Docks In, Warming Up

6:00 AM

I am up early, 4:50, feeling pretty good actually though it's pitch black outside.  Evie has one of those 'fun tests' this morning, has to be at the doctor's office at 6:30, so I am 'up and at them,' as my Mom used to say.  Nothing like a cup of coffee at this hour, NPR, and my Mac to make me happy.  High of 73º today, 77º tomorrow.

Yesterday's major event, like most days, was Yin yoga at 9:30, with Danielle.  Always a well attended  class, she led us through some new poses she had learned at a weekend yoga seminar at the Pantera Yoga Studio in Westfield.  I had taken a two hour class there last January, but this one took place on both Saturday and Sunday, something I hope to do when it comes up again next fall.  We worked a lot on shoulder openings, though anytime I stretch my back in some way, it's uncomfortable though once I leave class, it's fine.  I think back pain is normal with some one as young as me.

I did stop at Wegman's for a coffee, Wegman's for a 'Danny's Sub,' my favorite, now $8.59 for a 14 inch sub sandwich.  Because Evie was fasting, she did not want me cooking, tempting her with food.  I finished OLEANDER GIRL, and started on a Harry Bosch novel, an easy read and I am already eighty pages into it.  Harry, as usual, is at odds with his new boss, officious and worried about perception.  What's new.  I did walk the Woodlawn/Victoria woods yesterday afternoon and for the first time, the wood's floor was beginning to turn green, with shoots of green, sprouting through the brown leaves, as well as lots of skunk cabbage, the first signs of spring around here.  They sure look green and healthy.

Wall of Yellow

Forsythia

A Greening of Kinney's Run

Skunk Cabbage

Around 5:30, Billy Deault and Chris Kent came over and put our dock, two weeks earlier than last year.  It took them quite awhile as they still do not seem to have an efficient method, as docks pieces float away, Billy stands around, and Chris does most of the hard work, like going completely under the 45º water to move a horse.  A tough kid.  It took them almost three hours by the time they were through tweaking things and they still have to put in the ladder and poles for my boat.  It's always an adventure with them, but they are good kids, actually men now, in their late twenties.

Billy of the Dock

Piece By Piece

Eye Balling in 45º Water

For dinner, I warmed up a burger leftover from last night, made some red beans and rice from a package (you can tell I miss Evie's cooking), and we watched another Mad Men, and some other shows I cannot remember.

At the moment, it 7:00 and I am in downtown Jamestown, after dropping Evie off, sitting at a booth in the only downtown breakfast spot Lisciandro's on Main Street, founded in 1954.  There are about ten people in here at this time, mostly regulars so it seems.  I remember eating lunch here for the  first time two years ago, having meatloaf and mashed potatoes, so filling I could hardly walk out...a good spot.  I'll sit here till about 8:15 when I can go back and pick Evie up from the doctors.

OLEANDER GIRL: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

This was recommended on the great book blog, Read All Day, so I picked it up off of the library's new book shelf, continuing my strange interest in novels set in India.  I liked it immediately, less so as it seemed to degrade in to a soap opera like novel, yet it's worth reading and everyone will like Korobi Roy, the granddaughter of the esteemed Roy family in Kolkata (Calcutta, the City of Dreadful Night).  Korobi is brought up by her grandparents, her mother having died in childbirth.  She has been sheltered most of her life, living with grandparents, protected from reality by a private school.  She begins a metamorphosis, however, when she discovers a love letter from her mother to her father, meets and becomes engaged to the ravish Rajat, son of a wealthy gallery owner in Kolkata and New York.  When her revered Grandfather dies, her Grandmother, freed from the shackles of her husband, blurts out that Korobi's father was an American and might still be alive, giving Korobi a mission, to find her father and herself before marrying Rejat.  This, of course, is met with displeasure by her soon to be in laws and her Grandmother but she is not deterred.  She makes contact with a Mr. Desai, in NYC, a private investigator, and flies to New York on her own, determined to find her father.  This quest, of course, does not go well, with numerous dead ends,  but in the end she finds out that her father is an African American and that he never married her mother, both taboos in traditional Bengal society.  Not only is Korobi shocked by this, but she knows how her family and her fiance's family might react to this kind of heritage.  She returns to Kolkata, frightened and uncertain, yet determined to be truthful, to her Grandmother and fiancee.  Their reactions is typical, to accuse her of trying to hide her heritage and she returns home determined to resume her life at the university.  But this is not a tragedy, more a comedy, as she reconciles with Rejat, her in laws, ends up marrying him in an understated ceremony and, we assume, they live happily ever after, as love wins out. As I mentioned earlier, I tired of the tribulations of Korobi, how the end, the finding of her father, was put off and contrasted with troubles in Rejat's family, as we were pulled back and forth between India and the States, with the young lovers miscommunicating, becoming friends with and tempted by the opposite sex, yet pulled towards each other.  Maybe I am just becoming curmudgeonly but I was bored towards the end, ready to start my next book, a Harry Bosch novel from Michael Connelly.

