Mostly Gray Skies But No Rain In Sight Today

First Day Of School For Nick, A Senior, Marlena, A Seventh Grader

6:53

8:18

I woke around 6:45 to a gray morning, a sky lacking any color, all is gray thus, a slight breeze and 62º.  It sounds like this will be the forecast for the day, with a slight chance of rain.  The only sounds, the hum of lake flies under the trees, the honking of geese in the distance.

Why He's Called A Blue Heron

On and off yesterday morning, we had a lovely rain, never heavy, just the kind we love, so we sat inside for much of the morning, listening to it hit our roof.  It was much needed and I would guess it was less than a quarter of an inch but I am not complaining.  Around noon, it cleared up some, so we kayaked for an hour though the trips have ended up being more of a photographic journey then a paddle.  Evie spotted a blue heron walking along the shore of Long Point and she followed his meandering for at least 15 minutes, taking numerous photos.  Herons are usually skittish, fly away at a moment's notice, but this guy seemed oblivious to her.  On the way home, we stopped and talked with our neighbors the Johnston's.  We are all purple martin lovers and they mentioned that this time of the year, thousands of migrating martins gather in the reeds of Presque Isle at dusk and we have made tentative plans to take canoes up next week if they are still there.  It could be really cool.

Prancing

Posted On Long Point Bay

I had leftovers for lunch and watched the last episode of the Sundance Channel's Deutschland.  I have really grown to like this series, set during the Reagan era but set in East Germany.  The two powers were heading towards a nuclear war in the last episode, which is avoided at the last moment.  It reminded me of Fail Safe, that great movie from the early 1960's. It cleared up in the afternoon, a nice day for sitting out, again, so Evie went out to read, and I went to look at grills and did some shopping at Wegman's.  I also stopped at the Chautauqua Lake Association, talked with them about the lake health.  They, too, have no answers for why the lake is so clean and mostly weed free this summer.

Cormorant, Winging It

When I got home, I joined Evie on the dock for a glass of wine as the day wound down. While we were on the dock, a couple of WWII planes flew over the lake, as they are having an Wings of Freedom tour at the Jamestown Airport.  We were going to swim but it cooled off enough so that we decided around 6:30 to just go in and make dinner.

B- 24 Liberator Heavy Bomber

Boeing B 17 Flying Fortress Heavy Bomber

I had found a mushroom and penne pasta dish that sounded good, with a sauce using white miso, vermouth, garlic, chicken stock, Dijon mustard, and Red Star's nutritional yeast, which gives it a cheesy flavor. We really liked it, no cheese products, and very flavorful.  We will make it again.  We watched a movie called THE DROP, based on a Dennis Lehane story.  It was set in Boston, in a bar, where Chechnya gangs have taken over for the Mafia and are equally violent...interesting but not great.

It's 8:30 and the sky has begun to clear some, the sun reflecting on the lake.