An Easy Saturday

6:35

Early Morning Buffleheads

It's after 6:00 on Saturday morning, all's right in the world, and both Evie and I are up to enjoy the early morning.  A raft of buffleheads are feeding just off our bank, and when I go out to take their picture, they quickly swim away.  It's 43º, calm and partly cloudy, but winds will pick up and it's supposed to rain later in the day.  I am including this poem by George Bilgere, a poet similar to Billy Collins in that he has a sense of humor, writes about life from the vantage point of an older guy like me.  And because I will be taking out the trash today (actually driving to the Transfer station), I appended this poem which reminded me of my childhood and my Dad. Enjoy.

Taking Out the Trash

by George Bilgere

I remember as a child
watching my father take out the trash
at the frozen crack of dawn, cursing
as he dragged the stinking cans to the curb,
and thinking, that's not something
I'm ever going to do.

In other ways I was a model son,
standing at the mirror as he shaved,
dabbing the warm cream on my cheek,
dreaming of a razor
and whiskers of my very own.

Watching him light up
as he read the Sunday paper,
one eye squinted against smoke
and bad news, had me reading the funnies
before I could even read, my eye
squinted against nothing.

And the deft, one-handed way
he straightened his fedora's brim,
while at the same time
adjusting the coordinates
of rake and tilt,
makes me regret that the hat,
like my father, has vanished,

along with the strop and razor,
and lathery bowl of curds.
Even smoking, and the Sunday paper
are on their way out.

These are the losses I'm mourning
this morning as I drag the stinking
trash cans to the curb.

Yesterday began with yoga at 8:15, just the two of us, typical for this class unfortunately.  I feel bad for our young teacher Courtney because she is a good teacher, just new to the studio.  She mentioned that she is on a local roller derby team, the Babes of Wrath, and they have a bout Saturday evening at 7:30, invited Evie and me to attend, saying it should be fun.  It's at Allen Park, an indoor ice rink I think, which is no longer used.  Who knew there was a local women's roller derby team.  Perhaps we will attend.  After yoga, I stopped for coffee at Ryder's Cup, the first time this week.  It's always nice to drop in because they are so friendly and welcoming.

For lunch I had the leftover curry, and watched another episode of True Detective.  It's getting good though there are only two episodes left.  After lunch, we drove to Jamestown,  for another doctor's appointment, then stopped at a local meat market we like, Fresh Cut Meats and More, on Newland with freshly cut meats, obviously.  It's not in a very nice neighborhood, but it looks like it does quite well.  We were home by 3:00 to relax, though it was not nice enough to go for a paddle on the lake.

Go Figure?  It's Spring Time At the Lake

We decided to go out for dinner, but could not decide where, so we drove off to the Viking Club for a beer, thinking if we didn't want to eat there, we would go someplace else.  It was crowded for the Viking but we were lucky to find a couple of seats at the bar.  We struck up a conversation with an interesting couple, retired, who like us, kayak and cross country ski.  Victor worked as a forester, and they live outside Jamestown on Sweet Hill, and seem to be expert paddlers, explaining to us how to right a kayak if it tips.  They often going paddling with Evergreen Outfitters on the Chadakoin River on Wednesdays, up at Barcelona, on Lake Erie, on Tuesdays.  We hit it off but they were called off for dinner before we could arrange to meet them sometime.  They said they were regulars so we may see them again.

We are not crazy about the ambiance at the Viking's Dining room, more like a high school lunch room, so we drove back to Bemus, to the good old Seezurh House, packed with diners, so that we had to sit at the bar.  After about ten minutes and couple sat down next to us, and the guy mentioned he thought he recognized me, wondering if I was an architect from Cleveland.  We eventually realized we were neighbors, had met a couple of times at their lake house on Victoria Road.  Their names are Roman and Marie, from Chardon, Ohio, and they have had a cottage for fourteen years, visit mostly on weekends, though they want to eventually retire here full time. Roman is an avid pilot,  the current President of the Local Soaring Club, and he invited me to go soaring sometime.  As were were talking with them, another guy sat down, took over the conversation when our neighbor's dinner came.  We learned a lot about him as well, his name, Dan Vogan.  He's lived in the area most of his life, went to Kiski Prep in Pennsylvania, lives on the lake, on Arnold Bay, just beyond Shore Acres Boat yard.  He was a talker, so we did not have much more conversation with Roman and Marie.d  He's also a musician, plays the banjo and sings in a  country music duo called Deuble and Vogan, that perform in the area.  And another guy, overhearing our conversation about summer jobs, jumped in,  mentioned he was a lifeguard in early 1970's at Long Point State Park during his college summers, a time when they had ten life guards because there were so many bathers.  How different from now.  Quite an interesting group of people.  By the way,  I ordered the fish fry, average, and Evie, the chicken sandwich platter, always good.  We left, vowing to get together with Roman and his wife some time.  They seemed really nice.  We were home by 9:00, in time to watch Stewart and Colbert before 'hitting the rack' or 'copping some z's'  as we used to say in college.  How cool we were then!