Chautauqua Gray, Drizzle and Warming

Mist and Drizzle at 7:15

Colors of Spring in Westfield Yard

Spring a Year Ago

Up later than usual, 7:15, to mist on the lake, some fog off over Bemus Bay and drizzle.  It's surprisingly warm for this early, 51 degrees, getting warmer each day this week, with Weather Underground predicting a high of 88 degrees on Thursday.  I don't believe it.  A strange morning for the birds; I have yet to see one at our two feeders when most mornings, they are there in force.  I wonder if a predator hovers in the trees because it's strangely quiet outside, no singing, nothing.  Right now, at 9:00, the fog is so heavy I can not see Long Point, just make out the Martin House.

Yesterday was an easy day, as I said, with yoga and work out for Evie at the Y, shopping at Weggies for an hour, then home to relax and read because the weather was wet and cloudy, not conducive to working in the yard.  About 3:00, because it was still raining, we decided to break our routine.  Evie made popcorn, packed it, put it in her purse with a coke, and off we went to the 4:00 showing of The Five Year Engagement, the latest comedy from Jason Siegal and Judd Apatow (Bridesmaids and Freaks and  Geeks), with Emily Blunt.  I usually find Apatow's films coarse, with high school humor but other than some vulgar language and boinking, this was a very funny and touching love story.  Both Siegel and Watson were perfect, a couple struggling to make their lives fit together with each others dreams.  He's an aspiring chef and she's a doctoral candidate in social psychology.  One must sacrifice their career for the other to succeed and it's Siegel who ends up going to Ann Arbor as Watson pursues her doctorate.  One is happy with the life choice; the other becomes a martyr and the troubles ensues, with lots of laughs, some tears, but overall, a fun film, one I would suggest to most viewers over sixteen, under seventy.  It was the perfect antidote for a rainy afternoon.   We had to ask the theater to turn on the sound; last time we had to ask them to start the movie; the time before I couldn't find anyone to help with the film.  A great theater.  We were a bit upset as well when another couple walked in, just before the film started.  We hoped to have the showing to ourselves.

Afterwards, we headed off to the Rod and Gun Club, though we knew the kitchen was closed on Mondays.  When we got there, four people sat at the bar that usually has 50 to 75 people crowding around it.  What a difference a Monday makes.  We ending up staying for about an hour, getting a free hot dog, and talking with a guy(he was the last one in the bar when we left) who runs a company called Chautauqua Landscape and Docks.  He was about our age.  His name was Ed, and he makes his living putting in and taking out docks, taking care of properties during the winter, and refereeing basketball games(eight five dollars a game) during the winter. He regaled us with his career as a referee, the idiot coaches he has had to deal with, the funny stories.  He also coached earlier in his career, even at JCC for ten years as the head girls coach.  We enjoyed talking with him and we also got to know, Bruce the bar tender better, which always helps.  Ed bought us a beer, the first ever at the Rod and Gun.  We are becoming regulars!

I was still hungry when we left so we stopped at the Ashville Country Store and I picked up a Cuban, which Evie and I shared when we got home.  We watched a bit of TV, with fresh strawberries for dessert, then we went up stairs to read.  We were asleep by 11:00.