Memorial Day: A Day For Remembering (My Father in Law, Ed Petkovsek, Uncles, Tom and Reed, All WW II Vets, And Son In Law Drew, Kosovo and Iraq

Our Son In Law,  Colonel Drew Bissell, Retires in July, After 20+ Years

Returning Home to Jill, Hayden and Halle,  After A Year in Iraq

I was up before 6:00, so I was able to see the sunrise, on its journey north, across our morning sky here at the lake.  It always shocks me how far it travels, from the far right from our view in December, to the far left in June.  You only really notice this if you wake each morning with an unobstructed view of the horizon and take a picture of it each morning for a couple of years!

6:06

Yesterday, it really felt like summer, the lake busy, lots of neighbors and visitors, and a warm, beautiful day on the lake, perfect for boating, sun bathing, and fishing.  I took an early kayak paddle, out for over an hour, to the Marina, to Wells Bay, and back, the lake calm and glistening from the sun, few boats yet,  a couple of other kayakers.  Nothing like a kayak morning.  When I got home, Evie and I cleaned the dock off, putting away all the trash cans we used to steady our dock in high waters.  And I spent about a half hour moving everything out of my garage, sweeping it, then putting everything back in, something I end up doing every two or three weeks.  It's amazing how a garage gets messy and dirty for no apparent reason until you have to clean it out again.

Boaters Beware, A Floating Log

We enjoyed reading and sunning on the dock much of the afternoon, but I got bored, put my bike in my car, drove over to Bemus, and biked for an hour, out to Long Point and back, taking my time.  Bemus was packed with visitors because lots was  going on.  An antique car show in the park drew lots of people, but mostly it was the pleasant weather, as I have never seen as many people enjoying the park, picnicking with family or friends, as all tables were taken, blankets were spread on the grass.  The same was true of Long Point Park, which rarely seems to attract picnickers.  This weekend, all the pavilions and picnic areas were busy.  It was a great day for a bike ride as well.

Our Host's, The Birthday Boy, Jim, and Birthday Girl, Barb

Enjoying the Porch And Appetizers

When I returned home, Evie was making cheese boreks (with phyllo dough) for the Annual Memorial Weekend Porch Party, at our neighbor's the Fox's house.  We went over around 5:30 and got reacquainted with our neighbors till 8:30, a lot of standing, nibbling on snacks, and sipping beers.  It was fun to see everyone again, some who have not been back to the lake since early fall.  It was Jim Fox's 60th birthday so everyone brought him a beer of their choice...cards that we are, we brought him a root beer.  Not very funny.  I spent a lot of time talking with our neighbors, Joe and Betsy Bergen, who are going to spend three weeks in India in August.  I spent three weeks there in 1975, so  I was not much help on what to see.  I happened to mention that had spent a week on a house boat in Srinagar,  on Dal Lake, in Kashmir, and to my amazement, they, too, are going to stay on a house boat on Dal Lake.  It's an amazing place, 5100 feet, a lake surrounded by the Himalayan Mountains.

Some Of The Neighbors

Fifty, Sixty, And Seventy...You figure it out

Umm, Who Said That? 

When we got home, we were still hungry, having not snacked enough I guess, so Evie made us chicken and bacon sandwiches.  We ate them, watching some Stewart and Colbert before going to bed. I am reading another novel set in Nazi Germany, this time in the 1930's, as Hitler rises to power.  It's not as good as the series of six novels by David Downing, but decent.  It's called Corridors of Darkness by Patrick O'Bryon.