A Foggy Morning (Hiking Panama Rocks)

Climbing Panama Rocks

6:52

It's now 7:30 and I am sitting here by myself, listening to NPR, but I hear some rustling upstairs so someone else must be getting up.  The fog is gently lifting, so I can see most of the shorelines, but as if through a curtain of gauge.  I check out the weather for the next five days and we have five sunny days ahead of us, no rain.  Amazing since the last ten days have always forecast thunder showers and rain.

Jill at Lily Dale

Hand Made Stained Glass Coffee Shop Window at Lily Dale

Yesterday's weather forecast proved, unfortunately, to be correct, with thunderstorms and rains arriving around noon.  Beth and Jill were up early, as they were going to spend the day at the Lily Dale Assembly, World’s Largest Center for the Science Philosophy and Religion of Spiritualism, , on Cassadaga Lake, about a half hour from us. http://www.lilydaleassembly.com/  Evie and I kayaked the lake, visited the place a few years ago but not in season.  They left about 9:30, leaving the rest of us eating breakfast, planning our day.  Evie decided she would take the girls swimming, then if it stayed nice (which it did not), take them to the Chautauqua Institution, particularly the bookstore which they love.  The guys decided to hike the Panama Rocks (http://www.panamarocks.com/ . As we began our hike, we noticed the sky darkening off to the west but paid little attention to it.  Drew, Tyler and Mitchell loved climbing the rocks, the boys like a couple of monkeys, exploring the crevasses, the caves, the various outcroppings which, if you are not careful, could lead to a dangerous fall.  We hiked and climbed for about 45 minutes before it started to rain.  We hung out under trees, then in caves when it started to pour, hoping it would let up but in vain.  After about forty five minutes of heavy to moderate rain, we gave up waiting and getting soaked, and took off for our car, getting soaked and finding our car was the only one left in the lot.  Obviously, the others were a bit smarter than us.

Avoiding The Rain

We got home around 2:00, to pouring rain at the lake.  Evie was inside with the girls and our neighbors grandchildren playing Apples to Apples, then Speed, then Uno, taking up a good part of the afternoon as it rained and rained.

Playing Speed with Drew

About 4:00, it let up some, so the kids had the bright idea of jumping in the lake.  They all got on their suits and with Evie, pranced out on the dock and jumped in, no hesitation.  They must have played in the gentle rain for at least a half hour before getting cold, coming out, wrapping themselves in towels and hurrying in, to play more Speed, a card game Hayden taught the girls.

Dinner With The Fam

Jill and Beth returned from Lily Dale around 5:30, having enjoyed their visit and Jill even was given a reading from a medium.  They enjoyed it enough to go back.  While we then sat around, talking about their visit with a glass of wine, Evie and Mitchell breaded the pork schnitzel, and Mitch and I peeled and cut up potatoes.  Once the potatoes were cooked, Tyler beat them with a hand mixer, Evie fried the schnitzel and Jill and Evie made the salad.  Dinner was great, a comfort food of sorts, pork schnitzel, mashed potatoes, with gravy and salad.  Everyone cleaned their plate, with most having seconds.  The girls then cleared the table, Tyler and Hayden washed the dishes, and girls even swept the floor.  Drew did NOTHING except getting harassed and picked which everyone enjoys.

After dinner, Jill and I drove the kids up to Addies Ice Cream Shack, two miles away, across the street from the Stedman Coffee Shop.  It's been open now for two years but we have never stopped.  The ice cream is homemade, no name brand, and we all liked our cones, except for Tyler who continually moaned that he prefers Boxcar Barneys.  By the time we got home, it was after 9:00, so the girls went upstairs, played more cards, until I told them another bad boy story from my childhood, a tradition that has gone on for years but is losing its take as the girls grow up and lose their wonder.  Still, they beg for them.  Around 10:30, we were all in bed, a good day despite the rain.  And we look forward to the next five days of sun.  Yippee as my buddy Mac used to say.

We All Miss Marlena So Much!