A Gray and Overcast Fall Morning

Blood Moon

7:31

I was up at 6:20, always surprised at how dark it still is at that hour.  It has rained just a bit overnight, the lawn damp, no puddles on the road.  It was mild out, 58º and should only get into the high 60's later in the day, a good day to stay inside but I want to get out and hike or kayak.  

Sunday was windy, cool, a sky and lake of deep blue, perfect for football (watching, too), a walk, cutting the grass or kayaking and between Evie and me, we did all of them.  We did not want to move from our couch early but by 10:00, guilt overcame the pleasure of laying in, so we drove off to the Chautauqua Institution, never tiring of perambulating its stage like streets.  Evie brought her new iPhone along because one of the apps measures the number of steps we took on our hour walk, just about 6000.  We stopped briefly to talk with a women whose family bought, in 1954, the land and built a home on southerly yard of Packard Manor.  It was your typical one story ranch, great views, small rooms and windows. Well, it was razed over the weekend and they are rebuilding on the same plot, a sad but exciting move for her.  We talked for about 15 minutes about how these summer homes become part of the lives of one's entire family, kids, grandkids, etc.  It will be fun to watch it rise.  We took our time, enjoying the fall foliage, the fallen leaves, already crunching beneath our shoes before stopping at the Lighthouse for a few things.  We met up with one of the kids who works on our boat and set up a time for him to winterize my boat, power wash it, getting it ready for next year.  We then bought tomatoes at a roadside stand before getting home just after noon.  It was time for Sunday breakfast, so Evie quickly made me eggs, bacon and bagels, the good life.

We both worked outside, Evie cutting the yard, me cleanings some of the chairs and beginning to put things away for the winter.  We were tempted to go for a boat ride but the winds were too unpredictable.  But I got tired of sitting inside and watching football, reading about Jack Reacher, so I went for a forty five minute kayak paddle, fighting the wind and waves to Long Point, then across to Wells Bay, and then catching waves on the way home.  A few boats were out, one even pulling a tube, enjoying the waning days of summer.  

Partial:9:29

More Partial: 9:44

Almost A Full Eclipse: 10:02

Around 6:00, Evie put together one of our go to comfort foods, something we have been making on and off for fifty years, hamburger stroganoff.  I know it sounds terrible but it's so good, lots of mushrooms, sour cream, ground beef, campbell's cream of chicken soup, over noodles.  We watched an older movie,  The Hours, based on Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway, though mixing her story with that of two more modern women, one played by Julianne Moore in the 1950's, the other by Meryl Streep in the year 2001.  We both liked it and I really enjoyed the book by Michael Cunningham.

We then decided to watch the much ballyhooed VEEP, interspersing it with running outside to watch the eclipse of the moon.  The blood or super moon was amazing and we were fortunate that the clouds dispersed so we could view it.  Wow.  A Great Week!