Another Winter Weekend Begins

Loving the Winter Weather

The Spectacular Now Of Winter

Photograph of Long Point by Evie Joy or Ansel Adams?

Saturday Morning at 7:40

It's just 7:10 and I have been up for almost an hour.  Dawn is approaching and the lake, the gray sky are visible, no hint of a sunrise yet, just a vast wasteland of snow and ice.  It looks like it could be a nice day though it's 9º at the moment, getting into the twenties with some sun later in the day.

Lovely Dark and Deep

Snow Shoeing Victoria

Yoga was cancelled yesterday so we hung out, drinking coffee, enjoying being inside on a very cold morning.  At 9:00, I did  bake another loaf of artisan bread, a healthy loaf, with oats, quinoa, and flax seed. I am getting the process down finally so we both really enjoy its texture, especially the crust. It's best toasted, and we love it with sandwiches. Around 11:00, after having had a relaxing morning, chasing squirrels off the feeder, and baking bread, we put on our snow shoes, to walk the woods of Woodlawn/Victoria in a mini blizzard, just the way we like it.  It was a walk in a winter wonderland as we spent a could part of our snow shoeing taking picture so the woods, tree limbs frosted with heavy layers of snow.  It was like walking in winter museum, every where you looked was a painting more spectacular than the last.  And we saw and heard birds for the first time in awhile, especially woodpeckers, four or five of them, knocking on the trees, creating a pecking rhythm.  We paused to try to get photos but they always flew away before we could catch them.  So we had to satisfy ourselves with just the beauty of each moment in the woods.  It was tough going, at least a foot of snow, so as the lead, it was exhausting make the tracks, much easier, however, retracing our route. We were out for about an hour, not getting cold, though the temperatures were in the teens.  What a grand way to spend a morning.  You can see why we love the winter here at the lake

Frosted Pine Boughs

Santa Claus?

Blue Skies, Frosted Bent Trunks

After snow shoeing, we had homemade vegetable soup and a bagel and watched, what else, Jon Stewart and The Nightly Show.  This is the second week of The Nightly Show and its becoming a regular feature in our schedule, just like Stephen Colbert.  We highly recommend it, with its emphasis on 'keeping it 100', which means telling the truth, no hedging your bets.  It's lot of fun.

Red Squirrel Hell

Red Squirrel Confused

We did little the rest of the afternoon until 4:00. The sun came out, the skies were blue, so we found our mojo and went out again, this time cross country skiing.  It was cold, however, with a fierce breeze on the lake, so we stayed in Woodlawn, skiing on the roads, the yards, for about thirty minutes.  My fingers were frozen by the time I got in, so I ran them under cold water, which relieved somewhat the pain.  I think my mittens were still wet from the morning, thus the frozen fingers.  Evie had not trouble and is loving her new skis and boots and gloves....winter woman!

Cross Country Skiing Woodlawn

We were still pumped from our day of snow shoeing and skiing, so we got out the cheese, made a couple of manhattans, and had a long pre prandial cocktail hour, listening first to POTUS, then to Alt Nation, our favorite music station.  We love watching the lake turn black, then watch the lights of snowmobiles coming out of nowhere, towards our house, then hang a right, and race up the lake.

For dinner, we had leftovers, some soup, bread, and veggies,  and we were happy enough as we watched the last episode of one of our favorite series, Parenthood.  Unfortunately, it was sappy, not what we wanted, a paean to family, and they lose Zeke, the patriarch at the end.  And I dislike intensely scenes where the family happily play a game of either baseball or touch football, excited and joyous.  I have never had fun at a family football or baseball game, sorry. Usually, Dad ends up running over one of the kids or someone screams or cries, running off the field in a pique.  It's only fun and exciting in the movies or on TV. Our favorite ending remains the end of The Killing and our all time, the last two minutes of the movie Cinema Paradiso.  It always brings both Evie and me to tears.

I am including a poem I really enjoyed from yesterday's Writers's Almanac; you may have to be somewhere around my age for it to make most sense.  Enjoy!

