An Autumn Harbinger (The Pub, Jamestown, NY)

6:37

It's now 7:30 and I have been up an hour, a partly cloudy morning, at times bright sun, at others, sunlight muted by the clouds.  It's chilly, 48º though I am not complaining but it does make me feel as if summer is over.  But it ain't...no doubt we will have some warm and humid days but not in the next week if you believe the weatherman.  As I kid, I remember the first day of school was always a killer, in the 80's or 90's and humid, as if the weather gods were playing a joke on us.  So, school has not begun around here, the warm weather yet to come.

Yesterday was a busy day, especially for me, how unusual.  For Evie, it was busy as usual.  We started the day with a crew cutting down a tree limb, broken off during a storm, hanging on an electrical pole. Unfortunately, they cut and ran, leaving us with the debris, so we are trying to find someone to take it away.  I then drove to Jamestown, dropped my car off to get the official New York State inspection. While they worked on it, I walked into Jamestown, browsed the various shops, none open, and realized the two coffee shops I have always liked were closed, one I know for renovation, the other seems to serve only lunch and dinner now.  I also browsed the Prendergast Library, before walking back to pick up my car.  Despite it being fourteen years old, it passed with flying colors.  I then stopped at Peterson Farms on the way home and picked up a basket of PA peaches, the local peaches having been ruined by a freeze.

After a great lunch of eggplant, bacon, and tomato sandwiches, I went outside, brought in all the floats and rafts, the Purple Martin House, cleaned them, and put them all in the attic of my garage.  It does feel good to have our lake front cleared some, so just the dock and boats remain, a chipping away at the tasks that the end of summer brings.  Evie worked upstairs, continuing her marathon, so I suggested we go out for dinner, get off this island for a night.

A couple of days ago, a friend and local, Joe Johnson, had mentioned how much he likes The Pub in Jamestown, which had recently been renovated after a fire.  We had been in it a couple of times for a beer but never for dinner.  So around 6:00, we drove down to Jamestown, parked on Pine, visited a couple of stores we like, a skate board store and a pottery and plant store.  We then went to The Pub, walked into it's narrow, alley like restaurant, saw two seats open at the bar and sat down.  Within ten minutes, we had made our 'new best friends.' Evie was talking avidly with a couple who live in Bemus Point, on the lake, a few houses from the bridge.  They were downtown to bring their neighbor to interview for membership in the Viking Club.  While Evie talked with them,  I struck up a conversation with Morrie, who turned out to be a barber, still working in his own shop in Jamestown, his forty fourth year.  Quite a character, he was able to tell me all about Jamestown over the past 50 years, how it changed, the ups and downs, now mostly ups he thinks.  And he made recommendations for our dinner, especially a pesto pizza with a side of their hot pepper tomato sauce.  So, of course, we ordered it and both of us loved it.  We sat at the bar talking, for at least an hour an a half, bringing others patrons into our conversation as well, one, the owner of Redwood cottages in Bemus, the others, a couple of young guys from Jamestown who looked too young to be drinking in a bar.  The bartender knew everyone, was fun to be around as well.  And, as what has become routine, a women sitting across the bar from us commented to Evie that she just 'loved her hair.' We are definitely going back, probably won't be quite the same but we like it.

Marilyn, Laura and Fred Smith,  Evie's New Friends

With Morrie, the Barber, at The Pub

We ended the night with an ice cream cone from a new shop, in what used to be an old car dealer garage, now housing a couple of businesses.  It's run by a young women whom we first met when she was having an art show opening at the Dykeman Gallery last fall.  It's not too fancy, basically an open garage door, with a shop to the left.  And it does not look like much fun, standing for ten hours a day, bending over a freezer to scoop out ice cream.  It reminded Evie of when she spent a summer scooping ice cream at Franklins when she was sixteen and gained ten pounds.  Needless to say, Franklin's did not make much of a profit that summer.

Kate, Jamestown Soda Jerk and Owner, on Pine Street/2nd

Brick Art

We got home around 9:15, watched a new episode of Rectify before going up to bed to read.  I finished my California book, and started a new Bernie Gunther novel.