Sunday Mist, Fog and Rain (Shopping at Musky Mall)

7:51

Up at 7:00, rain on the roof, You Bet Your Garden on the radio, with the annoying, know it all voice of host Mike Mc Grath,  and a gray, misty lake, as the line between lake and land blends into nothingness. Surprisingly, I did see a solitary fishing boat, floating just off of Long Point, no doubt hoping for a good day.   Despite the gray, there's a certain beauty to this kind of morning, the senses assaulted by the changing weather.   It's 36º out at the moment, and we had a half inch of rain over the past 24 hours.

We had a good day yesterday, a nice walk in the morning, a relaxing afternoon, and an evening out. For our walk, we went over to Bemus Point because they were having a 20% off sale at all of the shops and though we  really did not have anything in mind, we thought it might be fun to see.  First, we walked Lake Side Drive, almost four miles, on a windy day but once we rounded the corner, the wind settled down and we were able to enjoy our walk, no rain, partly cloudy skies.  We only shopped at the Muskie Mall, the pottery shop in particular as Skillman and Wright is too expensive even with 20% off. The potter and owner of the shop is married to Tom Dawes, a guy we met while kayaking a couple of months ago.  She has lots of interesting pieces and we did buy a small bowl, with a neat lip, for pouring small amounts of liquid, like four or five eggs which you might want to scramble.  Not many people in Bemus despite the sale, which was too bad as we like to see the local businesses supported.

Inside the Musky Mall

Evie, Reindeer and Santa, at Musky Mall

Earlier in the morning, Evie had made up a batch of Turkish Lentil Soup, so we had that for lunch, tasty with mint and a bit of a bite, along with toasted cheese.  We took it easy the rest of the day, my only real chore was hitting the Transfer Station, with trash.  We could not make up our mind whether to eat in, grill pizza, or go out so we decided late afternoon to go to the Rod and Gun Club for dinner. Around 4:30, I took my usual walk through the Woodlawn/Victoria woods.  There's something magical about dusk, especially if it takes place as early as 5:00.  I did meet a neighbor on the walk, Carol Baldwin, who lives up on #394, just to the south of Woodlawn Avenue.  When I hike, I usually walk through the back edge of her property.  So it was nice to meet her and ask if she minded, which she didn't but appreciated that I asked.  She has a 15 year old Jack Russell terrier called, what else, Jack, and is retired, having moved to this house about four years ago.  I ended my walk in Victoria, ran into John and Mary Ann Johnson, again, and we had a good talk about teaching and retirement.  Mary Ann had just announced her retirement from teaching so they were in a good mood, ready to celebrate by having dinner by a fire.  They are a nice couple.

Crowded Bar at the Rod and Gun Club

About 6:15, we headed to the Rod and Gun and I had to drop Evie off at the door and park in the adjacent lot, not a good sign.  When we got in, the place was packed, and we had to wait to find a spot at the bar.  We were told the wait for dinner would be at least an hour if not more.  We decided to have a couple of beers and see how long it might take.  Evie struck up a conversation with a couple who live on the lake in Lakewood, and their next door neighbor's  house was badly damaged by the heavy winds this past summer.  After about forty five minutes, we checked and it would still be over a half an hour, so we made a command decision: we left and went once again, filled with yuppie guilt, to Kentucky Fried Chicken for another bucket of their finest.  We had enjoyed it quite a bit the last time. It was a mistake; we took it home, settled in to watch TV, and both of us dug into the chicken, mashed potatoes and biscuits.  Unfortunately, we both also felt uncomfortable after our grease feast and I don't think we will be going back for quite awhile.  Me thinks our hunger for unhealthy food has been satisfied for quite awhile.

We also could not find anything worth watching, so we ended up watching a couple of episodes of Diners, Drive In's and Dives, always fun to watch.  I finished the fourth volume of the David Downing series set in Nazi Germany, POTSDAM STATION,  and the WW II is ending in this one, as the Russian and American forces overtake Berlin.  And I started Richard Russo's MOHAWK, set in 1968, in a mill town in New England, quite a change from Nazi Germany.