Another Sunday...What To Do? (Hikng Goose Creek)

8:20

Up later than usual at 7:30 to a cloudy sky, a dusting of snow, and 27 degrees, colder than the past few days.  The sun is struggling to get out and earlier, I missed a pink smudge just above the horizon with my camera.  A nice leisurely morning, with Sunday Edition on NPR, some good coffee, pea berry from San Salvadore, my favorite from Fairway, and nothing that has to be done.

We are trying to figure out if we can cross country ski, if there's enough snow on the lake or the trails are frozen enough to make it fun.  Also, the Viking Club is having their 'world famous herring breakfast', so we thought we would go participate since we haven't been to the club in awhile.

Hiking in Goose Creek Preserve

Yesterday, after hiking through the campground in the morning, we met up with a  group from the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy at the Goose Creek Preserve and hiked with about twelve people for an hour, along Goose Creek, in the wet lands.  It was cold, windy, and mucky so we were smart enough to wear good, water proof boots.  It was nice to meet some new people, Tom and Pat Hubbell, two family physicians from Delaware, OH, who have house in Dewittville, Mike Lyons, who lives in Bemus, and is President of the Watershed, Becky Nystrom, a naturalist at JCC, a couple from Westfield, Bill and Bev, from Mayville, and of course, John Jablonski, head of the group.  It was not much of a day to hike but it was fun being out in the wild with other people who love the outdoors like us.  Nobody complained.  Afterwards, eight of us went back to the Southern Tier Brewery and we stayed for about an hour, sitting on their outdoor patio with space heaters.  It was an interesting group and it was fun to get to know some new people.  We talked with Mike Lyons, a neat guy and the couple from Delaware the most.  We thought we would have the pub to ourselves on a Saturday afternoon at 3:00 but it was so packed that we had to go to the outdoor patio, enclosed with canvas but still chilly.  A great afternoon.

Goose Creek

Enjoying a beer at Southern Tier Brewery

Hiking in campground

We had Indian chicken thighs for dinner and watched the Academy Award nominated movie, the IDES OF MARCH.  The film started out a bit like the West Wing, as George Clooney plays Mike Morris, a candidate running for the Democratic nomination in Ohio.  He mouths all of the left wing platitudes that I like, saving the environment, avoiding wars, judging your success on how well you treat the underclass.  As I was watching it, I wondered why I had not heard Fox News trash it.  Then, I found out why.  The dirty side of politics reared its head and this time it was the democrats.  Clooney, like most politicians, though well meaning, is flawed.  Ryan Gosling, who plays his press aid, at first naive, discovers an unpleasant truth about the candidate.  Unfortunately, he makes a mistake, is fired, and learns his first lesson about politics.  It's cut throat and dirty and 'most' candidates will do anything to win.  With this knowledge, he  plays the cards he's dealt,  gets the Chief of Staff fired and takes his place.  George Clooney gets the nomination by 'selling out',  promising Secretary of State to an Ohio senator he despises because he promises Clooney his delegates, thus the nomination.  The film ends with Gosling about to speak to the nation as the spokes person for Clooney.  We are left wondering what he will say!  A really good movie though it reinforces all that I hate about politics, that it's all political! Dah! Gosling, Clooney and Phillip Seymour Hoffman are real.