Monday Blahs, Overcast and Rain

6:50

A Plump Goldfinch

Woke around 6:45, no sun light, just gray, cloud and lake.  I have to a admit, however, it's pleasant to see the ripples on the water after months of looking out at the winter tundra, ice and snow.  It's 49º out but warming up during the day and week.  In the seventies by Wednesday, with little rain in sight over the next week.  We both think it's unusually dry here in Chautauqua, especially for spring time.

Purell House in CI

Yesterday started out wonderfully, sunny and crisp, but it soon clouded up, the wind picked up, and light rain came mid afternoon.  Evie did manage to get both Leonard's and our yards cut, even though there was a light rain.  Before cutting the lawn, we went to the Chautauqua Institution for a brisk walk, starting with jackets on, but taking them off as we warmed up.  Spring is slow every where as the only signs of burgeoning life were the daffodils and bright yellow clumps of forsythia, reminding me of Mediterranean broom, also yellow and growing on rocky hillsides. Even on Sunday in the CI, some of the newly constructed homes were being worked on, as the builders want things done by the opening of the CI, usually around June 20th.  The Purell House finally has some siding, a blue metal roof, but there's still lots of work to do and I don't imagine it will be lived in this summer.  The house is a oxymoron, a sustainable, green, 13,000 foot dwelling.

Goldfinches 

Enjoying the Black Sunflower Seeds

Most of the afternoon, after Evie cut the lawn, and I trimmed our front hedge of privets and took two more barrels of twigs up the hill, we relaxed, watched some TV, and I read OLEANDER GIRL,  liking it less and less as it devolved in to a soap opera, of spurned lovers. And, when bored, we enjoy watching the marauding goldfinches, flitting between our rhododendrons, privets, and the bird feeders.  They are a never ending source of delight and interest.

Earlier in the day, after our walk, we stopped at the Lighthouse to pick up some ground chuck, went to Topps as well, for veggies.  So, I cooked burgers outside around 6:00, in a light rain, and with a salad, with had a satisfying dinner.  For some reason, the burgers lately have been superb, perhaps because of the freshly ground chuck or because I have learned how to cook them, about four minutes on each side. They end up medium, not quite well done.  We finally got our Apple TV working; don't ask me why it suddenly decided to work and we bought the last two episodes of Mad Men, which we had missed.  Neither were up to snuff as far as we are concerned, as this season seems disperse, with no real sense of direction.  Lots of men having affairs, poor guys, unhappy with their wealthy lives and attractive wives, existential angst I suppose...liquor and women filling the void.  And we watched the last episode of The Good Wife, also quite silly, with idiotic judges, idiosyncratic lawyers, and twists, though we both loved the ending, the only redeeming element of the episode...completely surprising us and offering the possibility of a great season next year.  We will have to wait and see.

Sunny Sunday and Warm

7:00

Our Hosts

Up at 7:00, again to a living room filled with sunlight, so strange still, after a winter of gray skies.  I can get used to it.  It's 50º out, high in the 70's over the next few days, perfect for working outside, hiking, and kayaking, something we have yet to do but will take up for sure  today.

Yesterday began with yoga, a small class of three, with Chris, talkative as ever, but he did show us some new poses, routines, which I liked.  I talked with a guy from class later, Ian, from Great Britain I think, at the Ryder's Cup, and he mentioned how Chris sure can 'talk,' taking up class time.  Because I had talked about my visit to Arizona,  he told me he had recently been in California, and it 108º.  He has a company there which he visits once a month, also one here in Chautauqua as well.  Sounds like a nice life.

Freshly Painted Fence

Enjoying A Spring Evening

Evie and I spent the afternoon outside, getting caught up on our spring chores, adding some, like painting the fence in our backyard.  I had stopped at Home Depot after yoga and picked up a gallon of Barn and Fence paint, whatever that is.  Evie started on it around 1:00, tedious work because of the edges, and walking in the garden carefully.  While she was doing this, I  struggled with putting up my martin house.  All went well until I took the house out to the post I had pounded into the lake bottom. I discovered the pole would not fit in the opening of the pipe.  Over the years, as I pounded the pole into the mud, the lip bent inward, making the opening smaller.  So, I took the martin house back to the yard, went to the garage, got out a metal file, and worked for close to a half hour, filing the burrs off the aluminum pipe so the bird house pole would fit.  After I was finished, I went back to the water's edge, picked up the pole with bird house on top and voila, it just fit into the opening, as the martins hovered around the house, anxious to start building their homes.  Amazing as they materialized out of nowhere, squawking, as they tried to pick out an apartment.

Pound Post in Mud, Get House

Put Pole in Post Opneing and Tighten Bolts

Ready for the Martins

A Home, A Home

After this debacle,  I helped Evie paint the rest of the fence.  It took much longer than we thought, but we were done by 3:00  I think.  Evie wanted some exercise, so I gassed up the mower for her, and she was off, to cut the lawn for the first time this year.  She put on her Nano, which Beth and Rami gave her for Christmas two years ago; it measures walking distances, and she figured that she walked a mile and a half when cutting the  yard, taking forty five minutes.  Meanwhile, I continued my raking of our yard and Leonards, clearing both of them of all the twigs and branches, which inevitably are the result of a long winter...two more garbage cans of debris.

Baking The Cauliflower Pizza Crust

We were invited to Mc Clures for dinner, a lovely spring evening, as we enjoyed our beer and appetizers, as the day waned.  Linda made a specialty pizza for us for dinner, one with a cauliflower.egg/cheese crust with various pizza toppings, both veggies and meat,  and it was great.  It would be especially good for those who would want a gluten free pizza crust.  We stayed till about 10:00 and went home, both of us tired and sore from working in the yard, especially bending over to paint that darn fence.  It's a good kind of soreness, however, the kind that says you have been physically active.

The Remains of Day

A Bright Shining Saturday Morning

6:40

A Long And Winding Road

Daffodils

Spring time in Chautauqua County

I woke, briefly, at 5:30 but fell back to asleep, waking at 6:40 to light in our bedroom and, when I came downstairs, the living room was filled with sunlight, the lake glimmering and shiny, the sky clear, a light blue. It's going to be a greet day at the lake.  32º outside, colder than I thought but it will get into the 60's later in the day, perfect for putting in my purple martin house.

Much like today, yesterday was sunny and cool, a good day to enjoy the outdoors.  Since I don't have yoga on Friday, we decided to walk up Stedman Road to the Stedman Coffee shop and back home.  We drove up to the beginning of the road, as I didn't want to walk up the hill (wimp).  So, it ended up being a more pleasant walk than I thought, likely because it was so cool outside. I thought walking along the road would be boring, monotonous, but I found I enjoyed it, observing and noticing the beauty of the farms, the pastures, trees, just being alive to my surroundings.  You can tell I am working, on mindfulness, on paying attention to what I am doing at the moment. To quote Thich Nhat Hahh: "Don't do any activity in order to get it over with.  Resolve to do each action in a relaxed with with all your attention,  Enjoy and be one with your activity." I try.  It took us about forty minutes to walk the two miles to the coffee shop.  If we had started from our home, we would have added another twenty minutes.  So, our walk was an hour and twenty minutes, total, two hours if we had walked from our house.  I am not sure why I am obsessed with distance and time...reminds me of a line from 'The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock.  "I have measured out my life in coffee spoons."I enjoyed a cup of iced coffee, Evie some water, and we enjoyed a talk with a neighbor and his wife.  He drives a steel truck for a living, basically between Hamilton, Canada, and Gary, Indiana, twice a week.  He lives across the street, two houses up.  And we talked some with the owner and his girl friend, both nice enough.  We got home around noon, and for lunch, Evie made me delicious fish tacos, with the leftover tilapia, cabbage, siracha sauce, and tartar sauce.  Yum.

Signage Along Stedman Road

An Old Barn's Foundation

We then spent the afternoon working in our yard, trimming, raking, cutting down the grasses, pruning our bushes and trees.  I took three garbage cans of twigs and leaves up to the hill.  And even though we still have little green, no color to speak of, it felt like spring.  Evie also did some quick sanding on our garden fence, getting it ready to paint today.  Both of us really enjoyed being out side, working in the yard, something we have not done since late October.

We had chicken and biscuits for dinner, with a salad, after enjoying a glass of wine before dinner, relaxing after our work in the yard.  We watched a new series on Sundance which I had read  was good called Rectify, by the people who gave us Breaking Bad.  It's about a guy who has been on death row for nineteen years before being released because of DNA evidence.  He returns home (why?) to a uncomfortable family, a often hostile town, and he has to find his way, in a very different world.  Great acting and riveting scenes, though it's a bit rough at times, as you would expect from a movie that's about prison life, its effects on the inmates.  We will continue watching it, Monday's at 10:00 on Sundance.

TRADER OF SECRETS: STEVE MARTINI

I almost did not write this book review because the novel was so silly, obvious, moving toward the big climax, with no doubt as to the outcome.  The hero, Frank Madriani, some how gets involved with a Mexican hit man, assassin, Liquida, who vows to get Frank for spoiling a big money deal.  The novel begins with his attempt to kill Frank's daughter, Sarah on a small farm in Ohio.  He fails of course, and moves on to his next job, helping a group to find two rogue NASA scientists.  He heads to Thailand, first, to pick up his money, then to Paris, to find the two scientists, then to Mexico, where the group is trying to put together a weapon that will eventually destroy parts of the US and Israel but make it look like a natural disaster.  Got it.  Of course, Frank follows Liquida, against the wishes of the FBI, to Thailand, then Paris, then Mexico.  He travels with his girl friend, Jocelyn and buddy Harry Hinds, as Liquida leads them on a wild chase.  Meanwhile, his daughter, in a safe house, becomes friends with an Israeli agent, there to find out if she knows anything about her father.  When they find out on that he is on the track to find this 'weapon that will destroy Israel', they leave the safe house, jump on a plane, that just happens to be filled with Israeli Special Forces.  Frank and company, Sarah and her Israeli agent, all arrive about the same time at this hide out where the scientists are working on the weapon.  They end up destroying the lab, killing most of the bad guys, and Sarah kills the assassin, Liquida, avenging the killing of her best friend as well as the Israeli agent.  What a ride.

JULIET, NAKED: NICK HORNBY

A Kindle book, one I read on my trip West.  I liked it well enough to keep reading, found some fun in it but it's not a great novel.  Annie lives in a small, seaside town in Great Britain, with the boring teacher, Duncan.  Duncan's one passion, unfortunately, is not Annie but Tucker Crowe, a washed up American pop singer, who disappeared from sight after his first album years ago, fueling the fire of a few 'aficionados' who live by his lyrics, email each other with sightings,  and generally exist for any news about Mr. Crowe,

Annie finally gets fed up with Duncan and his obsession with Tucker and much to Duncan's dismay, she decides to live her life without him, but she is not sure how.  As she begins to jettison Duncan's things, she comes across Duncan's review of a new album by Tucker and in pique, decides to write her own review, lambasting the album as imitative and immature.  To her shock, she gets an email about the review by someone purporting to be Tucker Crowe.  She soon realizes  it is Tucker,  thinks this is too good to be true and never tells Duncan.

To make a long story short, the two seem to hit it off, with Tucker confessing his many sins to Annie, shocking her with his honesty, like the fact that he has five kids with five different moms, and has seen few of them over the years.  For some reason, he decides to go to Great Britain and wants to meet up with Annie.  When he arrives, he has a heart attack, and all his wives and kids gather to his embarrassment and dismay, so he runs off with Annie, leaving his ex wives and kids in the lurch.  He hangs around Annie's, gets to know both her and the town, and eventually she tells Duncan that Tucker Crowe is in town.  He's bowled over, of course, and cannot believe his luck.  Tucker actually opens up somewhat to Duncan, and both the reader and Annie end up liking Tucker in the end.  He eventually realizes, as does Annie, that he's going to have to go back to the States, that his staying with Annie is just a holding action, putting off his life.  The same goes for Annie.  He leaves, with hopes that Annie will follow.  Thus the novel ends, and we are left unsure of whether Annie follows him or not. And so it goes, as Billy Pilgrim says.

Heavy Fog Morning

Fog at 6:45

Buffleheads in Fog

I have been up for an hour, and it's now 7:36 and have yet to see beyond the lake's edge because the fog is so heavy, a result of warming air, cold ground or lake, I think.  It is warming up, finally, with temperatures in the 70's by Sunday.  Time to put in the martin house although we have yet to see any martinst as they too seem to be late, like spring.

I began yesterday with the first breakfast club of the year, at the Bemus Point Inn.  Five of us were there, only Jack Volker was missing.  Two, Joe and Dick, had spent their winter in Florida; Charlie was just back from Hilton Head, me from Scottsdale, and only Stan seemed to be have been around the past few weeks, though he spent January in Florida.  We caught up on each others adventures this past winter and all of us were glad to be back but anxious for spring and warm weather, especially fishing for Dick and Joe (Trout).  It was good to see them again; it makes me feel like an old hand at retirement, that I fit in, having breakfast with my fellow male retirees.  Yin yoga was packed yesterday despite the fact that it was a sunny day, and I was one of four guys, a strange feeling, no longer special (or ignored).  It was a good class, as Danielle's classes seem to be the most popular.  We did a number of new poses, for me, and one, where we did a frog pose on our stomachs and held it for five minutes, was difficult.  In fact, both Evie and I were more sore from our exercising and yoga yesterday than after nine days of six mile hikes.  Go figure.

By the way, we have loads of spring birds in our yard since Evie filled the feeders, mostly bright yellow finches, redpols, some robins and sparrows.  When we left for Arizona, the finches were still green, now, three weeks later, they are bright yellow

Finches at Evie's New Feeder

A Bright Yellow Fellow

A Plump Redpol

Mid afternoon, Evie went off to the Y to work out and I stayed home, read, took a great nap (I love it when I wake up refreshed), and went out and raked the twigs, stones, and leaves in our yard for an hour. I also finally finished a vacation reading book which I started in Arizona, Steve Martini's TRADER OF SECRETS, a writer I don't think I will ever read again.  It was predictable, told from different points of view, poorly written, a thriller I suppose, but I could not wait to finish it so I could get to something well written, more interesting, less pulp fiction like.

For dinner, Evie breaded tilapia, baked it, and we had broccoli, salad, and baked potatoes, a simple but satisfying dinner.  We watched some Colbert, raced through American Idol, and went to bed around 11:15.  I started a just published novel called OLEANDER GIRL, set in modern India and I like it already, at least I want to continue reading it.

Our main question for the day...where do we hike since it's going to be a nice day?  Allegheny State Park, Presque Isle, both long drives, or Long Point and Bemus?  Perhaps we will just walk to the Stedman Coffee Shop, for a change.  Stay tuned.

A Dazzling Morning Sunrise

6:10

6:40

Sun Rise Over Long Point

It's now almost 7:00 and I have been up watching the sky, clouds, and rising sun change over the past hour.  The lake is various shades of slate, with ducks, mostly buffleheads, dotting the shiny surface.  I have missed this view each morning and today reminds me why.  It's 33º, sunny this morning but clouding up later, with showers, perhaps thunderstorms.

Well, we quickly jumped back into our routine yesterday.  I hesitated to go to yoga, not feeling much like it, but I went anyways and am glad I did.  It felt good to stretch those leg and back muscles after sitting in a car for a couple of days.  Everyone was happy to see me back, of course, and I felt energized after our class.  I made the requisite stop at Ryder's Cup for coffee and a trip to Wegman's to pick up a few groceries to get us by the next couple of days before we have a serious shopping day.  Evie decided to stay home, enjoy her morning, leisurely unpacking and doing mega loads of washing clothes from our trip.  When I got home, most everything was unpacked, lunch was ready, a tuna wrap and homemade vegetable soup.  What a woman!

I relaxed in the afternoon while Evie went into the Lakewood YMCA to get her workout in and stop at the sporting goods store to see if they had any more pairs of the shoes that she really liked and wore when we hiked in Scottsdale.  They were a boys size, but fit great and were inexpensive.  They ordered her another pair, so she was happy.  I went to the Smith Library to pick up a couple of books that I was interested in reading and surprise, a couple of newly published texts were available on their new books shelf, OLEANDER GIRL, and the new Michael Connelly novel.

Dinner at Seezurh House

Around 6:00, the Mc Clure's came over for a beer, before we drove over to Bemus for our ritual Wednesday night steak dinner at the Seezurh House.  They had just arrived from Murraysville, will stay till Sunday.  We had a good time, of course, with typical Seezurh House food, though I had penne with shrimp and asparagus, a change for me.  The Mc Clures are good and were excited about their upcoming trip to Spain and Germany in late June, for a relatives wedding and to visit friends in Germany.

Night Time in Bemus Point

We were home by 8:30, in time to watch The Good Wife and some of the saved episodes from The Voice.  We both have surprised ourselves with how much we have enjoyed this show, especially the duets this past week.

Right now, it's 7:10 and the sun is so bright that I have to move to another couch.  Spring must actually be on its way if the sun is out so early, so bright.

Back Home, To Chautauqua Clouds, Rain, Perhaps Snow Tonight

With Paul Storey, in Xenia, Ohio

7:00 AM at the Lake

It's 7:00 and I have been up an hour, happy to be home on my couch, with my view of the lake, the sun rising, NPR on the radio, and coffee in my hand. Ah routine.  We had a splendid three weeks but it's always good to get home.  To quote Hal Borland once again:

"More than half the pleasure of going is in the return, as any traveller knows. To go, to see the far place, the place beyond the horizon is exciting: but to return is satisfying as few other things can ever be.  To know after absence the familiar street and road and village and house is to know again the satisfaction of home...And that is the final satisfaction of a trip, whether it is a vacation or just a journey---the return itself.  The homecoming, The trip back, and the home at the end.  To go is good, to return back is best."

Yesterday started with an early rising at our friends, the Barry's home in Oxford, Ohio.  I was able to relax in their living room, reading, writing my blog, with coffee before anyone got up,  It was a beautiful spring morning in southern Ohio, blue skies, sun rising, birds singing, trees green with newly hatched leaves. Chautauqua, on the on the other hand, has yet to see spring, no leaves yet, no green, just buds on the trees, spring flowers just green shoots, no yellows or whites to welcome us.  Around 8:30, we all were up so we went to Joe and Mary Lou's favorite breakfast spot, Patterson's Cafe, just on the outskirts of the Miami University campus.  It's a charming breakfast and lunch cafe, dark wood, great booths, and good coffee.  We all had breakfast, Joe's healthy, the rest of us broke the rules and ordered what we liked.  Hey, we were on vacation.  We went back to their house, said our thanks for their great hospitality, and we on the road for Xenia, Ohio, by 9:30.

The Barry's 

Breakfast in Oxford, Ohio

Another good friend from college and the basketball team, Paul Storey, had recently moved to Xenia, Ohio, his hometown, from Dallas, TX, after his wife Becky passed away.  We have never traveled much in this part of Ohio, so it was fun to see spring so alive in this part of the Ohio, and pass through towns like Middletown, Ohio, home of the great Jerry Lucas, my basketball hero back in 8th grade.  Xenia seemed to be a bustling town, hit by the repression like all towns, but it looks like its coming back, lots of downtown restoration as well as the ubiquitous line of fast food restaurants.  Paul bought a cosy ranch on a cul de sac, in fact, he knows just about everyone in his neighborhood from his high school days.  So it's a return to his roots for him.  He has done lots of renovation to his house and it's just about finished.  It's perfect for him, easy to take care of, convenient to friends and shopping, and fresh and bright inside.  He's done a great job of being a first time home decorator.  He had the table set with his best dishes when we arrived, the perfect host, gave us our tour of the house, and served us croissants, chicken salad, and Greek salad for lunch.  What a guy.  We had a great time catching up on our families; he has two daughters and two grand children who live on the East Coast, so he like us, is constantly on the road, to see his family.  He's a great friend, and we enjoyed the stopover before heading up to the lake.

Lunch with Paul Storey

We left Xenia just about 1:00 and returned home to the lake about 6:30, tired after what seemed like a long day.  We were surprised at how brown and colorless everything was around Chautauqua, especially compared to our day in southern Ohio, so green and vibrant.  Spring will come, eventually but it's not here yet.  We had an easy dinner of Subway sandwiches, picked up at a gas station in Ohio, 'health food,' and easily returned to our routine, enjoying dinner as we watched Stewart and Colbert, then the first two hours of Mad Men, which neither one of us enjoyed much, as it seemed off the wall, disjointed, as if Matt Weiner had no ideas as to where he wanted to go with the final season.  We went to bed around 10:30, both of us extremely tired but happy to be in our own bed.

Oxford, to Downtown Xenia, Ohio, Then Home

Joe and MaryLou Barry

Dawn, Oxford, Ohio

It's now 6:10, and I am the first one up.  It' a bit overcast, as the day begins to lighten here in Oxford.  I have my coffee, computer, so I am happy.  It's 59º already, a high of 70º and I like at Chautauqua, and it's to be sunny with a high of 61º, quite a difference.

We had another easy drive, Kansas City to Oxford, Ohio, if driving for nine hours can be called easy.  At least it was sunny and fairly warm as we drove, no rain, and as we got farther east, it became greener and greener, as Indiana and Ohio seemed far ahead of Kansas City.  We took the back roads to Oxford, where are good friends Joe and Mary Lou live.  It was a lovely ride, through mostly farm country, small towns, and trees and fields, just beginning to turn green as spring has arrived in southern Ohio.

Joe and Lou live in a small community of houses, each separate, but they have condo like amenities, the lawns, roofs, shrubs, and trees are all taken care of, so the owner has only a small area off their porch to take care of.  Their house is perfect for them, two bedrooms, two baths, a large living room/dining room, den, kitchen and laundry room, plus a huge basement.  We were welcomed with wine, as they are both vino enthusiasts, and we had cheese and crackers, as we caught up on our families.  They had been out east visiting with their grandchildren, in New Jersey and CT, so we had lots to talk about.

Dinner at Barry's

The Barry Home

We had a great dinner, as Joe cooked out pork cutlets, with jasmine rice, salad, and fresh bread, just what we needed after a long ride.  After dinner, we were given the grand tour of Oxford, Ohio, mostly Miami University.  I have been here a couple of times in my early years, but not in the last thirty, so the campus has changed mightily, with all kind of new buildings, all in the same Georgian red brick style. And of course it has gotten larger, the town spread out now to the outskirts of Oxford.  We walked into the student fitness center which would put most health clubs to shame.  Three pools, four gyms, yoga studios, weight rooms, work out machine rooms, a cafe, all for the students.  And it was being used, perhaps, i would guess, more than the library!  Anyways, for Joe and Lou, its been a great environment to raise their two kids but also to retire to, with all the lectures, classes, and amenities of the university less than a mile away.  And you might want to live a mile away, to avoid the student rambunctiousness, especially on weekends.  Frat row and the residential halls were all immaculate as well, reminding me of what a dump our old fraternity house looked like at Ohio University.  We did get a new building my senior year but we lost it three or four years after I graduated when Phi Delta Theta was thrown off campus for, I assume, drug and alcohol abuse.  Ah youth.    I can see why college towns are such an attractive place for people to retire.

After our ride, we came back, sat around and talked about the good old days at Ohio University, sipping homemade lemoncello, a delightful way to end the evening.  And we both were tired and fortunately, slept well.