Ramiro Albarran: June 17, 1966 - May 4th, 2026

 

Ramiro And Tin Tin: 4/13/26

Monday brought heartbreaking news for our family. Our son-in-law, Ramiro Albarran, passed away peacefully in Dallas, surrounded by those he loved most, after an extraordinary five-year fight against cancer — one he faced with unwavering hope and remarkable courage until the very end.

Ramiro lived for his family. His devotion to his wife Beth and their children — Tyler, Mitchell, and Marisa — was at the center of everything he did. He will leave an immeasurable void in all of our hearts.

Evie and I were deeply grateful to spend two and a half weeks with him this past April. Even then, through the pain and the weight of years of treatment, he continued to work and stay active right up until the day he was hospitalized. That was simply who he was — determined, dignified, and inspiring to everyone around him. A truly amazing man.

He will be profoundly missed.

A Bit Warmer This Morning

8:50

It's 9:10, and we're both up, enjoying a sunny morning. I was out the door by 7:30 for a fifty-minute paddle down to Wells Bay and back — easy going, light winds. I spotted my first heron of the season on the shoreline, but he lifted off before I could get the camera on him. What struck me as odd was paddling to the soundtrack of a lawn mower and a weed whacker. Summer is coming, albeit slowly.

Kayak Morning

North

Sunshine And Clouds

Sunday turned out to be a pleasant day all around. When I got back from the paddle, Evie and I had a leisurely morning, half-listening to various pundits trying to make sense of Trump and his loyalists. By 10:30, I was ready to move again, so I headed over to walk the Chautauqua Institution — my usual Sunday jaunt. Forty-five minutes, and like everywhere else right now, the ground is beginning to turn green, with a touch of color from the Redbud trees — what we always called Judas Trees back in Istanbul.

Thunder Bridge

When I returned, Evie was deep in a long call with our daughter Jill. By 1:30, I was enjoying an omelet — feta and tomatoes — and my series. I read for a bit afterward, though I'm growing restless with the book. A nap followed, and I woke to the sound of the lawn mower; Evie had gone out and started in on the grass. She'd had enough after a while, so I took over and finished it up — burning through both batteries, which concerned me. Last week I cut the entire yard on one.

Happy hour at 5:00, watching the lake. A pair of Canadian geese paddled by, trailed by six or seven babies. Dinner was a salmon salad, one of my favorite ways to eat salmon. We watched the final episode of Doc, then drifted into some HGTV before Evie headed up to bed. I stayed up for the Cavs, who pulled out a game-seven win over the Toronto Raptors, then closed the night with another episode of An Unsuitable Job for a Woman.

I couldn't stop laughing at the creativity of the following meme. Make sure to pay attention to all the details.

A Striking Morning: Blue Skies And Sunny

Our Great Grandson Rhys

9:15

It's 9:10, and we're both up, listening to CNN and enjoying a sunny morning here on the lake — light winds, calm water. I was up by 7:15, on the lake by 7:30, and paddled down to the Power Boat Club and back. A great morning for kayaking — easy paddling, though not much wildlife. I've yet to photograph any blue herons or ospreys; just mallards, buffleheads, and mergansers so far.

Kayak Morning

A Bevy Of Buffleheads

Saturday was pretty typical. The one major chore was my trip to the Transfer Station — couldn't wait! I slept in, still managed to get a paddle in, though the wind had picked up enough that I cut it short. Afterward, we settled onto the couch with coffee and caught a couple of the morning news shows on CNN. Around 10:30, Evie finally gave me a much-needed haircut, and after a shower, I felt like a young man. Evie then got busy in the kitchen while I got ready to haul the trash. When I arrived at the Transfer Station, I was the only car — by the time I left, it was packed. Perfect timing. I wasn't feeling like a hike for some reason, so I helped out around the house while Evie tackled a mountain of laundry.

Fishing On Long Point's Dock

Lunch was easy — the last of the pasta with meatballs and mushrooms — and I watched my show, then read and napped as usual, heading downstairs around 2:30. By that point, I was ready to get outside, so I walked the Victoria waterfront and back, about 25 minutes, then fussed with a tarp covering some chairs on the side of the house. I read until 5:00, when we had wine time with cheese and crackers. We listened to the news until 6:30, then had an easy dinner. We'd planned on salmon, but neither of us felt like it, so we had egg salad sandwiches on toast — my suggestion. Yum. We watched some shows until Evie was ready for bed. I stayed up for the rest of the Celtics/76ers game, then an episode of my series, before finally heading up.

