Sunny Sunday Morning

6:10

Kevin and Connor Gail Hiking the Overland Trail

Barb and Jim Fox on their Great Porch

The Guys of Summer

Summer Girls

Evie and our neighbor, Bud Kinney

Again, I awakened to a bass boat; perhaps I was awake anyways but it's certainly the first sound of summer on weekends.  A few fishermen out but mostly I hear the chatter of birds as I sit enjoying my view of the lake.  It's 58 degrees, feels nice and cool as I write, listen to NPR and it's not yet 7:00, time for You Bet Your Garden with the know it all  Mike Mc Grath.  Listening to him is like watching Fox News; for reasons unknown, we are attracted to the obnoxious and awful just like the true and good .

Yesterday, we had a full morning, leisurely afternoon, and fun early evening.  As I mentioned yesterday, we picked up my nephew, Kevin Gale and his sixteen year old son, Connor at the southern end of the George Cusimano Overland Trail, then dropped them off at the north end near Mayville, for their two day hike, approximately twenty two miles.  We then drove to Westfield to join a Wildflower tour.

We got home around 1:00, just in time to head to the Transfer Station, my Saturday routine.  The rest of the afternoon we recovered from the past couple of busy days.  Evie spent most of the afternoon out on the dock, soaking up the sun and reading while I joined her off and on, though I preferred staying inside to read, as it was too hot out for me.  Late afternoon, Evie cut the lawn and I worked on filling some of the holes in the lawn made by the topping of our maple tree on Thursday.

About 5:30, we headed over to our neighbors, Jim and Barb Fox, for their annual Porch Party.  They have a great porch obviously, perfect for hosting a large group of people, with the overflow on the lawn.  It was fun to see some of the neighbors who we have not seen for nine months, as well as those who come up regularly, even during the winter, like the Kinney's and Bergens.  Everyone brought an appetizer, so there was lots to munch on, lots of beer or wine as well.  We ended up talking with various couples, some who we had met before, others who were new to us.  A number of them read my blog, to my surprise, and enjoy it mostly to see what is going on weather wise at the lake.

Jim and Barb are great hosts, fun to be with, and they clearly enjoy having a party.  It was a perfect night, too, not too hot like Friday, a nice breeze, and everyone seemed to enjoy the first gathering of the year on Lake Chautauqua.  We stayed till about 8:00, came home too full to want a full dinner, so we nibbled at some of the left overs from last night's party, watched some TV, a show recommended by friends called Lillehammer, which we did not like much though we may not have given it a chance to pull us in.

I am reading a book called The Newlyweds, about a Bangladesh's woman, who meets and marries an American engineer from Rochester, NY on the Internet.  So far, they seem to be happy but we all know this won't last long.  It's told from the point of view of Amina, the wife, with little insight into her husband yet.

It's supposed to rain today, something we really need, but it will be spotty so we will have to wait and see.  Off for a bike ride around Sea Lion Drive.