Kansas City Here We Come

Ohio Family

Trolling For Bass

Cleveland This Morning

7:03

It's a little different waking up to the vastness of Lake Erie, especially compared to Chautauqua Lake. It's 6:30 and I am the only one up and it's just starting to get light, a dark gray. I can see a few lights from bass fishermen, about a half mile offshore, up early to catch their quota. From what I understand, there is a week-long walleye tournament going on with a large, cash prize, bringing fishermen from all over the US. I just looked out the window and a boat just passed slowly by, about ten yards from the beach.

Yesterday began with a decent paddle, no eagles. Once I returned, we both got busy preparing for our trip to Kansas City, and then Dallas. We have done this several times before but it always takes us all morning and part of the afternoon to get packed, clean up the house, pack the car, and get off by 2:00, or the time of departure. 

We left at 2:00 and had rain most of the two-hour drive to Euclid, a good start to our road trip. Luckily, we were stopping for the night at my sister's before a seven-hour drive tomorrow to Effingham, IL, our second stop before Kansas City. We always enjoy spending the night with Linda and Rich, especially since they invite their kids to come for cocktail hour. So seven of us sat around, passing around photos of grand and great grandchildren, enjoying a libation and appetizers. It was a pleasant way to spend the late afternoon with family., catching up on everyone's lives.  It was a gray lake afternoon, with a crazy neighbor out on a sunfish until sunset and then the bass fishing boats arrived, lights on in the dark, about 25 yards offshore, hoping to win big money.

Sunfish In November

View From Backyard

Cleveland Skyline At 5:00 PM

Sunset

While we were enjoying ourselves, the pot roast was simmering in the oven along with potatoes and carrots, filling the kitchen with a delicious aroma. The gang left around 6:30 and the four of us were hungry so Rich pulled the pot roast out, and I brought it to the table. It was a perfect meal for a November afternoon, with hints of winter. The pot roast and gravy was fall-apart delicious as were the veggies. Along with Linda's salad, we were happy. For dessert, Linda made a cinnamon apple galette topped with ice cream. Yum. We then cleaned up the kitchen and watched the end of the Cavs game, a loss but exciting. We went up to bed earlier than usual, 9:30, and Linda and Rich stayed up watching some TV. What a good day once we arrived in Euclid. 

A Brief But Striking Sunrise

 

7:06

7:17

7:52

It's 7:40 as I start this and the sun has just disappeared behind a huge cloud bank and I doubt if I will see it soon. The lake is calm, the temperature a chilly 43º, a perfect morning for a paddle. It's just after 9:00 and I had a good paddle, for 40 minutes and, alas, no eagle sightings this morning

Kayak Morning

Northern Sky

Yesterday was a busy day as we continued to get things ready for our trip West. Our last big trip was a year ago so we have forgotten the routine. The day started at 7:00, with Evie up early because of her kindergarten class. She decided to attend on Monday, rather than Tuesday, so we have more time to organize and we will be leaving today around 2:00 for my sister's house in Euclid where we will spend the night. Evie was off at 9:30 and I left around 10:15 for my Melt yoga class. I am hoping this class helps my back but so far, it's not clear. After class, I dropped clothes off at Salvation Army, then stopped at both Aldis and Wegmans to pick up a few things we needed for our trip.

I was home by 12:30 and heated up the artichoke soup and made myself a cheese sandwich, soup and cheese sandwich, the classic lunch. I watched another episode of The Lincoln Lawyer, then read some of my book, before taking a nap. Evie didn't get home until 2:30 and was exhausted from her day. I don't blame her. Fortunately, most of her organizing is done so she could relax most of the afternoon. I went outside and raked and mulched the leaves that gather around the garage,  Then, I cleared the garage, putting my bike and  two lawn mowers in my neighbor's garage. They are kind enough to allow us to store a few things in their garage for the winter. Finally, I parked the Subaru in our garage and will leave it until December when we return. 

