Overcast Early, Sunshine To Come (Woodlawn Picnic and Rod and Gun Club)

Ellen and Walt

7:03

It was 5:50 when I woke, much darker outside then I thought it should have been.  It reminded me of a winter morning, pitch black when I rise, but it's still August.  It's now 7:15, overcast but light enough inside if I wanted to read.  I have been listening to C-SPAN for an hour, an interview with James Tobin about his book Roosevelt With Polio.  It was really interesting to hear how Roosevelt overcame his paralysis, to become one of our greatest Presidents.  It made me want to read the book, or at least a book about Roosevelt and visit his library and museum in Hyde Park, NY, an easy stop on our trip East to visit our daughter Beth in CT.

Docking At Bemus Point

Yesterday was another one of those days where rain was forecast but it never materialized.  We had a relaxing morning with my sister Ellen and her husband Walt, as we planned our day around what they wanted to do during their weekend here at the lake.  First, we had our coffee, then Evie made a Turkish omelet, a menemen, for breakfast.  Yum.  We then decided to take a boat ride over to Bemus, a bracing morning, with blue sky, a nice breeze.  We easily found a slip to put our boat, and walked down Lakeside Road and back, about forty five minutes, talking about the changes that have taken place over the past few years, the houses that were renovated or sold.  We then stopped at the Seezurh House because Ellen remembers our always going there when they visited, so we had a beer, in their nicely air conditioned bar, a respite from a surprisingly warm day.  As we walked back to the boat, there was a water skiing show going on in front of the Italian Fisherman, free to the public.  They even had a ramp in the water for the skiers.  We listened to the public announcer build up each skier, then watched them do their tricks for around fifteen minutes.  We then boated home, cruising around at least thirty or forty boats, parked to watch the show.

With Ellen, Nancy and Barb

Wine Is Fine

Newest Woodlawner, One Month Old

The Fox and The Leonard

Evie made us chicken/tomato/avocado sandwiches for lunch and then we either relaxed or read on the dock, on the porch or in the house.  By 3:30, Ellen and Evie were toasty, so they decided to take a dip, perhaps the only two to do so in the lake.  The lake, however, was seemingly algae free and refreshing. And we began to get ready for the Woodlawn picnic which we were hosting at our house from 5:00 to 7:00, the third picnic of the summer.  We were not sure anyone would come because you never know who is up for the weekend, who is busy and we had missed the previous two ourselves.  So we were surprised when people started arriving with drinks and appetizers around 5:15 and they kept coming, so it was really a quite large and fun group of neighbors, getting together to celebrate or bemoan the end of summer.  Everyone gets to see neighbors they may not have seen all summer because we are so busy with family and friends, so it's always an interesting gathering. Friends and families are always welcome, too, so Ellen and Wally fit in easily and got to know lots of our neighbors.  Must people stayed until 7:00, then headed home, ready to go out for dinner or begin there evening.  There's minor cleanup, which is nice, so we had the house and yard in order by 7:30.

Marlea And A Few Of The Boys Of Summer

Walt and the Neighbors

Kathy, Paul,  Joyce, and Barb (The Beatles?)

Evie and Mary Ann, Woodlawn Cuties, With Friends and Family

We wanted Ellen and Walt to experience our club, The Rod and Gun, in Lakewood, so we drove there along the lake road, looking at all the great houses in Lakewood.  When we got to the club, unfortunately, the parking lots were full, as was the bar and all the tables in the bar, so we had quite a wait for dinner, close to an hour.  It went fairly fast, with the help of a couple of beers and some wine, and around 8:30 they called our name.  Three of us ordered the prime rib, one, Walt, had chicken and all our meals were great, the best prime rib we have had at the club.  The highlight of the evening, however, was the music and the dancing which began at 9:00.  Every Friday and Saturday night at 9:00, the Rod and Gun has a band.  Last night if was the O'Jays, a pretty good band playing songs mostly from the 50's and 60's.  The fun was watching the joy of the couples, most in their 60's if not 70's, enjoying dancing, putting on the moves, or just moving to the sounds.  Some were pretty good, some were not very good.  My favorite was a little, white haired couple who looked to be in their seventies. They just hugged each other tightly, then danced and danced and danced.  We even got up and danced to a couple of tunes.  After the first session( the band plays till 12:30), we headed home, full and happy after a fun night at the Rod and Gun. Ellen and Walt can see why we enjoy it so much.

Dancing The Night Away

We got home around 10:15, and Evie served us brownies and ice cream for dessert because we all came home with a sweet tooth. We stayed up talking until 11:00, mostly about the ALS bucket challenge a friend of mine, John Green, sent my way yesterday.  I am not too excited about it but we may come up with a way to fulfill it today.

I am hoping today will be as nice as predicted but at the moment, it's still gray and overcast.  Sun, where are you?