Home Again, Home Again

Fishing on a Melting Lake

7:30

Up at 6:45, total darkness because of the clock change.  As I write, it's 7:30 and a smudge of pink has appeared over the Bemus Bay shore line, as the sun continues its move northward.  It has been days if not weeks since I have seen a real sunrise (7:35), one where it was not hidden behind the clouds.  Now the pink has just disappeared, the clouds taken over.  It's an unseemly 48º, not the kind of weather we like, the high today of 60º.  Bring back the snow, the cold, the winter.

We left Athens yesterday around 9:30, a warm morning, a good day for the drive home.  The ride from Athens to Interstate 77 is often along the Ohio River, so it's interesting and scenic, though we also passed numerous huge power plants along the river.  I always wonder about the people who live in the small, isolated homes or trailers along the way, what there lives are like, how they make a living.  I cannot imagine living in this isolated area of Ohio though it can be beautiful and has some great parks and forests.  The only two prosperous areas seem to be the two college towns, Athens and Marietta.  Both have great old homes, a bustling downtown, near the schools, and are the two most populous towns.

The drive home, along Interstate 77 reminded both Evie and me of our drives to Florida during Spring Break.  The lack of any green, the brown of the leafless trees, the grass, the lack of color, except for the pines, has a strange though monotonous beauty.  It's makes you long for the smells and colors that begin in South Carolina, as you drive south, culminating in the richness of Florida and its warmth.  But this was not for us, as we were heading back to the lake.

We made our mandatory stop at Trader Joe's, picking up our favorites, a couple of cheeses, some ribs, and a case of Charles Shaw's best Shiraz.  The area around TJ's was hopping, spring like, as if everyone had to get out of their homes and enjoy the sun and warm air.  We dropped Vi off in Painesville around 2:30 and stopped, briefly, at Giant Eagle to pick up some Stadium Mustard, something we cannot find at Wegman's.  It's distinctive taste brings back my childhood, when I would go to the Cleveland Indians opening game with my grandfather and Uncle Reed.  They would take me out to lunch to a men's restaurant, The Tavern, and I would get frog legs for some reason.  Then, of course, around the 7th inning, I would have a dog with Stadium Mustard.  It's still my favorite mustard for a hot dog,  Great memories.

We got home around 4:00.  We saw little snow on our ride until New York State.  Chautauqua county still has snow covering, though parts of our yard are bare.  The lake has lost it's whiteness, as the snow has melted, pools of water cover the still thick ice, as we saw lots of fishermen on the lake, even snow mobiles were out.  Brave or stupid, not both.  In fact, there's already a guy out fishing off of Victoria as I write.

We had TJ's precooked ribs for dinner, one of our favorites, along with a salad and baked beans, an easy and good dinner.  We caught up on the news programs from Sunday morning though, as usual, the pundits and politicians seem to always say the same thing. Just once I would like to see a Republican like something that Obama has done, a Democrat criticize him.  Won't happen.  We watched The Good Wife and went to be.  I am reading a book recommended by my nephew Pat Holzheimer called Defending Jacob.  So far,  I am enjoying it, the story of a father who, at this point in the novel, begins to think his son may have murdered a fellow classmate.

Vi and Lloyd, Summer, 2011

We had a great weekend, our trip down and back to Athens, with our good friend Vi, meeting up with my teammates, and honoring Vi's husband, Lloyd, who had a locker named for him.  Lloyd Buck was a great guy and all of his Bobcat teammates miss him.  He loved coming out to the lake, as well, going to the Seezurh House.  He and I would sit outside Skillman and Wright, enjoying the weather, laughing, marveling at how much our wives love to shop look for a deal.  Good times.

Our Good Friend, Lloyd