From Our House to Your House

by Jack Ridl

It is 1959. It is the cusp of the coming revolution.
We still like Ike. We are still afraid of Sputnik.
We read Life magazine and Sports Illustrated
where the athletes grow up shooting hoops
in the driveway, playing catch in the backyard.
We sit on our sectional sofa. My mother loves
Danish modern. Our pants have cuffs. Our hair
is short. We are smiling and we mean it. I am
a guard. My father is my coach. I am sitting
next to him on the bench. I am ready to go in.
My sister will cheer. My mother will make
the pre-game meal from The Joy of Cooking.
Buster is a good dog. We are all at an angle.
We are a family at an angle. Our clothes are
pressed. We look into the eye of the camera.
“Look ‘em in the eye,” my father teaches us.
All we see ahead are wins, good grades,
Christmas. We believe in being happy. We
believe in mowing the lawn, a two-car garage,
a freezer, and what the teacher says. There is
nothing on the wall. We are facing away
from the wall. The jungle is far from home.
Hoses are for cleaning the car, watering
the gardens. My sister walks to school. My
father and I lean into the camera. My mother
and sister sit up straight. Ike has kept us
safe. In the spring, we will have a new car,
a Plymouth Fury with whitewalls and a vinyl top.

“From Our House to Your House” by 

THE BURNING ROOM: MICHAEL CONNELLY

Reading Michael Connelly again, following Harry Bosch, takes me back to the early 1980's when I first began reading the Harry Bosch novels. Then, Harry was just starting out as a detective.  Now, he's about ready to retire, teaching his young female partner, Lucia Soto, how to be a good detective.

Like other detective stories and TV shows, Harry now researches LAPD's Open Unsolved Cases.  In this one, a guitar player, shot ten years ago, finally dies, allowing the lab to trace the bullet to a rifle, thus begins the search for the shooter.  As they get closer to solving the case, Bosch realizes that Soto also seems to be working another case on her own.  He confronts her and she tells about a fire in a day care center, one in which several children die and she was one of the survivors.

So we have two cases going on and ironically, the solving of one leads to the other, both unsatisfactorily. As to the fire, the two crooks who started it as a diversion for a bank robbery are dead and their accomplish, a women, has disappeared until Soto and Bosch trace her to a nunnery. They realize that she had not intended for the fire to kill eight children and as penance, joined a nunnery, spending her time working with the poor.  She dies in Mexico, a result of a drug cartels war, thus ending the search.

And as for the guitar player, the bullet was not meant for him, but the trumpet player. They are able to trace the bullet back to the trumpet player and unfaithful wife, an irate husband, who just happens to be the money behind a well known and powerful politician, in fact, the ex Mayor of LA.  It ends with the death of one of the minions, no doubt acting on the orders of the higher ups, but nothing can be proved to indite them so he pays for it.  The plot is silly but I liked the relationship between Bosch and his young detective Lucia Soto, who earns her badge in Bosch's eyes.  I would not be surprised to see her in his next novel, as Bosch fades into the background, to retirement.

A Very Early Friday Morning

7:28

It's 6:30 and I have, unfortunately, been up for an hour.  Not sure why, but here I am, listening to NPR, staring at the darkness outside our front windows, no hint of dawn yet.  It's a chilly 23º out, with some snow flakes.  We got two of three inches overnight, another couple this morning, a wet snow, the branches of our pines hanging low, caked with snow or ice.  It's not supposed to get any warmer, in fact, we may have the high of the day at the moment.

Our Squirrel Proof Feeder

I started yesterday with breakfast in Bemus, only two of us, but it's always good to get out and be part of the mostly male breakfast crowd once a week.  I usually have either a waffle or breakfast sandwich, nothing too heavy as I know I have yoga at 10:00.  We are usually there for an hour, from 8:00 to 9:00, then go our ways.  It has become part of my routine over the past four years, something I look forward to and I seem to have lots of company.

How Do I Get Out?

