Partly Cloudy and Evie Returns to the Lake

6:45

The Swamp

Up at 6:40, to a wet yard, as it rained last night, hard enough that I got up to make sure my kayak, which I had not secured strongly, was doing all right.  No problem, and the rain lasted less than a half hour if that long.  It's 56 degrees, much warmer than yesterday morning, some clouds off over Long Point as the sun attempts to squeeze in between them.  It sounds like a nice day though there is a threat of thunderstorms, later in the day.  I pick up Evie at 5:35 today in Buffalo.  I am hoping to go early, and explore the bike paths and areas around Niagara Falls before heading over to the airport, weather permitting.

Yesterday was a full day, as I went for a long kayak, around 8:00,  tugged by the sounds of U2's A Street With No Name, to the Italian Fisherman's floating dock, to find out it was Praise on the Lake Sunday.  I hung around the dock for about a half hour, as mega boats slowly pulled in off the floating dock and moored their boats to each other or alone.  The first half hour of the Praise was a youthful looking rock band, playing Christian rock music, then commenting on the lyrics, how Jesus will save your life, things like that.  No evidence of a minister at first but then I realized he was in the background, with a headphone on.  People seemed to enjoy the music, often clapping and moving to the rhythms, like they were at a concert.  I assume this is part of the lure, the music is much more moving to a young audience, let's say people my age and younger who were brought up on rock and roll.  The hillside was filled with parishioners, I assume from various domination and it was a great morning to be on the lake.  There were four or five other kayakers, either like myself, curious, or part of the church crowd. After four tunes, the minister began his sermon and I headed home.   It took me 35 minutes to paddle straight across the lake to the Fisherman, shorter than I thought.

When I got home, I had breakfast then drove off to Celeron with my bike, taking a bike ride along that end of the lake, past The Swamp, with its new front door, to Jamestown, to the park along the Chadakoin River in the downtown. I stopped at the Harbor Grill, the old Mariner's Pier Restaurant, to check out the menu and hours.  It's open seven days a week, for lunch and dinner, breakfast on the weekend.  The menu was pricey with most luncheon sandwiches 10 dollars, dinners in the 20's, not a cheap night out like the Seezuhr House.    Ron Mc Clure called me, as I was riding, to see if I wanted to go to the Stockton Tractor Show, so I cut my ride short, went to Wegman's, then home, and then to their house, where we drove to Stockton, about five miles outside of Mayville.

Handicapped Vet on his Bicycle Saw

Old Time Saw milling

Steam Driven Tractor

Separating the Wheat from the Chaff, Mechanically

Tractor Row

Ron Mc Clure with a 1948 Ford Tractor, the kind his family owns

Riding a Vintage lawnmower

The Stockton Antique Equipment Show was a fun way to spend an hour or two, an area crowded with people, mostly farm types, and lots of old tractors, from the 1920's upward, most in great condition.  The show featured the Leader Tractors, which were made in Chagrin Falls, Ohio (actually Auburn), a name I had never heard of.  There were tractor pulls, wheat threshing, saw milling, and weaving demonstrations, giving you some idea of how things were done in the past.  We missed the Parade of Tractors, which took place on Saturday.  Fortunately, I was with a tractor fanatic, Ron Mc Clure, who was able to inform me about all the kinds of tractors we were looking at, giving me some idea of how they advanced mechanically over the years, the most important being a mechanical lift, found only on Ford tractors until the 1960's because of a patent.  His family had a 1948 Ford tractor, still running, which he uses to pull a bush hog on his family's farm.  There were lots of people there, all ages, lots of food stands, a flea market atmosphere in some ways, lots of farm equipment from the early part of the 20th century, and it gave you a good sense of how difficult life most have been for a farmer before the invention of these machines.

I went home, relaxed on the dock, finished my book, The Glass Palace, then made a delicious clam linguine dinner, a recipe from my Mom.  I watched some of the NFL game, then went to bed around 10:00.