The Silence of A Gray Sunday Morning, A Lake Like A Mirror

6:56

7:47

It's 7:00, I just got up, and I am sitting here listening to Terry Gross interview a journalist who just got back from covering the ebola epidemic in Liberia.  The lake is gray but placid, a few dots mar the surface, ducks I suppose, lots of clouds, a colorless morning in November, tree antlers like carvings on the sky.

Yesterday was much like today, a wet coldness, some wind, occasional rain or sleet, no sunny afternoon as predicted.  It was a good morning to go to yoga, but it ended up being a mistake.  I knew we were having a substitute teacher but I did not read the class description thinking it would be the same as any Saturday.  It wasn't...I had stepped into a Power Yoga class! The teacher stood most of class, rarely modeling a position, but like a drill instructor, barked out our directions.  I was not used to the speed, of moving from one position to another, nor the rigor of holding some very difficult poses, like plank or downward facing dog for three of four minutes in between other positions.  I tried to keep up but after twenty minutes gave up, relaxed, did what I could, rested when I wanted and realized that this was more conditioning than what I might call yoga.  At least I learned something...stay away from power yoga classes.  There were just three of us fortunately, and both knew the teacher, the fact that it was a power class and were  good at it.  It was fun watching them keep up with the physicality of class.  I stopped at Ryders Cup, to reward myself with a coffee for making it through the class.

I got home and quickly packed up all the trash in my car and took it to the Transfer Station, always crowded with locals getting rid of a week's worth of stuff.  We had lots since Evie has been trying to to throw away or send to Salvation Army much of what we no longer need after almost twenty years here at the lake in our new house (rebuilt in 1996).  The rest of the afternoon we both took it easy, what else to do on a cloudy Saturday afternoon.  I had the leftover chicken curry for lunch and around 2:00, Evie discovered one of our all time favorite romantic comedies was on TV, The American President, with Michael Douglas and Annette Bening.  Not only do we like the characters, the story, the romantic comedy theme, but also the politics, and it seemed as relevant today as it did when it came out some fourteen years ago.  In the movie, the Republicans are selling two ideas,  fear and blame, two themes which worked so successfully this past week.  At least in the movie, the Democrats, "the good guys", win.  It was nice to be lost in the world of film for a couple of hours, so much more fun than reality.

Linda and Ron

Happy To Be Out

At 6:30, the Mc Clures picked us up and we went for dinner at the Landmark, in the old Ironstone restaurant building in downtown Jamestown.  We were surprised that all the parking lots seemed filled and we saw why when we walked in.  The place was packed, the bar, the lounge and the main dining room which seated close to 75 people.  It was thrilling actually to walk into a  restaurant in Jamestown, in November, and see it filled with people having a great time, many tables holding eight to ten people.  The ambiance was great, all four of us were happy to be there.  And our meals, all of them, matched the mood, Evie and Linda having salmon picata, Ron sea bass, me a ribeye. Everything went well until we got the bill.  Both Ron and I looked at ours and the waitress had mixed up some of our entrees.  We waited about ten minutes for her to return, told her, and she said she would fix it.  She dropped them off again, left and mine was still wrong and Ron's was total was only $3.59, one Bud light, which  he never ordered by the way.  We waited again, told the waitress, she looked befuddled, took the bills again to fix.  She came back again, left, and Ron's was correct this time but mine was wrong again, charging me for Ron's sea bass and crab soup.  So, I wrote down, on the check, what Evie and I had and waited for her to return.  She did with what I assume was the owner, checked the bill again, took it away, brought it back and it was finally right.  She never apologized during this protracted postprandial snafu but did leave a coconut ice cream cake dessert, as a kind of apology.  I paid the bill, in cash, left it on the table, and we left both aggravated but laughing about the entire debacle.  We will go back, for the food and ambiance, and hope for a better experience at the end of our meal.

We got home around 10:30, in time to watch some of the Ohio State football game before going up to bed.  An interesting night, to say the least.