I remembered that yoga was at 10:00, not 9:30, so I was on time.  Class was packed, a nice sign, so that we had to move our yoga mats closer together.  It's strange that despite the fact we have almost double the area of the previous studio, it still feels crowded yet we have the same amount of people. It was me, twelve ladies, and one new guy, my age or older, who seemed to know what he was doing. I have never seen him before, but it would be nice if he became a regular or not.  I like being the only male! Since I had my fill of coffee before class, a couple of cups at home, a couple of more at the Bemus Point Inn, I skipped Ryders Cup, did not have a car appointment, and just came straight home. O, yea, I forgot. I did stop at the post office, sending off a batch of chocolate chip cookies Evie made yesterday to our grandson, Tyler, in college.  Let's hope he remembers to check his mail.  Kids these days don't know what snail mail is, at least, with email and texting, they see little need for it, for checking it. So Evie texts him...check your mail, cookies are en route.

While I was gone, Evie made a huge pot of her vegetable soup, and a leftover special for lunch, noodles, mushrooms, and anything else she could find in the refrigerator.  We watched Jon Stewart and The Nightly Show, which we are beginning to enjoy.  It had a panel which discussed the controversy surrounding the movie American Sniper; funny as well as interesting points of view.

Our afternoons do not change much, so that we did little other than read, nap or watch some TV.  It started to snow hard around 3:00, almost blizzard like though it was a wet snow because the temperatures were in the 30's.  Around 4:30, I decided I could not stay inside and watch the blizzard; I wanted to be part of it, so I put on my skis and went out on the lake to ski for a half hour.  I love it when you can hardly see, when the snow hits your face, though I could do without the wind.  It was great for a while but because of the wet snow, my skis were starting to freeze up if I paused for a moment, making it difficult to slide.  In fact, when I got off the lake, started skiing through the yards, I could not slide and had to take off my skis, the bottoms caked with an inch of frozen snow.  Still, it was worth it to be out there.

Around 6:00, it was still snowing hard when we drove over to the McClures for dinner.  We took our time as the roads were definitely slippery but had no trouble.  As usual, we had a great dinner, compliments of Linda, Greek lemon and egg soup for an appetizer, Ina Garten's roast chicken with stuffing, and roasted cabbage as a side.  It was a perfect night to be cosy inside, to enjoy a great meal and wine, to be with our good friends, as it snowed outside.  For dessert, we had a pistachio cake with whipped cream and even though we were both full from dinner, we had to have the cake.  I could barely walk out of the house at 9:40 I was so full.  Fortunately, though it was still snowing, the roads were plowed and mostly empty, so we had an uneventful drive home to Woodlawn.  It was 10:00 when we got home and read some before going up to bed.

No yoga this morning.  Our only plans are to bake some bread, then make four pounds worth of cabbage rolls for the next couple of weeks.  And we hope to get outside and do some cross country skiing, either on the lake or the trail at Webb's.  As I finish this, it's 7:00 and still dark out though I can just make out the lake surface.

It's now 8:30 and Evie, the lucky girl, is still sleeping.  It's snowing hard outside, has for most of the morning, and I have finished reading a couple extended articles, one on Tom Brady from the NYTimes , the other on Marcin Gortat, a Polish basketball player who has made it big in the NBA,
and, of course, David Brooks and Paul Krugman and Cleveland's own Connie Schultz, who is often published in the Jamestown Post Journal. Now I am ready for a nap.

A Spectacular Thursday Morning Dawn

7:28

7:32

It's 7:00 and I have been up for a half hour.  It's still dark outside but I can see a slash of rose just above the skyline but it's hard to make out. It's twenty eight degrees warmer than yesterday, lots of clouds instead of a clear sky.  It may get up into the 30's before dipping down to single digits over the next few days.

