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:

Breakfast In Erie, Yesterday Breakfast In Bemus This Morning

Stormy Wednesday Afternoon

6:14

9:15

It's 9:15, and I just returned from Bemus Point, where I had breakfast with my friends on a fine sunny and occasionally cloudy morning. It's always a good way to start the day, along with an early paddle. I was out before 7:00 for forty minutes, as the clouds slowly disappeared and the sun came out. For some reason, I have been unable to download photos this morning.  Update: I  finally was able to download the photos at 11:30!

Kayak Morning

Wrinkled Lake

Northern Sky Over Woodlawn

North

East

Great Blue

Osprey

Osprey

Wading Along Woodlawn

Yesterday began with a good paddle too. How lucky I am to be able to get out there each morning so easily — just push my kayak into the water off my wooden launch and go. I was home and had a good hour before my buddy Stan picked me up at 9:00, because we were meeting two friends from high school in Erie for lunch. We try to meet twice a year, sometimes in Erie, sometimes here at the lake. We ate at Park And Eat with the other retirees like us. John and Gacy played college ball at John Carroll, and both were successful coaches in the Cleveland area. We played together after college for a couple of years, so we have a lot in common. Stan grew up in their neighborhood, so he's known them longer than I have. We had fun reminiscing after talking about all our ailments. Both are retired with grandchildren and, like Stan and me, are in their 80s. We vowed to meet again in spring, and I was home by noon.

Johnny, Gacy, Stan, And Me

Eating breakfast at 10:30 screwed up my routine, so when I got home I didn't want lunch, and it was too early to take a nap, so I was at sixes and sevens. I read for a while, then went out to the side yard and raked the dirt, piling up rocks to get rid of later. I then went up, read, and napped briefly. For some reason, I've been having a hard time napping recently. Around 3:45, we closed the curtain on our porch, and it poured on and off for the next couple of hours. When I checked just before dinner, we'd already gotten two inches.

We had our wine time, then an easy dinner: leftover chicken, potatoes, and corn. We watched TV until Evie went up to bed, and I watched the first half of the NFL game between New England and Seattle. It was a boring game, so I was happy to go up to bed and read, hoping to fall asleep.

Early Morning Drizzle

6:37

8:01

It's 6:30, and surprise, it's raining, but not for long. I should be out on the water by 7:00, when the rain is predicted to stop. It's now 8:10, and I did get out on the lake for close to an hour. It was still overcast, no rising sun this morning — just lots of gray and a few herons and ospreys.

Kayak Morning

Gray On Gray

Great Blue Heron

Osprey

Tuesday ended up being an exhausting day. I got up at 6:30 and was on the lake by 7:00 for close to an hour and a half. I hurriedly wrote the blog and added the photos because I had to be on my way to yoga by 9:10 for a 9:30 class. I was finished with yoga by 11:15  and stopped for coffee and talked with Dave for 15 minutes.

I was home by noon, and Evie had started mowing the yard but was taking a time-out. I had an easy lunch, heating up a chicken pot pie along with Evie's Asian cabbage dish. I'm watching a new series called The Stranger and have stuck with it so far.  I'm also into my new novel, His and Hers, which is now a Netflix series. I tried to nap, to no avail. Since we decided to plant the grass ourselves because the hydroseeding was ridiculously expensive, I talked with the sewer guys, and they're going to bring us six yards of topsoil this week, which we'll have to spread ourselves.

Zinnia

So I went to ChatGPT and explained we were going to reseed part of our lawn. They wanted a photo and dimensions, then gave us a plan, including how much soil, seed, and fertilizer to buy and how to get the yard ready. Cool. I spent a good hour or more gathering rocks and setting them along our fence. By 4:00, I was done, and Evie had had enough sun and mowing, so I finished up the yard just in time for wine time. It felt great to just relax on the porch with Evie as our chicken and potato dinner baked.

We ate around 6:30 and watched a couple of shows until 8:30, when Evie went up to bed. I watched some tennis — Jessica Pegula and E. Navarro — then went back to my Harlan Coben series, The Stranger, and I don't know why I'm sticking with it because it's so ridiculous at times. I was happy to go up, read and sleep.