Warm and Overcast After A Day of Swans

Once More To The Seezurh House

7:30

It's 6:30 and when I went out to get the paper on the back yard walk, I was surprised by how warm it was, 52º and most of the snow from last week has melted.  It's supposed to stay like this for the day then get cold again, may even snow tomorrow.

I came across this poem in yesterday' Writer's Almanac and thought that anyone who lives in Chautauqua County would instantly identify with it as we have so many Amish farms dotting the area. And I thought the images, the understanding of their lives, perfect.

Amish

by David Shumate

You see them in their black carriages along the highway as if they
got separated from some funeral cortege and now must deliver
the dead on their own. The men wear beards but shave their
mustaches. The women wear long dresses and tight bonnets.
The children play with wooden toys and point when they pass
televisions glowing along the roads as if each house had a soul
all its own. They keep bees. Raise crops. Train teams of horses so
large they look like they've been exaggerated. If an Amish man
promises to meet you at noon by the courthouse with a dozen
cages of chickens, he'll be there. When the children are about to
turn into adults, they go on a rumspringa to see which world suits
them best. Girls dangle jewelry from their ears and necks. Smear
makeup on. Boys get behind the wheel of a car. Barrel down gravel
roads. Stop in a field. And baptize themselves with a bottle of gin.
A few go out for football. The girls join the cheerleading squad.
Then return home smelling of perfume or cologne. Giggling as
they stumble up the stairs, long after the candles have been blown
out.

All Alone

Looking for Food

Yesterday was one of those days you dread, a trip to the dentist for a cleaning and a discovery, quite often it seems, of a problem.  And my fear was well spent as I am going to have to have a new bridge. No fun and you have to pay for it, the story of dentistry.  My only consolation is that we signed up for a Dental Plan, anemic as they most often are, but it should help out some. We did have a leisurely and enjoyable morning before I went off.  At least fifty swans filled our water front most of the day so we had fun taking photos and watching  them dip in the water, looking for food.  When they dunk, they look like small sailboats, their feathers and bottom the sail.  We have some at least once a year but never this many.  I also took my usual Woodlawn/Victoria loop before lunch, tramping through the mostly snow covered woods, with occasional leaf covered bare spots.  Lots of ski tracks, as well as some one's cross country ski tracks.  It felt good to be outside and as the day progressed, it got nicer and nicer, the sun coming out, the air warming up so that you hardly needed a jacket.  

Quartet

Menage a Trois

After the dentist, I picked up the mail, stopped at the library, went to Home Depot and Wegman's and my final stop was at Evan's Wine Store.  We are set for the next few weeks, I mean days.  I did not get home till about 3:30, enough time to read some and enjoy the darkening sky before showering and getting ready to go out to dinner with the Mc Clures to the Seezurh House, for their ribeye special. 

Swans and Buffleheads

We left for the Seezurh House around 6:15, found a place to park easily, walked in and were surprised by a rowdy group of drinkers at the bar, probably about 15, who spent the night enjoying themselves, quite loudly at times though it did not bother us much.  It was nice to see the Seezurh alive on a Wednesday night.  It was good to see the McClures again; they have been up since before Thanksgiving and leave tomorrow to head back to Murrysville until after Christmas.  We all ordered out usual meals, Linda and me the rib eye special, Evie the chicken sandwich platter, Ron the fish fry. And we were all happy with our meals, as usual, because the food is always good, nothing fancy but tasty.  We caught up on all the news from the area, not much happening yet but lots of things going on this weekend.  We stayed till about 8:30, went home and watched an episode of Homeland before going to bed.