We were able to enjoy a glass of wine late afternoon, relax, and forget about politics. Dinner was easy because Evie picked up a pizza at Little Ceasar's in Lakewood, highly recommended by her hairdresser, Jaret. We binge-watched three episodes of House Of Cards. Now that Kevin Spacey is President, he continues to break tradition, laws, lie, and cheat, to get his way, a scary harbinger of a Trump four years. I ended the night with some football and basketball. 

A Final Response To Anonymous

 Hi Tom, thank you for the response. I have a few observations in reply:

1. Trump won with voters who had income of $30,000 to $100,000, and Harris did better with high income voters. Trump has many flaws, but many decided to vote for him anyway in the belief he will improve their lives economically. That’s not an irrational belief. The economy was better under Trump; inflation was low and real wages were rising. Biden-Harris, meanwhile, stoked inflation with unnecessary spending binges at a time when the economy was rebounding from the Covid lockdowns. Biden-Harris first told us this spending would not cause inflation, then told us it would be “transitory.” It was neither. Again, I cannot blame folks struggling to put food on the table and make ends meet for voting for Trump.

2. On the border, Biden-Harris presided over a massive increase in illegal crossings as compared to Trump. This posed difficulties for border communities, which bear the brunt of the resultant strain on public and social services. Many of these communities voted for Trump. They may have made a calculation that Trump, despite his obvious flaws, was the only candidate who would improve their lives by restoring order to the border. I can’t blame them. It’s easy to believe that Harris’s flaws are outweighed by Trump’s when it isn’t my community that is affected.

3. It’s interesting that you identify Trump discussing prosecuting political opponents as one reason to vote against him. While Trump has *talked* about this, Democrats have actually done it. While I realize it is satisfying to call Trump a “felon,” the only case resulting in a conviction was the Bragg prosecution in New York. And respectfully, any fair-minded person who takes a hard look at that case should be appalled by it. Not because Trump didn’t pay hush money to a porn star, and not because Trump isn’t a bad guy for cheating on his wife. He did, and he is. But that was at most a misdemeanor book-keeping falsification for which the statute of limitations had run. Bragg tried to turn it into a felony (with a longer SOL) by saying the alleged falsification was in furtherance of concealing another crime. The problem is, he never specified what that other “crime” was. He claimed that maybe the crime was that Trump conspired to steal the election in 2016 by not disclosing the hush money payment as a campaign expense. But the problem with that is at least two-fold: (i) The campaign disclosure was not due until after the election, so lying about it then would have no impact on the election; and (ii) Bragg, as a state prosecutor, had no jurisdiction to enforce federal campaign disclosure laws (and notably, the feds passed on prosecuting Trump for this). Furthermore, ask yourself: was hush money really a campaign expenditure? Can you imagine the outcry if Trump had used campaign funds to pay off his former lovers? Anyway, there are many, many reasons why the Bragg verdicts will be overturned on appeal. Suffice it to say here that Bragg, abetted by his Democratic cheerleaders, abused the most solemn power of the state to bring a meritless criminal prosecution against Trump. It was a case that would never have been brought against anyone else not named Trump. And indeed, this is why I personally voted for Trump: to register my disapproval with what I saw as a dangerous escalation by Democrats in response to Trump. Before the Bragg adventure (and other lawfare gambits by Democrats), I was headed towards a write-in vote for president.

In the end, the election was a binary choice between two flawed candidates, neither of which I would have selected to be a major party nominee. Most of us were given a choice between what we saw as two bad options and did our best to decide who was the “least worst”according to our circumstances and values.

My Response:

#1: Inflation was a problem worldwide and we came out of it better than any other major countries. I could blame it on Trumps record setting increase in national debt during his term. I think that Presidents are victims of the times; if Trump had won in 2020, there would have been inflation, probably just as bad.

#2: The democrats punted on the border; no excuse other than liberal humanitarian instincts. 

