Lake Flies Abound On Chautauqua Lake

7:20

 I slept in some, up at 7:15, a quiet lake, chilly out doors (51º), a partly cloudy sky, the sun peaking over the cloud cover over towards Bemus.  A pleasant morning predicted, then rain in the afternoon.  No plans for the day, other than  get a walk/hike in, the joys of retirement.  I don't have to do anything I don't want to do, sort of!

We had our usual leisurely Sunday morning, reading and drinking coffee until 9:00.  We were  not sure what to do so we decided on our usual routine, a Sunday walk at the CI.  For some reason, we have made Sunday our day to walk the CI, perhaps because it's free during the season yet we rarely walk it then because we are so busy with family.  Unfortunately, we were bothered along the lake road by lake flies, huge swarms of them, so many that you could hear their hum.  We headed up  and away from the lake and the flies were better though still around.  I cannot remember them being so bad; I do remember them from two years ago but last year we hardly had any.  Perhaps the wet summer encouraged them.  And five days ago, when kayaking, we noticed all kinds of small bugs on the surface of the lake, just lying there, hardly moving and we wondered what they were.  Now we think they were lake flies, perhaps hatching but are not sure.

Lake Flies On Home

Swarming Lake Flies (white winged)

When we  got home, Evie made my favorite meal of the week, Sunday breakfast of fried eggs, bacon and toast, simple but so good and we watched Sunday Morning, back in our post summer routine.  It remained nice during the afternoon, so Evie cut the lawn and I, with the help of my neighbor, Bill Leonard, put up some dry wall in my garage ceiling.  It had fallen on me last week, so I had to buy a sheet last week at Home Depot.  An easy job, just needed a helping hand to hold it up while I drilled in the screws.

Artist's at Chautauqua Institution

At 3:00, we paddled over to the Long Point Marina, hoping to see the Bass Tournament weigh in but we were too late as most of the boats were gone.  We came home and showered, got spiffed up, as the Leonard's had asked us out to dinner at Webb's  We got there about 5:45 and sat at the comfortable bar for a beer before going into the dining room for our dinner.

Dinner at Webb's with Bill and Joyce Leonard

Webb's was surprisingly busy the entire time we were there, a number of locals as well as Institute people, many whom the Leonard's knew from golfing.  Our dinners were  great. Evie had walleye, Joyce chicken picata, and Bill and I had baked chicken, with biscuits, stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, an early Thanksgivng feast.  It was a fun time, tasty meal, and we finished the night with apple crisp, ice cream and tea at the Leonards.  We returned home around 9:30, full and tired from the day and the meal but not too tired to watch the next episode of Breaking Bad.  Walt, what's happened to that caring chemistry teacher we loved?  A monster ? A pragmatist?  Certainly no longer what he always wanted, to be a 'family man.'  Vince Gilligan, you devil, always surprising us.