Vast Cloud Bank Over Bemus, Clear Skies Above (Awkward Bar Conversations Solved at Rod and Gun Club)

6:25

7:45

Up early enough to hear the beginning of Click and Clack at 6:10.  The lake at the moment is a myriad of grays, mottled in some parts, slick and calm in others, the Bemus shore fog bound, yet above the sky appears clear, the few clouds sliding north fast enough to notice. Today I am participating in a Yoga workshop (10:00-4:00) at the Studio Pantera in Westfield, featuring  Brooke Myers, from NYC, who is teaching the workshop... "Redefining The Possible: Approaching the Limbs of Yoga That Challenge Us."! Not sure what that means but I assume by the end of the day I will find out.  And for the first time this morning,  I can hear the sound of purple martins (and loons), a number of martins are gathered on a neighbors house, just one is sitting at our house.  Spring may be here. 

Yesterday was one of those lost mornings, starting with a fasting for a blood test in Mayville, which meant no coffee in the morning.  You don't realize how addicted you are to it until you are forced to forgo it for a morning.  Anyways,  I was in Mayville by 8:00, out of the there by 8:20, stopped back home for a banana and cup of coffee, then drove to Jamestown, to get my teeth cleaned at Dr. Scarpino's.  The good news, no cavities, and I have been a good boy, flossing each day, using mouthwash each morning.  After the dentist, I stopped at Tim Hortons, in Jamestown, for a coffee and sausage biscuit since I had not eaten, then drove to Home Depot for some paint brushes, then home, hoping to get a couple more loads of stone. I drove over, but the quarry was closed, surprising me, but they have had unauthorized trucks come in, so they are being more careful about keeping it open.  I will have to wait till Monday to finish.

Around 12:30, Evie left to workout at the gym, and I had guacamole and chips for lunch, with a new batch of Evie's vegetable soup.  I now have watched the first three episodes of True Detective, and I understand much better what is going on, even though main character Matthew Mc Connahey's mumbles too often, making little sense (the critics would call it philosophizing) .  Critics seem to have loved the series, more than the audience.  I was hoping to do some work out side but it started to rain, so I just relaxed, read some, took a nap.

We decided to take the night off from cooking and headed to the Rod and Gun for a fish fry.  We stopped first at Wegman's to pick up some things for dinner this weekend, then to the Rod and Gun.  It was raining of course, and both of their auxiliary lots were filled, so I dropped Evie off at the door and found a place to park 100 yards from the club.  When we got in, it was packed, to use a cliche, like a can of sardines.  I estimated 60 people sitting at the bar, another 100 at tables around the bar, another 40 standing, all waiting to be called to the dining room.  We were told we would have over an hour wait if we were lucky. By the time I got in, Evie had already bought a couple of drafts, and we stood for about 15 minutes before we found a single chair at the bar.

My New Friend, Sally Hartwig

Evie's New Friends From Warren, PA,  Cindy and Bob Garrison

So, we sat there for the next hour. I pulled up a stool and we started a conversation, first with a couple on Evie's left, Bob Garrison and his wife, Donna, who were from Warren, PA.  They drive up to the Club at least once a week.  He's our age and thinks he knows our neighbor Dave Jones, who also grew up in Warren.  The problem I alluded to in the title is that at a bar, it's always hard for me to hear what Evie and Bob are talking about, so it ends up being a two way conversation with me just sitting there.  Well, this was solved when I started talking with the couple next to me, Sally and Matt Hartwig, life long residents of Jamestown.  Sally is a teacher's aide, not sure what Matt does, but we ended up having a great conversation about teaching, hiking, life in Jamestown during the winter, the need to get away (they went to Florida for a week like us).  Anyways, after an hour, we were called to the dining room, Evie took a couple of pictures of both, and we went to eat.  At dinner, Evie told me all about the Garrisons and I told her about the Hartwigs, the problem of awkward conversations at a bar solved.  We had our dinner within ten minutes, and it conformed, alas, to my mantra 'crappy but cheap.'  We both ordered the healthy broiled haddock, but neither was very good, rubbery and tasteless.  Hey, you get what you pay for...a 7.99 fish fry.  It's much better battered and deep fried.  At least the baked potato was good.

We got home around 9:30 and both of us wanted something sweet so Evie made us sundaes, with chocolate and pineapple sauces, another healthy treat.  We watched Stewart and Colbert, then went to bed early, both of us tired from having gotten up early.  A fun night at the Rod and Gun, with our new new friends.