#3: Most of your complaints refer to the  Alvin Bragg’s indictment, admittedly the weakest of the cases. What about the other three cases. Did he break the law? Yes…were they worthy of a court case? Well, four grand juries were unanimous in indicting him. Certainly, January 6th was, probably voting tampering in Georgia, and his refusal to turn over documents from Mar Lago. All told, four criminal indictments.   I don’t think the courts were unfair and vindictive.

Here’s Trump speaking about those who disagree with him: ”It’s the enemy within.  All the scum that we have to deal with that hate our country. That’s a bigger enemy than China and Russia.” He adds, “We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they are the big… and it should be easily handled by, if necessary by National Guard, or if really necessary by the military because they can’t let that happen.” 

Here’s the scary part: House Republican: Troy Nehls on what Trump wants:  “Whatever that is, we need to embrace it. All of it. Every single word. If Donald Trump says jump three feet high and scratch your head, we all jump three feet high and scratch our heads. And that’s it.”

I will end with three names: Gaetz, Gabbard, Kennedy: Lord, help us.  On that happy note, wishing you and your family a peaceful and happy holiday season.

Another Bald Eagle Morning

Bald Eagles

8:56

It's 7:50 and we are both up reading, planning our day before we leave for our road trip. Evie has kindergarten this morning and I decided to go to yoga because we are fairly organized. It 9:00 and I was paddling for just a half hour but shot probably the same two bald eagles as yesterday, perched in a tree just above the reeds. They made my morning

Kayak Morning

North

Into The Southern Sun

Eagle Striking A Pose

Perched

Yesterday was a big day for our kids because they are Kansas City Chiefs fans and they were playing Buffalo, here in Buffalo. The day, however, started with a good paddle because the lake was calm and best of all, I shot two eagles. After breakfast, I decided to drive to Westfield to make sure all was well with my KIA and get cheap gas, forty cents less than here in Lakewood. When I returned home, Evie was busy deciding what to bring on our trip, always a trip. She took time out to help put up the winter on our back porch, a sure sign that winter is coming. I decided to give our lawn a final mowing and mulching and I did half of it before relaxing, then having lunch, bagels with eggs, tomato and avocado, and watching some of the Ravens/Steelers game, Sundays during most of the fall are football watching days.

Trumpeter Swans

Swans

After my lunch, I had enough football, read, and napped for a bit, before going back outside and mowing the rest of the yard, mulching the last of the fallen leaves. I was done by 4:00 when the big game started and we watched it to the exciting finish for Bills, not Chiefs fans. So all is well in western New York, the Bills won. For dinner, we had a couple of huge pork chops leftover from Saturday nights dinner so Evie heated them up, made a salad and we had more than enough to eat. In fact, neither of us could finish the pork chops. We ended up watching a couple more episodes of House Of Cards, then some of the Cavs game before going up to bed. 

A Bald Eagle Morning

Bald Eagle

9:23

It's overcast although the sun has brightened the gray some. I paddled for forty minutes, the lake a smooth blanket of grayness. Best of all, I spotted and took photos of two bald eagles, hanging out in a tall pine tree. 

Kayak Morning

Paddling North

Bald Eagle # 2

Yesterday was busy and ended up being a good day. It started with a short paddle because of the winds, then a morning of getting a few things done, especially Evie, prepping for dinner. I drove off to the Transfer Station around noon and was surprised at how busy it was. I then heated up the previous night's pasta with sausage for lunch, watched my show, some football, then read and napped until 2:00.

For the next hour or two, we both worked on cleaning the downstairs well, Evie dusting and me vacuuming. It always takes someone coming over for dinner for us to get the mojo needed to do it. We always remark afterward, wondering why we don't do it more often although I didn't see anything wrong with the downstairs when we started but then, I am a guy. We finished prepping, then I cleaned the back porch and Evie got various dishes ready. Around 4:00, Evie gave me a haircut and I showered, followed by her, and by 6:00, we were tired but ready.

