Mostly Overcast And Cool

7:32

7:37

It's 59º at 7:30, another quiet morning on the lake, except for our neighbors ski boat, up early for a morning skiing.  Some light over Bemus Bay as the sun tries to break through the heavy cloud cover but not too successfully.  Today should be like yesterday, partly cloudy with the highs in the low 70's though this morning hints at the rain that never falls.

Kayaking Bemus Bay

We began yesterday with another kayak morning, along the Woodlawn/Victoria shore line because it was so calm, then to Wells Bay and across to the Long Point Marina and back, about an hour of meandering, close to the shore, looking for shore birds, rousting out the ducks as you can see.

A Morning Family Huddle

We were back by 10:30 and could not resist a swim.  I hate to mention the water for fear of raising the anger of the Gods but the lake has been amazing this summer, clear and algae free and the weeds for the most part, have been tame.  I am not sure why, most likely noone has the answers...it just is so we might as well enjoy it.  I decided to hang out on the dock late morning, before it got too warm and Evie was easily convinced to put aside bed making to join me.  Another swim around noon and I went in for lunch, chicken salad sandwiches with mushroom barley soup.  We watched a Jon Stewart from last week, listened to his guest deify him, and then went back to our typical afternoon the last ten days, spend much of the day out on the dock.

I have to say we seem to be the only ones to sit out on our dock, treating it like a living room, reading, surfing the net, napping, eating, drinking.  It's become our second home, especially yesterday when the sun often hid behind the clouds, giving us a respite from the sun.  We put off taking the boat cover off because rain was forecast on and off for the day.  Weather forecasting has begun to ruin my day as they predict rain, so you plan your day around it, and it never happens and you realize all you have missed or not done because you assumed it would rain.  Yet I have already checked out the WeatherUnderground for the next few days and it predicts no rain.

At 4:00, I forced myself to get out my bike and go for a ride, through the campground, up to Rt 394, down to Victoria, then to Stow Rd.  I then biked around the Stow neighborhoods, stopped by the water at the Stow Ferry, and biked home the same way.  A few simple hills almost killed me but I stuck with it and did not stop. At least I got in an hour of exercise to go with my morning paddle.

Our only major decision of the day was what to have for dinner, steak, scallops, or go out to eat at the Viking Club (we set that aside because it was supposed to rain).  Scallops won out so after my bike ride, a swim and beer on the dock with Evie, we went inside and Evie seared the scallops, added shallots, garlic, chicken broth, vermouth, lemon, red pepper flakes and poured it over spaghetti.  It was nice and saucy, restaurant quality I thought, and with a salad, we were happy.

We watched a Russian movie called Leviathan, highly rated on the Rotten Tomatoes website.  It was about the battle between a fisherman and the town, especially the corrupt mayor, over Kolya's ancestral home.  The town has used its right of eminent domain to take the property for communal use.  Kolya, the owner does not want to sell, goes to court, loses, and the price decided upon is below what it's worth.  Meanwhile, his wife has an affair with his lawyer, so he is set to lose both his house and wife.  They seem to reconcile but she ends up committing suicide in despair over her actions and Kolya goes to jail because the authorities think he killed her.

The movie ends with the Mayor and the local Orthodox Priest admiring the new church, built on Kolya's land.  Not a happy movie, and the only message seems to be that the church and state have colluded to destroy a man and his family.  This was not on our favorites list but it was interesting to see Russian life on the Barends Sea, in northern Russia, an amazing setting for a film. The life was more modern then we would have thought, with cell phones and cars, but the remnants of the whales carcasses and Communist life were everywhere, giving the film a depressing feel.