Early Morning Shades of Gray

7:28

Back Yard

I was awakened at 5:45 by the sound of a motor, thinking it was a boat, I got up and found it was my neighbor driving his tractor next door for some reason.  It was pitch black at that hour and now, at 6:52 the lake and east shore have started to appear, like a black and white photograph, slowly developing in its bath.  No colors, just various shades of gray.  And it looks like a cloudy day, high in the 60's.

Like most mornings, we were not sure what we wanted to do yesterday, whether we wanted to take a drive to a park, or walk some where close by.  We have obviously made up our mind to take a walk or hike every morning, most likely because we love the fall, the weather, the temperatures in the  40's  or 50's, perfect for our hikes.  Yesterday's choice of a walk was influenced by my wanting  Evie's breaded pork chops for dinner.  If we were to have them, we would have to go to the Lighthouse for the chops. So, we decided to walk the CI, stopping off for pork chops after our walk, a simple decision, revolving around our dinner choice.  The CI is beautiful this time of the year, some flowers still in bloom, lots of mums, the trees turning, leaves falling from the trees as we walked.  It was warmer than we thought and we always tend to dress too warm, taking off layers as we walk. We never seem to learn. We walked just about three miles, stopped at the library, saw our neighbor, Marjorie Scholtz, also out for walk, before going home.

Our only major chore yesterday was simple, take out the room air conditioners, making sure they did not drip on our carpets.  We hardly used them this summer, but they come in handy when our kids are here.  We are slowly getting ready for winter, no hurry as we still have lots of good weather ahead. After a simple lunch of corn chowder and leftover koftes, the lake looked so inviting that we  decided to go for a long kayak paddle, down to Whitney Bay and back, the lake calm, few ripples, a lead gray because of the clouds.  A couple of fishing boats puttered by, trolling,  making us aware we were not the only ones on the lake.  Later, we relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, reading and doing some fishing off the dock.  I also put some fishing line out, to stop the geese from coming up on our lawns.  When we returned from kayaking, there were a gaggle on Leonard's lawn, leaving behind their droppings.  Another sign that summer has gone.

Our Afternoon Living Room Chairs

Late Afternoon Sun Lights Up East Shore

We had breaded pork chops for dinner, probably the first meal Evie made as a young wife, along with a potato gallette, homemde applesauce (apples courtesy of Joyce Leonard) and a salad as we watched the final episode of Homeland from last year before watching Sunday's new episode.  It's shocking how much we had forgotten about last season, so it was a good thing we watched the final episode and we have a much better idea of what's going on.  I have to admit that one of the nice things of the fall is that some of our favorite TV shows have returned, giving us something to look forward to each night.  We also watched The Good Wife, which we have enjoyed the past few years.  There's trouble brewing in the law firm, as the young Turks are going to break off, and start their own firm.  Evie and I are both into our books, so we looked forward to going up to bed to read.