Clear and Sunny Morning

7:02

Algae Bloom

Kayak Morning

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Dinner at David and Pat Jones' home, with Leonards 

Up at 6:00, again, to a seemingly overcast morning, though by 7:00, the sun was a orange ball in the eastern sky, continuing its journey south.  Today's highs appear to be in the 70's, a good day unless the thunderstorms they predict actually happen.  My two good friends,  Mike Cassell and Scott Shorten, who live in Hudson, are visiting today, staying the night, as they have done for the past three years.  When I lived in Hudson, we would meet every Wednesday evening for two beers, at a local restaurant or bar, solve the world's problems, talk about our kids, and berate Mike for his Republican attitude because Scott and I were liberals.  I miss those evenings though my Thursday morning breakfasts, which start up soon, somewhat take its place.

Yesterday I took an early morning kayak ride to Tom's Point and back, about an hour, as I skirted the shore on Wells Bay on my paddle back to Woodlawn.  A house is going up on the shoreline, at the north end of Bootey Bay, either on Mc Graw's property or contiguous to it.  I hope this is an omen that suggests a hotel is no longer viable.  We'll have to wait and see.  As for the paddle, the water was disgusting most of the way, almost paint green close to shore and green most of my paddle to Tom's Point and back, about as bad as I have seen the lake.  One would have thought with last night's rain, the algae bloom would have been dissipated but the lake looks worst than ever.  Later in the morning, Evie and I kayaked through the algae bloom, over to the Pavilion at Long Point, parked our kayaks and walked through the woods, a respite from the warm sun.  We didn't enjoy it much because of the heat and condition of the lake.

Mid afternoon Evie headed to Lakewood, to pick up some food at Wegman's, getting home just in time to go to our neighbor's David and Pat Jones, for dinner.  It was a pleasant night on the lake, as we sat outside on their patio, enjoying their singular view of the lake.  Unlike our house, their home is much closer to the lake, with no trees, so they have an unobstructed view of the lake, so different from our house.  This is something I always fine amazing, how different each Woodlawns home's view of the lake is, each in its own way unique and spectacular.  The Jones's have had their house enlarged this past winter, so it's really quite nice, a large open living room/kitchen with great views of the lake and the largest granite counter I have ever seen, over 1400 pounds.  It took seven people to carry it.  We had a great dinner, Pat's speciality, veal Parmesan, and we enjoyed the food and conversation, as we are getting to know each other better.  Both David and Pat are from Houston though they grew up in Warren, PA, so we spent a lot of time talking about the Warren they grew up in, how its changed, like many of the prosperous towns in New York and PA during the 50's and 60's.  We got home around 10:00, watched a little football, then stayed up to watch Clinton's amazing speech.  He's so good at explaining things, in simple clear terms, the master politician.  He attempted to dispel many of the falsehoods or myths perpetrated by the Republicans, but he was speaking to the choir, probably changed few minds.  Too bad.  The NYTimes said it best: "It was like watching a great violinist follow amateurs."