transfer Station, then to Hogan's to fill two five-gallon cans with gas for my boat at $4.39 a gallon. When I returned home, my first chore was to fix a shelf in our kitchen that always seemed to fall. The plastic holders kept failing, so I used super glue to keep them in their holes. Once I was done, Evie checked it out and noticed one side was lower than the other. I said it was going to stay that way—just as the whole shelf collapsed. My supportive wife laughed and called me Mr. Fixit! Needless to say, Mr. Fixit will be at it again today.

After that disastrous result, we tackled the north windows in our living room. I went outside, crawled below the rhododendrons, cleaned off the spiders and their droppings, then washed the windows. It's a pain to get back there, especially with a small ladder. Evie used the small vacuum on the couches while I vacuumed the entire living room and family room.

We were done by 12:30, and Evie made us fried potatoes and fried eggs for lunch. I took a brief nap but made sure to get downstairs by 2:00 to watch the US women defeat Spain on their way to the Finals against France. After the game, I switched to women's tennis, where upstart Elena Rybakina won her second major and defeated favored Aryna Sabalenka. I then took a break from TV to enjoy a glass of wine with Evie before dinner. Around 7:00, we had pasta with mushrooms and sausage, along with a salad and rolls. We watched two amazingly tense episodes of ER — so much better than the much-ballyhooed The Pitt. Around 8:30, I watched the first half of the Ohio State/Texas game until 10:00, confident Ohio State would win with a 20-3 halftime lead. Well, this morning I found out they lost, 24-23.

Today looks like another Joey Bimbo kind of day with the Buffalo Bills/Houston game at 1:00, the Women's World Cup Ball game at 2:00, the US Open Final also at 2:00,  and more NFL games at 4:30 and 8:30. 

President Bone Spurs

Saturday Morning Sunshine

Enjoying A Beer At The Rod And Gun Club

6:23

8:13

It's 8:30, and I've been up since 5:30, taking it easy with a cup of coffee for over an hour before I ventured out on the lake, the sky a fantastic collage of clouds and blue. Eventually, just after 7:00, as I approached Tom's Point, the sun began to rise, lighting up the shoreline. I paddled around the tip, with a view of the bridge, then headed back toward Woodlawn, occasionally passing a fishing boat, since there's a tournament today. I was out for close to 80 minutes, with a light wind and an occasional bird sighting.

Morning Sky

Sun Rising At 7:02

Kayaking Toward Tom's Point

The Bridge

Kickin Back

Victoria/Woodlawn

Amazing Morning Sky

Heron Along Tom's Point

Eagle Above Powerboat Club

Cormorant

Friday was busy, starting with a long paddle, as always. Evie helped with the blog and had a bit of trouble with the photos but figured it out, so we published by 9:00. I wasn't sure what to do with my morning, as usual, but decided on a bike ride on Jamestown's Riverwalk and through the city. First I stopped at Peterson's and bought tomatoes and peaches. Then I parked behind the Subaru dealer, where the Riverwalk begins, and rode into the city, stopping briefly at McCrea Park. I rode the path along the Chadakoin River and eventually ended up at Labyrinth Press Coffee, where I sat outside in their covered seating along the walk with a coffee. 

Bridge Over Chadakoin River

Boat Launch

A Shady Spot Along Chadakoin Where The Homeless Hang Out

I then rode back to my car, stopped at Arby's for a couple of Greek gyros for our lunch, and was home by 12:30. Evie and I sat on the front porch and ate our gyros. After lunch, Evie went out on the dock to get some sun, and I read and took a brief nap. Afterward, I joined Evie briefly on the dock, then came in and did some more raking of stones in our side yard — still a mess.