Saturday Dinner

Linda and Ron arrived, and we perked up, ready for a fun evening. We sat in the living room, enjoying a libation, cheese and crackers, and a delicious artichoke lemon soup. By 7:00, we pulled the rack of pork out of the oven and I cut a pork chop off the rack for each of us. We had Caesar salad, hasselback squash, and rolls along with the pork. All four of us loved our pork chops, the salad and altogether it was one of the best dinners we have had, thanks to Evie. They left around 9:30 and as usual, Evie put away the leftovers, went to bed, and I cleaned up the kitchen. It was a good day.

Another Gray Saturday Morning

7:28

It's 8:22 and I am pondering whether to attempt a paddle. It's windy but maybe I can enjoy it. Evie beat me up this morning, getting up just before me at 7:30. It's 9:40 and I paddled for just twenty minutes, the lake choppy and windy as I thought. At least I got out there. 

Kayak Morning

Yesterday began with a paddle, as usual, on a calm lake. We had no big plans for the day, just get a few things done, think about our trip next week, and plan or prep for a couple of meals. Around 10:00, I came up with a few errands so off I went, first for a coffee, then to the bank, and finally at Runnings and picked up a flannel shirt and pajama bottoms for twenty bucks, a deal, right. On the way home, I stopped at Petersons Farm but nothing interested me. When I got home, Evie was busy of course so I heated up my lunch in the microwave, the leftover lemon chicken and rice. What would we do without leftovers? 

I am having trouble trying to find a book to read and started both Creation Lake and an oldie, The Man From St. Petersburg by Ken Follett. Neither has grabbed me yet. So I tried to nap to no avail, read some then decided to go outside and do some yard work and finish up most of my prep for the winter, clearing out the garage so I can park the Outback in it during the cold months. 

Around 5:00, we had our usual glass or two of wine, with guacamole and chips as an appetizer. Dinner was pasta with Italian sausage and a salad, and we watched The Great British Baking Show and House of Cards before some basketball. Our TV routine has not changed much in the past week or two. We were both happy to go up to bed, tired from our lazy day. 

A Damp Overcast Morning

7:40

9:23

It's 8:15 and we are both up. listening for the second time to our great-grandson happily squealing on a video sent to us by our son Tommy.  It's a happy way to start an otherwise depressing morning. It's 43º with a light wind so I will be out on the water in a few minutes. It's after 10:00 as I finish this after a 35 minute paddle. 

Kayak Morning

Swans A Swimming On Bootey Bay

Yesterday was good because I finally picked up my Kia from the Collison Center after five weeks of waiting for it. I skipped paddling yesterday because of the wind and had a relaxing morning until 9:30 when I left for a Yin Yoga class. Just as I entered the studio, I received a call that all the paperwork was done and I could stop by and pick up my car. Hallelujah. Class was packed and as usual, I was the only male there. I left at 11:30, feeling more together and came straight home to a lunch of leftover chicken curry and rice and I watched my show, The Lincoln Lawyer. As the credits went by, I realized that a former Reserve student of mine, Ted Humprey, was one of the producer and writers of the series. I relaxed until 1:15 when I drove over to pick up my Kia. I wrote a check, filled out a couple of forms, signed my name, and off I went to the KIA dealer to get an oil change, tire rotation, and an all-point inspection, making sure my car is ready for our road trip West next week. 

I was home around 2:30, just before Evie arrived back at kindergarten and a stop at Wegmans. She was tired from her day and couldn't wait to relax. I helped putting away the groceries and then returned to my book, Munich. Around 5:00, we relaxed with a class of wine and Evie regaled me with stories of the kids from her class. They sound like a great bunch. Dinner was BLTs for me, a salad for Evie and we watched our usual, three more episodes of House Of Cards. After Evie went to bed, I watched a half hour of the NFL before going up to read and finish Munich.