(Hiking Nancy Diggs Trail) A Foggy Morning on the Lake

7:30 and Fog

Redpoll at Feeder Outside Evie's Kitchen Window

Hiking Nancy Diggs Rails to Trails

Up at 7:00, just in time to listen to Only A Game.  At the moment, Long Point is a faint outline through the heavy fog on the lake.  It's 37 degrees outside and the two inches of snow that was forecast for last night did not happen though it did rain.  It looks like a decent day, partly cloudy, highs in the forties, much like yesterday.  I am not sure how much it rained last night but I am sure we could use it as, in contrast to last year's deluge, it's been very dry.

Yesterday, I went to my last eclectic yoga class for awhile; it's been four ladies and me for the last couple of weeks, so I have gotten to know them a little which has been fun.  Two are single, rent apartments, and are struggling to make it on their own.  The other two are married, one's daughter is our teacher, the other grew up on Woodlawn, Doc Langdon's daughter.  Evie decided, since we were going to hike later in the day, to stay home, work in the yard, and cut the lawn for the first time this spring.  It looks great, green and healthy.

Trail Head on Rt. 430

For lunch, she made lentil/spinach soup (Turkish), and toasted cheese and capricola sandwiches, again one of my favorites, to rival the fried bologna from yesterday.  About 3:00, we headed off to walk the Nancy Diggs Trail.  It begins on the Mayville/Sherman road, just before Hannum Road, follows the old railroad tracks for a mile and a half and ends up on Hannah Road, about a half mile from the Gorge.  It was a partly cloudy day and though it seemed cold on the lake, we were dressed too warm for our hike, ending up shedding clothes along the way.  It was a good afternoon to hike, partly cloudy most of the way but by the time we got back to the car, the rain clouds were forming off to the northwest.  Because it's an old railroad track, it' quite flat and easy to hike.  It's amazing to think that someone built the mounds on which the tracks ran, at times 30 feet above the forest floor.  So much of the way, it's like walking on an elevated mound, surrounded on both sides by woods.  At the beginning of our walk, just off of Rt. 430, there was a sign explaining that for the next 250 yards, we would be walking through the remains of the tornado from the summer of 2010.  The path has been cleared but on both sides, the devastation is apparent, with piles of downed trees, on top of downed trees.  And, interestingly, there's a sign noting that off to the north sits the hill where the last person was hanged in Chautauqua County.  We are slowly getting to know many of the trails in the area, which has been fun.  It's always nice to walk somewhere new.

For dinner, we had salmon, spinach, and sweet potatoes and watched Bridesmaids for the second time, an often gross and vulgar movie but also extremely funny, even touching at times.

Tornado Devastated Landscape

I just got back from Saturday's Restorative Yoga, where we held three positions, each for 20 minutes.  I am beginning to really like this.  And Evie walked four miles at the gym, met me at Ryder's Cup Coffee, picked up a few things at the bookstore, then came home.  Right now, at my request, she's making salted double chocolate peanut butter cookies for this afternoon and another one of my favorites for dinner, Turkish Tas Kebab(beef stew with allspice, tomato paste, onion, and cinnamon) served over mashed potatoes.  Just the ticket for the NCAA b-ball games tonight.  I am a lucky man!