The Metamorphosis Of The Morning Sky

6:43

6:48

6:49

6:51

I was up sometime after 6:00, in time at least to watch the sky change, from sherbet like colors, from rose, to pink, to blue, then to various combinations as the sun fought through the clouds, hung above, then disappeared behind a heavy cloud cover.   I kept running outside to take another photo.  And, I heard for the first time this summer, the annoying hum of some insects/mosquitoes, probably not yet the coming of lake flies.  They seem to hang just beneath the lowest tree branches and don't really bother us. And it did rain last night, for about five minutes, enough to wake me and send me downstairs to close the front windows.

A Trio Of Turkey Vultures

A Family

We had another hot one yesterday, highs in the 80's but we wanted to get things done and cleaning the porches were number one on our list.  So, yesterday, before kayaking, we took everything off both of our porches and then spent a good hour on the lake, mostly meandering in the shade of Long Point.  Evie spent at least 15 minutes taking photos (41) of the disgusting bird, the turkey vulture. For some reason, probably a dead animal somewhere or they nest in this area, a bevy of birds were hanging out on the beach off of Long Point, walking into the water, dunking their bodies, then drying off.  Evie even got photos of them sitting in the trees, in the sun, wings spread as if to dry.  They no doubt fit into the ecosystem, have their place, but they sure are ugly birds, with a disgusting niche to fill.

Drying Off After A Bath

Ugliness Up Close

We were back by 10:30 and got to work,  Evie sweeping the walls, ceilings, and floors, then I vacuumed them and Evie then washed them a couple of times, sloshing water on both porches, and we left them to dry for a couple of hours.  After a quick potato and mushroom omelet, I drove off to Jamestown to get my teeth cleaned and Evie had her wellness meeting with her local PA.  It turned out to be a good experience, as they went over her health (it's good), set baselines, and offered some guidelines for the future.  It's all part of the Affordable Care Act and does not cost us a cent.  As for me, after the dentist, I stopped in the Prendergast Library, to check out grills on Consumer Reports, and picked up the novel, A GOD IN RUINS, for Evie, more or less a sequel to LIFE AFTER LIFE, by Kate Atkinson.  I also stopped at both Home Depot, to look at grills, shopped some at Wegman's, looked at Walmart's grills, top rated by Consumer Reports, cashed a check at the bank, them came home, ready to put the porch back together, a much more enjoyable task then taking it apart.

By 4:30, we were both home, the porch was in order, so we adjourned to the dock, for a libation and some pretzels, enjoying the late afternoon, as the wind picked up, the afternoon cooled off, always a pleasant way to end our day.  We had an easy dinner (they are becoming more common, the longer we are retired), of hot dogs, beans, salad, and fresh corn.  Tasty but I suppose not too healthy but what the heck, we don't have it often.  Around 8:30, the lake had calmed down, so we decided to kayak at dusk down to Whitney Bay and back, a beautiful night to be out on the lake.  I wore my headlamp on the way home, lighting our way.  I am not sure why we don't to do this more often but the bugs were getting annoying by the time we returned home.

We then watched the last episode of RECTIFY, were somewhat unhappy with the ending, no bells or whistles, just Daniel restarting his life, leaving us with many unanswered questions which, I assume, means another season.  Since I finished THE KILLER ANGELS,  I started a light novel by Roger Rosenblatt called LAPHAM RISING, about a curmudgeon's struggle to halt the building of a McMansion across from his cottage. It's quite funny, especially since I recognize much of myself in him, bemoaning the rise of this culture of privilege, extreme wealth, and bigger is better, development and change, in other words.