7:34

7:31

Yesterday it  felt like we were living at the North Pole, with clear blue skies, sparkling white lake of snow, and below zero temperatures.  Not the kind of weather to leave early morning for yoga, but I was a trooper, left around 9:00, after spending a good ten minutes trying to get the ice off the inside of my car.  Any thoughts on how to keep the ice off the inside windshield?  Anyways, I got to yoga by 9:30 only to realize that it did not start until 10:00.  Not the brightest bulb.  But I was able to have a half hour on my own before class, relaxing and stretching.  After class, I went to Ryders, as I hadn't been there in a week.  When I got home, Evie was ready to drive to Jamestown, a visit to the dentist for teeth cleaning, then shopping at Wegmans.  For lunch, I made a Western, with the leftover meatloaf and watched another violent episode of Banshee.  Lots of shooting but the good guys rarely get touched.

A Clear, Cold Wednesday Afternoon,

I then read some, relaxed, took a brief nap before gathering my cross country ski equipment and venturing outside in the cold.  Fortunately, there was not much wind though I kept off the lake for the first half, skiing through Woodlawn and the campground to Magnolia, then out on the vast whiteness of the lake, and skiing home.  The west edge of the lake was in shadows, so I stayed out in the sun when I could.  It was definitely colder when I was in the shade.  I was out for about forty five minutes, working up a good sweat.  Evie was still shopping when I got home, so I took a shower because we were going out to the Viking Club for wings.  She got home around 5:00, with lots of stuff, and we put things away, relaxed for a half hour.

 The Shadows On Victoria, Late Afternoon

A Selfiie

We left for the Viking about 6:15, in the dark, missing what would have been a lovely sunset.  We were lucky to find a seat at the bar.  We recognized a couple of people from the previous week, a couple who rode their snowmobiles to the club, and a regular, Bob Pickett.

Our New Friends, Bob Pickett, Mary Taylor, and Mrs. Foley

So we ordered our beers and two ladies, probably in their 80's were sitting next to us so we struck up a conversation with them.  Both were delightful, one a widow for 18 years, the other having gone through three husbands. Both grew up in Jamestown and knew the area well.  One, Mary Taylor, we discovered, loves Manhattans, the other, Mrs. Foley, seems to be a teetotaler.  We had fun talking with them, found we like the same restaurants in Jamestown, and that their all time favorite was also ours, Bud's Carriage House, though they knew it much earlier than us. They had gotten to the club earlier, to watch the sunset, and left earlier than us.  We hope to see them again, perhaps next Wednesday.  After they left, another other couple we knew came in, Dawn and Doug from Ashville, so it was fun to see them.  They have been there like us the past two Wednesdays, so we are getting to know each other.

Doug and Dawn, A Winning Ticket 

A little later, another couple walked in, who looked familiar and we realized they live on the lake, just beyond the campground in Magnolia.  We had talked to them a couple of times when kayaking while they were in the process of building their house.  Their last name is Fish, forgot their first, and we struck up a conversation with them and found we also had a lot in common.  A bar seems to be a small world.  And, eventually there were around twelve of us sitting around, laughing, talking with each other, kidding Dawn about lotto tickets, and a few of the patrons ended up buying her tickets, and she eventually won ten bucks. Anyways, it ended up being a fun evening, as we all sort of bonded at the bar, something that rarely happens, and by the end the evening, we knew everyone.  A fun night.  O, yea, besides beers I had some great wings and Evie loved her Viking burger.  We all vowed to be back next Wednesday, so we will have to wait and see.  The Viking Club is so different from the Rod and Gun where it's so crowded you never really get a chance to talk to anyone.

Waiting For Sun To Rise On A Ten Below Cloudless Morning

7:02

7:40

Up at 6:30, surprised by the temperature, so I went outside to pick up the paper and agreed, it's cold outside.  At the moment, 7:10, the sky is beginning to turn light blue, pink above the tree line.  And a fisherman just walked out in the middle of the lake, despite the cold.  Dedication.

Yesterday was a bore of a day, no yoga because I had another car appointment at 10:00, the second day in a row.  So I drove to the dealer, dropped my car off, was told it would be an hour, walked to Tops to get some exercise, found what I was looking for in the Hispanic section, Masa flour for making tortillas at home.  Walked back to the dealer, found that when trying to fix part A, they found part B was so rusty that I needed a new part.  So two hours later, I walked out to my car, with another hefty bill, but it started up, drove nicely.  I then stopped at Brigotta's again, to pick up another two heads of cabbage (29 cents a pound) because we are going to make a large batch of cabbage rolls this week.  Then I stopped at Sam's for gas, 2.41 a gallon, a deal for New York State.

