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| Woodlawn |
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| Birds Rising at Wells Bay This Morning at 8:15 |
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| 8:15 |
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| Woodlawn from my Kayak |
A restless night but did not get up till 7:00. It's 30ยบ outside but getting colder during the day, with snow predicted, about an inch. When I got the paper, a light dusting covered the lawn and drive way though it did not feel that cold. Right now it's lightening up so I can see the gray clouds, threatening at the moment, the lake still open, with a slight wind.
Yesterday began with one of my better yoga classes, with Elise. For some reason, the three of us really enjoyed class, more vigorous, lots of different and new poses, ending with a relaxation where we laid on our backs with our feet up against the wall. We worked on all parts of the body, too, which I liked and there was little talk. My kind of day at yoga. Stopped by Ryder's Cup for a coffee and came home to a placid, inviting lake. So, I put on my boots, life jacket and got out my paddle which I had put away for the winter, slid my kayak out of the boat life, plopped it in the water, jumped in and paddled away. It always feels invigorating, even exciting to be out on the lake after a long absence, especially in the winter when you know you are not supposed to be kayaking, ice fishing perhaps, but not kayaking. I was out for about forty five minutes, stopped around the reeds in front of Giarizzo's by ice, like a pane of glass. I was a ice breaker for about fifty yards but turned around, afraid I might get stuck and have to get out of my boat to break the ice. I then paddled back past the campground, to the beginning of Whitney Bay and headed home, refreshed and happy to have been out on the water. Right now the lake does not look at all inviting, with the dark clouds so that may have been my last paddle on the lake till spring.
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| Kayak Afternoon |
For lunch I had left over pizza and Indian cauliflower soup (yum), watched Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, took a nap and began reading another Robert Crais novel, with Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, the two private investigators. Fluff but fun. Around 4:30, I drove to Mayville to walk the Rails to Trails Portage Pathway. I was surprised that a good part of the pathway was still ice covered, probably from the snow mobiles packing the snow. I was able to navigate it pretty well although it was also wet and muddy in some areas, a good place to test if my Gore Tex hiking boots are waterproof. They are. I walked out as far as the wetlands, then walked back on a path which cuts up through the woods, most likely on private land but it's there and nicely wooded. I did have to then walk through the back yard of two homes to get back on the trail but there were no dogs and I was able to slink by unnoticed. It was almost dark when I got back to my car, a good walk.
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| Portage Trail |
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| Woods At Dusk Along Portage Trail in Mayville |
Dinner was the left over chicken cacciatore, with good bread, a glass of wine and I watched a movie, Beasts of the Southern Wild, nominated for an Academy Awards. It's set during Katrina, among the poverty stricken families that live in the wetlands of Louisiana named The Bathtub by its inhabitants.. The narrator and star of the movie is a six year old named Hush Puppy. We follow her struggles and adventures as the floods come, rendering her, her father, and other friends homeless. Independent and stubborn by nature, they refuse to be saved by the authorities, preferring instead to stay in the Delta, some how surviving by what Ralph Ellison called 'shit, grit and mother wit.' Eventually, they are 'rescued' by the authorities, settled in a compound of some sort but break out in mass, to return to their home, the Bathtub, to watch Hush Puppies Daddy die in his home. I cannot say I loved the movie though I wanted to. I never really bought in to the story, cared much about the characters, unfortunately, and I tend to not like magic realism. Hush Puppy was the center, in fact, she's up for an Academy Award but I found her voice over tiresome and too mature for a six year old. Still, it's an amazing film, with most of the cast ordinary people and some of the scenes of the Delta, the poverty, and flooding are moving.
More of the same today, yoga at 10:00, perhaps a walk, then dinner at the Seezurh House with the Mc Clures.
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