A Morning Of Colors: Blue, Pink, Gray

6:54

8:26

We are both up at 7:15, just as the sky is beginning to gain color, the lake smooth and reflective, no wind, no boats, a chilly 48º.  What a wonderful morning sky to wake up to! And slowly the docks and boat lifts are beginning to disappear, just as the leaves are beginning to fall.  In a month, the lake will be empty of docks and lifts, the trees of leaves and we will, once again,  have a bare open vista of the sky and Long Point.

Yesterday was one of those days where you think it's going to be an easy prep for dinner but it ends up being more than you thought, especially if you add twice the amount of pumpkin to the rolls you are making and have to run off to the store to buy more pumpkin -- isn't that right, Evie?  That was just the beginning of the day.  So, I went off to Lakewood, to the bank to deposit a check we got for some law suit filed against TIAA-CREF, our retirement account.  It was a hefty sum and I am not asking any questions.  I then went to Home Depot, to find a sound baffle for septic system's motor, now louder and more annoying than ever since it was cleaned.  Everyone with this type of system comes up with their own style of sound inhibitor, mine a wood barrel with coconut stuffing.  It helps.  After shopping, I stopped at Time Warner, in downtown Jamestown to pick up a new remote for our TV. When I got home, Evie was working with her second batch of rolls, had pounded out the pork for schnitzel that evening, and was mostly done with the preparation for our dinner.  Only the pumpkin rolls needed to be baked.

I settled down with my lunch and I tried the new remote and, of course, it didn't work, so I ended up on the phone with Time Warner for at least a half hour, going through their instructions on how to set up the remote but it would not turn off the TV and the volume control did not work. So, today at 2:00, the cable guy will be over to reconfigure the remote, making sure it works properly.  A simple switching of remotes ended up being a big pain in the posterior.

Around 4:00, Evie wanted some exercise so she went out to chop up the leaves which were covering our lawn, making sure our yard looked manicured for at least twelve hours.  It worked.  I, of course, did nothing, mostly sat around and read THE BOOK THIEF, a long read that I am not yet taken with, perhaps because I know the story from having seen the movie.

An Aloha Dinner With Our Neighbors.

Both the Jones and Leonards are leaving in the next day or two so we had them over for dinner at 6:00.  It was a beautiful night on the lake, as we watched the day wane, sipping wine and enjoying appetizers as we talked about the vanished summer, the fall and winter ahead.

We had a great dinner, of schnitzel, cabbage, my daughter Jill's salad with fresh corn, and Chillingsworth's (a restaurant on Cape Cod) pumpkin rolls.  Everything was great and we stayed at the table until 9:00, enjoying our meal, finishing off a bottle or two of wine.  We are going to miss both couples this winter.  The Jones usually come up a couple of times during the winter, usually at holidays when we are traveling so we miss them.  The Leonards won't return till spring, alas.

It's almost 9:00 and I want to finish this so we can get out on the lake and kayak, a calm lake still, a beautiful morning for a paddle.