More Clouds, More Rain, Life at the Lake

7:10

Kinney's Run

Woodlawn/Victoria Woods

Up at 7:10, to a wet yard, gray sky and lake, and a cozy 60 degrees.  I can hear birds chirping and at last, our martin house looks busy, with at least two or three families settled in their condos.  For some reason, our neighbors, the Johnson's martin house, is filled as I counted at least seven pairs.  Obviously, I have martin envy.  A did see a bass boat fly by a few minutes ago, so there have been a few boats on the lake each day though nothing like the summer.

Yesterday, we went into Lakewood, to the Yoga Studio and YMCA and worked our way around a detour just about where the YMCA sits.  The road and culvert is being worked on (flood control) and it's supposed to be closed for a couple of weeks.  Most people are directed to Hunt Road, then down the Mall Road as #394 is closed just beyond Shadyside Road.  I enjoyed my yoga and I am becoming more limber, more centered, more patient and focused on my poses.  If I ever buy a cute yoga outfit, however, the kind some of the ladies wear, it's time to hang it up.  Evie's workout, unfortunately, was long and boring because she forgot her ITOUCH. A work out without music is a boring affair.

Putting in the Docks at Power Boat Club

Because of the wet weather, we did little yesterday afternoon.  I did manage a walk through the Woodlawn/Victoria woods, about thirty minutes and it's fun to see everything beginning to turn green, especially the forest floor. What was once just brown leaves is now partially covered with various green plants, mostly weeds but also vast areas of forget me nots, small blue flowers.

Right now, I am reading Mankell's THE MAN FROM PEKING and I have mixed emotions.  The writer jumps from Sweden to the life of a Chinese peasant in the 1800's, living a desperate life in China before he is kidnapped, taken to the States, and impressed on a railroad crew for three years to pay off his passage.  The connection between the Chinese peasants, their ancestors, and a mass murder in a small Swedish town is at the center of this mystery.  A bit far fetched, but I like the Swedish characters enough to keep reading.

For dinner, we had one of our favorites, chicken picata, with brown rice and salad.  We watched another episode of Mad Men and I can't wait to see what the WSJ and NYT have to say about Sunday's episode.  Both papers have discussions of the episode in their papers each Monday morning.  This series is popular enough that both newspaper devote a column to it each week.  I have to say the reviewers see much more in the episodes then do Evie and I, so it's fun to see what we missed.  I do sense that Don, the center, is slowing becoming obsolete, as the 60's, the young and hip, are beginning to leave the captains of the 50's behind. He doesn' understand that the times have changed, symbolized by the music.  His wife goes off to an acting class (she wants to do her thing to his disbelief) and she leaves him with an album by a new group called The Beatles.  After she leaves, he listens to the first song, then turns it off.   Also, many of the new ideas come from the young Turks in his office, few from Don.  We will have to see how he handles this.  Can he change and grow or will he become stubborn, back ward looking, and obsolete.