So ended my morning at the car dealer and I hope to stay away for a couple of months.  I did have another great lunch, like Monday, an avocado, tomato, lettuce, and mayo sandwich on homemade bread.  I could eat this every day.  We watched Jon Stewart and The Nightly Show, which is taking Stephen Colbert's place.  It's going to take awhile to see if we like it, but we will give it time.  If it's successful, Larry Wilmore will be the only black comedian on a late night show.  It defintely has a minority slant, with many different points of view.

Nothing exciting the rest of the day, some reading, TV and a nap.  Love my naps.  Around 4:00, we decided to brave the cold and headed out to the lake to cross country ski, a bad decision.  We hardly made it to the end of Woodlawn, before the cold and wind forced us back towards Victoria.  By the time we got to Victoria, Evie was ready to head in, her fingers frozen.  I was wearing mittens, so I was able to stay out longer, skiing down the road to Lehman's, then out on the lake, and back home. But it was cold, too cold to enjoy.

About 5:15, I peeled some potatoes, Evie trimmed some brussels sprouts, and pulled the leftover meatloaf out of the refrigerator.  We then listened to POTUS with a glass of wine until we  got hungry around 6:30.  So we heated up the meatloaf, boiled and mashed the potatoes, and steamed and then pan roasted the brussels sprouts in butter.  We then binged on The Americans, as we ate our dinner, watching four episodes from Season Two.  That took us up to bed time, so I went upstairs to read and Evie stayed downstairs to watch a little more TV before coming up to bed.

It's now 7:38 and I am waiting for the sun to rise to take a final photograph of the morning.  It's becoming dark pink over Tom's Point.  Here comes the sun.

No Blizzard, Just Frigid Temperatures, An Inch Of Snow

Just Remembering

7:45

Up at 6:45, to a darkened house.  I turned on the coffee, went in and turned on the TV to watch the weather on the East Coast.  It looks like lots of snow, but so far, most of the cities seem to be handling it though it could get worst up towards Boston.  I just listened to the Governor of CT and he said there was little loss of power, and the State seems in decent shape.  Noone is on the roads, so it will be a day inside for most residents. It's 15º here, windy but no snow, a couple fisherman out on the lake now, at 7:35.

Yesterday I got back in routine, sort of, and went to Yin Yoga.  I had not been in a week so it was good to see everyone again, and stretch my limbs to their max.  It was a cold morning but we had a big class for us, twelve ladies and moi.  I did not stop for coffee because I knew I would be heading out at 12:30 to get an oil change on my Pilot, check out a strange noise in the front end.  For lunch, Evie made delicious avocado and tomato sandwiches on my homemade bread, toasted, and it was like something out of a gourmet diner.  We loved the sandwiches, and the bread especially tasted healthy and crunchy.  I left at 12:30, dropped my car off at 1:00 and walked over to Tops to waste some time, bought a Tim Horton coffee, and browsed the vegetables, but none looked inviting.  Unfortunately, I then got a phone call from the mechanic...I needed new front rotors, calipers and brakes.  What was I to do but say do it.  I guess I need brakes.  So I waited another hour and a half for my car, before dropping a load of bucks.  As I paid, Levi mentioned that when checking the car's brakes, they noticed something else was broken.  So, I am going back again this morning to get that fixed.  It's time to start thinking seriously about a new car.

After my sojourn in Jamestown, I stopped at Brigotta's in Jamestown, and picked up some Brussels sprouts and cabbage before meeting Evie and Ron and Linda Mc Clure at the Lakewood Eight Theater.  We watched the controversial movie, American Sniper, along with 15 other people.  I think the McClures liked the movie more than us.  Neither Evie nor I were invested emotionally in the movie for some reason. It did not grab us.  I liked The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty more.  I am not sure why some are offended by the movie.  Sure the soldiers make racist remarks about the Iraqis but that's war.  You don't like the enemy.  But none of us could see why this was a life changing film for some people.  Yes, reading REDEPLOYMENT, or THE YELLOW BIRDS,  or BILLY LYNN'S LONG HALF TIME WALK change the way we look at war.  Anyways, I am glad I saw it so I can at least 'try' to understand the controversy, from both the left and right.

After the movie, we went, where else, to our old standby,  The Seezurh House in Bemus Point for dinner.  It was practically empty, not a  surprise mid week in the winter, but it was still warm and welcoming.  And, most importantly, Evie's grilled chicken sandwich is  back on the menu, so she was a very happy girl.  I had prime rib, grilled, with onions and peppers and it was delicious.  I am sure it was leftover from the weekend, but it was still tender and tasty.  We stayed until about 8:30 and it was good to see the Mc Clures, to be back at the Seezurh House.  When we got home, we were really tired but stayed up and watched some junk TV before going to bed.

A Cold Monday, Perhaps A Couple Inches of Snow

7:45

Marisa At A Irish Feis

It's 7:30 and I have been up since 6:45.  The sky is beginning to lighten, though it's either foggy or snowing lightly, nothing seems clear.  Only one tent is out the ice, braving the cold; perhaps the rest know something about the weather to come.  It's 15º and will not get much warmer.  It may be too cold to ski.

Group Dance

I have included a couple pictures of our lovely sixth grader Marisa, from her latest Irish Dancing Feis, which took place in her hometown of Darien, CT.  Obviously, we are very proud of her.

Stepping  Out

Stepping Up

Yesterday our house felt empty because our ebullient niece, Leah, was back in Reno after spending five day with us.  No surprise, we both had little energy, as we may have expended most of it trying to keep up with a twenty two year old (or she tried to keep up with us).  We had a long morning coffee, waiting to find some mojo to get up and do something.  Finally, we decided it was a must to ski around 10:30 when the sun came out, the sky turned blue, and the lake was filled with fishing huts off Long Point.  We knew it was going to be windy and cold, so we skied into the wind at first but both of us were surprised at how cold it was going into the wind.  We only made it as far as the campground before turning around and putting the wind at our backs.  If only we could always go this way, it would have been fine.  But by the time we got to the reeds, we turned around because we knew we would have to fight our way back through the wind and cold.  So, we ended up staying out for less than a half hour, but we were happy to get some skiing in.

Freezing On The Lake

Before our skiing, however, I drove off to Mayville, to pick up some ground chuck at the Lighthouse Grocery for a dinner, then on to Tops to pick up a few other things.  I wanted meatloaf for dinner, so I did not mind getting out on the road by 9:00, little traffic, few customers in the stores.

Both of us were excited about our breakfast after skiing, the house amazingly warm when we walked in to take off our shoes.  Evie quickly started the bacon, then eggs and toast, and I made us a cup of good coffee.  We watched CBS Sunday Morning, which had a section on the popular cook, Ina Garten, giving some background to her life, her road to becoming America's favorite cook.

We then spent the afternoon as we usually do, reading, watching some TV, taking a nap, cleaning up the kitchen, for Evie, getting lots of wash done. I watched some of the Ohio State game, but none of the games interested me much.  We relaxed with some wine and cheese around 5:30, as the sky began to darken, the lights of the fishing huts disappeared, as the fishermen trudged off the lake, pulling their sleds behind them, the end of day.

Dusk, 5:51PM

Dinner was just what I wanted, meatloaf with ketchup, potatoes and salad and we have enough left for sandwiches or another dinner.  Yum.  We struggled to find something interesting on TV, watched Bill Maher, some what off his game the last two weeks, then Downton Abbey which we find increasingly boring, silly, having lost its narrative line.  Too many side stories of little interest to us, put in because they seem to echo modern concerns (PTSD, Transgenders?, pre marital sex, etc).  We realize things are changing in pre WWII Great Britain but it just seems too obvious, intentional rather than a natural part of the narrative.

Just as I was finishing this, a fox ran out on the lake, hurried to the left of our house, turned around and ran back to the right and up the front yard into the woods.  I wonder if something was chasing him because it did not look as if he were in pursuit.  Always something to see here on the lake.

A Quiet And Boring Sunday On The Lake (No Leah)

The Old Smoothies

Au Revoir Leah

7:30

Up early, of course, at 6:00 but I went to bed anxious for morning to come.  Sometimes, I just cannot wait to get up, to watch the coming of dawn, to enjoy my coffee, to see what's on NPR.  So, today was one of those days.  Our niece, Leah, is flying back to Reno this morning.  She stayed overnight in Buffalo, more on that later, and her plane is on time and she should be in the air at the moment.  It's 24º out, and the ice fishing village is beginning to form.

Leah Jumps

Yesterday, once again, I skipped yoga and I don't seem to miss it.  Scary that it feels so good to not have to drive to Lakewood in the morning.  Instead, we were all up at 7:00, Leah having to reserve a seat on Southwest.  Around 8:30, however, we moved off the couches and I popped the bread I had put together Friday afternoon, into a Dutch Oven, then a 500º oven and forty minutes later, we had a great loaf of healthy bread, with oats, flax, quinoa, and flour. After the bread was done, we decided to go over to Long Point for cross country skiing after, of course, my weekly trip to the Transfer Station. All's well with the guys there.

We decided this time to cross country ski Long Point Park, so we parked at the end of Lakeside Drive.  It was fun to ski in the park, as the trails were well used, either by skiers, hikers or snowmobiles though we only saw one other skier.  We did veer off the trail once, bushwhacking for about 15 minutes before dropping down to the Marina and skiing out to the end of Long Point, then back to our car.  It was our longest day on skis or snow shoes, as we were out close to two hours, having skied just about four miles.  Needless to say, all our plans for the afternoon were put aside, as all we wanted was lunch, then to relax the rest of the afternoon until it was time to drive to Buffalo.  I think we might have overdone it with our morning exercise!

End of The Week

We left for Buffalo at 4:00 because Leah's flight was leaving this morning at 7:00, so we got her a room at a motel across the street from the airport, to make sure she could make her flight on time. Just before we left, there was a winter snow/ice advisory for Western New York, just what I hoped to avoid.  And for once, the forecasters were accurate.  Our drive to Fredonia was through freezing rain and I had to stop a couple of times to scrape the ice off the windows.  Leah wanted a souvenir from the area so we stopped at Mudslingers, local potters, in Fredonia, and she was able to find three bowls to take back as gifts.  We then drove to Buffalo, slowly, through snow and rain, a miserable hour or more on Interstate 90.  We planned to go to the Mall and eat but decided to look for something else nearby and saw a Long Star Steakhouse just off the interstate.  So we fought the snow, parked and found out there was a two and a half hour wait.  What to do?  Next store was a taco shop, so in we went, had cokes and burritos and that was our dinner, not quite what we hoped for.  We dropped Leah off at the motel, made sure her room was decent, she was safe and ready, then said our goodbyes, stopped at Tim Horton's next door for a coffee, and headed home.  It was a white knuckle drive most of the way, snow, sleet, ice, and lots of traffic.  The snow let up some after Fredonia, mostly rain, but from Westfield home it was snow, sleet and ice once again.  It took us two hours to get home and we "kissed the ground" when we arrived.  I am not used to venturing out when the weather is bad.

A Hungry Woodpecker

We changed into comfortable clothes, popped open a couple of beers, put some popcorn in bowls, and we watched some Jon Stewart and another episode of Parenthood before going up to bed.  It was snowing when we went up, and it looks like we had a couple of inches overnight.

A Sad-Making Saturday, Leah's Last Day At The Lake

Leah and Evie, Ready For Bear

Pooped

7:38

Another cold morning on the lake, 23º, and I am up way to early, at 5:30.  I tried but could not get back to sleep, so here I am, at 5:45, starting my blog in a chilly living room.  Coffee's brewing, the fireplace is on, and I am about to turn NPR on, so soon, all will be right in the world.

This is Leah's last day here at the lake, alas, so we hope to make the most of it.  Because her flight leaves Sunday morning at 7:00, we have gotten her a motel room across the street from the airport, so we will be driving to Buffalo, late afternoon, having dinner, then dropping her off at her room for the evening, then heading back to the lake.  It's now 7:00 and everyone is up, Leah because she had to reserve her seat on Southwest, twenty four hours ahead of time, and Evie because Leah's up.

A Happy College Grad

Our Cross Country Ski Trail Head

Friday, after a fine morning of coffee and my usual. homemade granola, with plain yogurt and blueberries, we went cross country skiing at Dobbins Woods, an easy ten minute drive.  It was a perfect morning for it, cold enough but not uncomfortable, as we let Leah blaze the trail through the loop, through woods and lovely sun covered hemlock forests. Their branches, hanging low because of the snow, covered us with snow if we brushed them while skiing. After one loop, we bisected the circle by bush whacking, making our own trail through the snow and dead fall, great fun and interesting as you don't quite know where you are going, what you will find.  It added another twenty five minutes to our skiing, which was just right.  Leah loved it, said it reminded her of skiing with her Mom. We were home by 12:30 and Leah was famished, having had a light breakfast, so Evie made her a chicken/cheese quesadilla and I had the leftover chicken piccata and rice.

Riding High

Falling Down

After lunch, I took it easy for an hour while Evie made up the mushroom pasta sauce for tonight's dinner and Leah did one of her workouts for her race.  When Evie was through with her cooking, the two of us went cross country skiing because the sun was out, sky blue, the lake a brilliant, virgin white.  We could not pass it up, so we skied down to Wells Bay and back, creating streaks on the otherwise untouched surface of the lake. It was another perfect afternoon on the lake, one that's rare because we do not get many sunny days.  So when they happen, we better take advantage of them.

Blue Skies At The Lake

A Legal Leah Enjoys A Cider With Aunt Evie

At Brazils, In Downtown Jamestown

Mid afternoon, we drove into Jamestown, so Leah could see the city.  We hit a couple of the hot spots, a new store we like, then the Jamestown Skate shop and their indoor skate board ramp.  We then stopped at the Dykeman Gallery and browsed a bit.  Evie found some mini bowls we liked so we got a deal, eight for half price, twelve bucks.  We then were thirsty and it was getting late so we dropped in at Brazil's Craft Beer and Wine Bar, so Leah could see the 'high life' in Jamestown.  We were lucky to get seats at the bar and it was happy hour, so we went wild, ordering a couple of beers and blackberry pear cider for Leah.  It was just starting to get crowded as we left so it was good timing but a fun half hour and we enjoyed the beers and cider, but we wanted to get home because we were making fresh pasta.

Fresh Pasta Master

We were home by 6:00 and Evie had already made the mushroom and cream pasta sauce and the dough for the fresh pasta so she and Leah pulled out the pasta dough and Leah basically did the rest, putting the dough through the pasta machine a couple of times, then once more for fettuccine.  By the time she was done, she was an expert.  We dropped it in the boiling water for about five minutes, spooned it out into the pan with the sauce and let it marry for a few minutes while we got the salad and veggies on the table.  Evie plated the pasta sauce and fettuccine and we had another gourmet dinner.  Leah loved the sauce and pasta, of course, knowing this might be her last home cooked meal for awhile.

Cooking  Fresh Pasta 

After dinner, Leah and Eve went through some of the old picture albums, from when she visited Chautauqua with her family while I cleaned up the kitchen.  We then sat around in the living room, looking at pictures from our day, surfing the net, and talking about what we wanted to do on Leah's final day tomorrow.  We had planned on lake walking once again but since no one mentioned it, I think we were just too tired out to contemplate getting dressed and going out again.  We actually never made it in to the TV room, content to sit in the living room, music playing, and a cosy fire to keep us warm. I read and Leah and Evie played Bananagrams for an hour before we all went up to bed early, tired out I think from our past five days of fun.