Sunny Sunday

Dawn: 6:38

Dusk: 8:58

It's bright and sunny morning, blue skies, blue lake, a cold 32º outside, a warm house, a latte and I am listening to a TED talk by the writer Andrew Solomon who talks about 'how the worst moments in our life make us who we are.'   As as a child/teen, he was bullied for his homosexuality and hated himself until he was able to  'forge meaning, build idendity', his mantra. He also quoted the Biblical verse "When I am weak, then I am strong, "the Buddhist idea: "Nirvana is when you find in your sorrow the seeds of your joy." And finally, he ended with: "Love no matter what, " love whether an individual is gay, black, transgender, autistic, etc.  How sensible yet so difficult for so many people.

Yesterday was a typical Saturday, one if you have been reading my blog at all, you know: yoga at 9:00, this time, however, led by Woodlawn native and good friend, Julie Lescynski, who is just beginning her career as a yoga teacher, having taken the rigorous two hundred hour course at Studio Panterra in Westfield.  It was a good class, and she will do well.  Afterwards, I went to Ryders Cup, and Joyce had a dozen fresh free range chicken eggs for me. They are quite a dozen, various sizes and colors, from different hens I presume.  Then home, to a calm lake, making us want to kayak but we decided to gather the trash so I could take it to the Transfer Station.

Purple Martin House Ready For Families

Evie's Nemesis:  The Red Squirrel

When I returned from the Transfer Station, the lake was still calm, the air a pleasant 50º, perfect for putting in my Purple Martin house.  So I donned my waders, got out my sledge hammer, and waded into the cold waters to pound the pipe at least a foot into the bottom, which would then hold my purple martin house.  Once the pipe was in, I carried the house, perched on a pole, out to the pipe, but the orifice, having been battered by my hammering with the sledge, was too small.  So I had to take the house back to the shore, get a file from the garage, and walk back out to the lake and file the inner circle until the orifice was wide enough for the martin pole.  And it was, as I launched the house, on its perch, and now it sits strong and straight about fifty feet from shore, ready for the martin scouts to arrive, then the families a few weeks later.  We have had martin houses for close to thirty years I would guess.  It's a spring ritual here along Woodlawn, as my neighbors and I put our martin houses in sometime in mid to late April.

After I finished, we had lunch of lentil soup, which Evie made while I was at yoga, and grilled cheese sandwiches and watched The Nightly Show.  We then intended to kayak but the wind picked up (this time before we set out), so we decided to put it off until the wind calmed down.  It never did alas.  So we had another afternoon like most others, enjoying a good book (Evie is really loving hers: THE LOVE SONG OF QUEENIE HENNESEY).  I read some, watched some of the NBA games, and late afternoon we intended on driving to Findlay Lake, take a walk, then go to Pine Junction for dinner.

Elizabeth and Mary Marshaus

Just as I was about to shower, however, our good friend Stan Marshaus stopped over with his daughters, so we spent a good hour with them which was fine.  When girls came in, they went immediately to a couple of toys that they remember from the last time they were here and asked, finally, if Evie still had a treasure chest.  So they then went through the usual ritual, taking out all the toys, then trying to make up their mind which treasure to take.  It's fun to watch them agonize over their decisions; how well I know having just come off a couple of weeks of trying to pick colors for the bedroom.  They left about 5:30, so we nixed a walk but went to the Pine Junction anyways.  It was a beautiful night for the 17 mile drive to Pine Junction, past now green hills and farms, the occasional cows.  As we approached Pine Junction, usually difficult to find, we were shocked by what looked like a vast parking lot, filled with cars. Because its spring, we were able to see the restaurant and its parking lot through leafless trees.  I have to say I have never seen so many cars at Pine Junction and we were worried if we would find a place to sit.

A Happy Woman

Cheers

Fortunately, there were two seats at at the bar, though we had to sit across from each other.  The bar/restaurant and outdoor patio with a fire pit were filled with happy people, all seemingly excited by the joy of spring, sunlight, and the warm air. We both ordered sandwiches, the bourbon burger for me, a chicken sandwich for Evie and both were stellar, worth coming back for, especially the sweet potato fries.  We drove home in the fading light, touching the farm lands and pastures with the sun's dying rays.

Dusk In Amish Country

Setting Sun Photo Through Evie's Rearview Mirror

We were looking forward to watching the White House's Correspondent's dinner, covered by C-Span but it was running close to forty five minutes late, so the President did not start his speech, usually funny, until around 10:30.  That's a long time to sit around and watch people walk into a hotel, sit down to a four course dinner, with little if any comment by C-Span.  I gave up and went up to read, deciding to watch the speeches this morning, a good choice.  Evie, however, stayed up and watched before going to bed.

It's now7:46 and we both hope to kayak in the next hour.  Let's see if the wind cooperates and holds off till 10:00 or 11:00. It's 8:30 and windy.  I guess we will hike rather than kayak this morning.