More Of The Same: Overcast And Drizzle

Summer, 2016

8:00

It's 9:10, and we're both up, watching the sky and lake change,  enjoying our coffee, and wondering what the day will bring. A trip to the Transfer Station, for sure. I didn't wake until 7:45 — a small miracle — and didn't get out on the lake until 8:00. I kayaked north, into the wind and waves, and was out for only 35 minutes. The wind picked up as I paddled, so I turned around before getting very far.

Kayak Morning

Waves And Wind

Woodlawn

Yesterday began with a great paddle down to Sandy Bottom and back. Evie was up when I returned, and we listened to Michael for most of the morning while getting a few things done. I cleared up some matters I'd been putting off, things that had been preying on my mind. Once I'd settled them — more or less — I felt free and ready to move. It was raining and overcast, though, so I spent most of the day inside, reading or on my computer, idling away time on Reels and the like.

5:15

Evie offered to make me lunch, but we had leftover pasta, so I heated that up and watched my show, finishing the first season of An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. It's a bit dated, but I enjoyed it. I took a good nap and read through much of the afternoon, but by 3:30 I was going stir-crazy, so I walked the loop in the rain and collected the mail. Not much of a workout, but it felt good to get outside. We had our wine at 5:00 when the sky began to lighten, and by 6:30 we were hungry, so we both worked in the kitchen and put together a stir-fry of eggplant with hot bean sauce and other condiments, served over rice. It was delicious — we both wished we'd made more, since we each went back for seconds. We watched a couple of episodes of Doc before Evie headed up to bed, and I caught the last quarters of two NBA games, both wins — Detroit and Toronto.

Overcast And A Light Rain

6:41

8:02

First Loon Of Spring

It's 8:30, and Evie just came downstairs and is making coffee.  I've been up for a couple of hours and paddled for fifty minutes before a light drizzle sent me home. It was a lovely morning when I set out — a band of golden light stretched just above the horizon — but the clouds gradually rolled in, and the drizzle followed. The paddle, however, was exciting because I was able to take a couple of great photos of a loon. He was about 20 feet away, screeching, then diving for five seconds, then surfacing, and screeching again. 

Kayak Morning

Mergansers

North

Woodlawn

Loon

Loon

Yesterday was a productive day, despite rain throughout much of the morning, which kept me off the water. Since it was Thursday, I didn't mind skipping the kayak, as I had breakfast in Bemus with friends at eight o'clock. It was good to see them again after a month away. When I got back, Evie and I enjoyed a leisurely morning coffee, listening to Michael Smerconish and putting the finishing touches on the blog.

I needed to get to the bank, so Evie put together a short list, and I was out the door by 10:30 — stopping first for a coffee at Ryder's Cup, then on to the bank. Since I was already in Lakewood, I made a quick run through both Wegmans and Aldi's, picking up a few treats: sushi from Wegmans for an appetizer and a pasta sauce from Aldi's, which came highly recommended.

I didn't make it home until after noon. Lunch was light — leftover chicken noodle soup, stretched a bit further with some added broth and rice. I watched my show, charged the Kia, then settled in with a book and a nap. I've started Peace Like a River, one of the many recommendations that finds me through TikTok, and it's already pulling me in.

The rain had stopped by late morning, and by 3:30, the sun came out, blue skies and puffy clouds dominated, and the lawn looked dry enough to mow. I pulled out the mower, loaded two batteries, and got to it — forty minutes and a couple of short breaks later, the yard was done. It felt good to accomplish something outside.

5:50

Around five o'clock, we settled into the living room, put on Jake, and enjoyed our sushi and wine. Before happy hour, Evie had prepped dinner: meatballs grilled in the air fryer, mushrooms sautéed to a golden brown, and Aldi's tomato sauce folded into both. By 6:30, the pasta was boiling, and we soon sat down to plates of spaghetti topped with meatballs, mushrooms, and sauce. Neither of us thought Aldi's sauce was anything remarkable. Evie turned in after a couple of episodes, and I closed out the night the usual way — a little basketball, then the final stretch of my series on Prime.