We both showered, and by 5:30 we were on our way to the Rod and Gun Club in Lakewood for a fish fry. The parking lot was packed, but I squeezed into a spot. I'd dropped Evie off, so when I went in she was already seated at the bar and had saved me a seat. We had a beer and struck up a fun conversation with a couple who have a cottage on Loomis Bay but live in Buffalo. We had about a half-hour wait for our table, which was fine, since the dining room and bar were crowded — the club must serve a couple hundred dinners on a Friday night. I ordered the haddock fish fry and Evie the walleye, served with baked potatoes, rolls, and coleslaw. The place is so efficient that we had our dinners in ten minutes, finished in fifteen, and paid and were out of there by 7:30, home by 7:45 — in time to watch another episode of ER. Once Evie went to bed, I watched a Reacher episode, then the tennis match, won by Ben Shelton in four sets over Francis Tiafoe, both Americans. Shelton will face #1 seed A. Zverev in the final on Sunday morning. I went to bed around 10:30, read a bit, then slept.

A Quotation From A Video from the recent Republican Convention: 

"And on June 14, 1946, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, ' I need a caretaker, so God gave us Trump."

9/11/26

6:43

8:17

It's a spectacular 9/11 morning here on the lake. I was up at 6:30 and out on the lake by 7:00 to watch the sunrise on a quiet, windless morning. The fact that it's 9/11 brings back the memory of teaching a class when I noticed a colleague setting up a TV in the hall. I went out to see why, just as the second Twin Tower was coming down. I continued teaching briefly after letting the class know what had just happened, and as a school, we weren't sure what to do, so we carried on, like most, not sure what this attack meant. Later in the day, we met as a school to clarify what had happened and reassure the students that they were safe. Evie was in Colorado, helping Jill with her newborn, and was unable to fly home because flights were cancelled for close to a week. Later, we found out one of our former students died in the attack.

7:02

Kayak Morning

Sun Rising at 7:04

Sun Hidden Behind Long Point

Into The Rising Sun

Great Blue At Long Point

Cormorant Off Of Tip Of Long Point

Bald Eagle

Osprey

Heron On Boat Cover

Thursday was an interesting day. I knew I had breakfast at 8:00, so if I wanted to get in a paddle beforehand, I had to be up by 6:15 and out kayaking by 6:45 to get in a forty-five-minute paddle. So that's what I did, and I was early for breakfast at 7:55. Lake Life Cafe is back to normal — we were one of only two tables with patrons, unlike a few weeks ago, when we had to leave early because it was so loud. I was home by 9:10, and Evie was up, enjoying the morning. I sat down, made another cup of coffee, and wrote the blog while Evie picked out photos to include. Once she had them chosen, I took them and arranged them on the blog — and that's where trouble started. I couldn't download the photos to the blog, and for the next hour or more, I tried to figure out what was going wrong, asking ChatGPT and various sources on the internet for help. I thought it might be malware or something like that, and since I kept being prompted every time I opened my computer to buy Total AV — which supposedly cleans up your computer — I bought it for $29, saving $69, supposedly. I let it do its work, which didn't seem to help. I turned my computer off and on, which also didn't help. Evie suggested I close Photos and reopen it, and voilà — I was able to download them. So I finally got the photos added to the blog at 11:30. What a way to spend a morning.

Zinnias

By 12:30, I was enjoying lunch and watching my Harlan Coben series, happy to have figured out the photo issue. I then went upstairs, read, and napped briefly, then talked with the guys putting in sewers about our yard. Because of heavy rains, a couple of sinkholes had appeared, along with some low spots that could use more dirt. They said that once they were done, they'd stop by with a truckload of dirt. So around 5:00, they worked on both of our yards for a half hour, filling the sinkholes and low spots so we can start thinking about the first step of putting in a new lawn: rototilling it.

Evie and I enjoyed a glass or two of wine before dinner. It was another quiet evening on the lake — not a boat in sight as the day waned. We both wondered where the fishermen and boaters were, usually so plentiful on the lake this time of year. High gas prices? Anyway, we had dinner around 6:45, a pasta dish Evie put together. We watched a couple of shows until Evie went up to bed, and I watched the first half of the Rams/49ers game, then the women's tennis semifinals. I was impressed by 27-year-old Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who defeated Coco Gauff in three sets. I watched the first two sets, then went to bed.

It's great to start the morning off with a hearty laugh: