Wednesday Haze and Heat

6:10

6:14

Another quotation I found recently and wanted  to share.  And even though I am about to turn seventy not eighty, it was encouraging.  From Oliver Sachs:

"Eighty! I can hardly believe it.  My father, who lived to 94, often said that the 80's had been one of the most enjoyable decades of his life.  He felt, as I begin to feel, not a shrinking but an enlargement of mental life and perspective.  One has had a long experience of life, not only one's own life but others', too.  One has seen triumphs and tragedies, booms and busts, revolutions and wars, great achievements and deep ambiguities, too.  One is more conscious of transience and, perhaps, beauty.  I do not think old as an ever grimmer time that one must endure, but as a time of leisure and freedom, free to explore whatever I wish, and to find the thoughts and feelings of a life time together."

As Cher said, "LIfe, ride it till the wheels fall off."

Up at 6:00 on the dot, time enough to watch the globe rise slowly over Long Point, till it was above the tree line, its reflection glimmering on the lake.  A warm though not uncomfortable morning, 69º but no wind and the humidity hangs in the air, ready to pounce when the sun begins to warm the day.  I saw on the weather channel that there should be fog but around Woodlawn it's just hazy, the farther you see the more indistinct the shoreline becomes.

Yesterday was hot and humid as predicted and today should be the same.  Fortunately, it got only to the mid 80's though that was warm enough.  We spent the morning getting  the house and yard spic n span for the arrival of my sister Linda and her husband, Rich.  They live in Euclid, Ohio, on Lake Erie, so they, like us, are fortunate to enjoy life on a lake, in their case, a big one.  They usually come out every year for a couple of days, even in the winter sometimes.  We had not seen them, however, in quite awhile so it was great to have them back to the lake.  As usual when we get together,  our day revolves around food and drink.  We had the a cooler full of beer and wine ready and they brought freshly frozen walleye and perch that Rich had caught last week on Lake Erie.

We spent the day mostly out on our front porch, out of the sun, catching up on the lives of our grandchildren; our own lives don't seem very interesting anymore except in relation to our kids and grandchildren.  In contrast to us (all our kids live at least seven hours away), they have three grown children and nine grandchildren all within a half a mile of their house.  So rarely a summer day goes by without a visit of a grandchild, the good life.

Lunch, Eggplant and Bacon Sandwiches, Cucumber Soup

For lunch, Evie made egg plant sandwiches, with bacon and tomato, and a cold cucumber soup, perfect for a hot afternoon.  We were able to eat outside, moving our table at least once to stay in the shade. Later in the afternoon, we went out on the dock, enjoying the breeze but not the lake, which had turned an uninviting green color from the algae I assume.  We then took what we used call a booze cruise, enjoying a couple of beers, as we drove over to Bemus, cruising our way back home along Lakeside Drive.  We went for a swim in Long Point Bay,  a couple of hundred yards from the Marina, where the water was deep, clear and refreshing.  We hung out for about 15 minutes, clutching our flotation cushions before heading home to begin our 'deep fry fest.'

Deep Frying Walleye and Perch

We Three Enjoy Watching Evie Deep Fry Her "World Famous Potato Chips"

Before we went on our cruise, Evie had cut up five potatoes into thin slices for potato chips and put them in ice water.  When we got back, she dried them off and began deep frying them on the back porch, as the rest of us pulled up chairs in the backyard and kibitzed as she fried.  It took about a half hour.  Then my brother in law, Rich, starting frying the walleye, which he had prepared earlier, breading them in crushed Ritz crackers,  panko, flour, and oregano.  It took only about ten minutes to cook 15 pieces of fish.  We then sat outside in the cooling evening, about 7:30, and had our feast of 'fish and chips, potato chips that is."  The fish was wonderful, so much better than anything you can get in a restaurant, crisp crust and sweet flesh, falling apart when you cut it.  Rich fishes quite a bit on Lake Erie, often catches hundreds of perch at a time with his sons and grandsons, cleans them, and puts the filet's in a plastic bag filled with water and then freezes them.  Once thawed and fried, they taste like they were just caught. You can see why we invite them out for a couple of days because they usually bring fish for a dinner.

Fish and Chips Dinner

After dinner, we sat out on our porch, as the evening moved in, having Turkish tea and frozen lemon squares, a enjoyable way to end a good day.  We were in bed by 10:30, ready to sleep.