Waiting For My Teammate, Paul

Kayak Afternoon 

7:28

7:30

It's 7:00, the sky mostly dark except off to the south where there are long slashes of light, perhaps clouds.  It will be difficult to get a photo of the sky this early but I will try.  It should turn out to be another nice day, like yesterday, the highs in the 60's, a slight chance of rain.

Yesterday morning was a bit of a fiasco, at least for me.  It started with watching a barge with a small crane carry a couple of boat lifts to the shore.  Unfortunately, it became grounded on the south Woodlawn Shallows, and they spent at least an hour, trying to push it off the rocky bottom even enlisting a bass boat to help pull them out.  I left at 9:30 and they were still stuck, to pick up my car which had a tune up and new distributor put in, then I drove off to the nursery where I was to meet a gal who was going to plant my tree.  First, no one was at the nursery to help put the tree in what I assumed would be a truck.  Then, the tree person called, said she had a flat tire, and needed help to get it changed but would be there soon.  Forty five minutes later she arrived with a SUV, too small for my tree and the owner of the nursery was still on the lam or whatever.  We looked at the tree, realized the SUV would not work  and decided to plant it later in the day or Wednesday, depending on when she could get a truck and help.  She would let me know when...well, I am still waiting to hear from her.  Not my favorite way to spend the morning.

Our Fishing Buddy And His Wife

When I got home, Evie had started mulching our leaves on a lovely late morning.  It looked like the perfect way to spend a morning outside, so I fired up the lawn mower and cut the lawn next door.  I was done by noon and the lake looked so inviting, that Evie stopped mowing and we went for a kayak paddle, the lake quiet, smooth, the wind quiet.  We paddled for an hour, stopped to talk with a fisherman we see each fall because he anchors just off of Victoria in what he calls his 'sweet spot.' And he has great success catching perch.  He even volunteered to bring us over a bag the next time he's around.  A nice guy, he and his wife or girlfriend must have sat out there for at least seven hours yesterday, never moving.

Sculling

Long Point, Late Afternoon

Around 1:00, I had a lunch of leftover chicken curry, watched Longmire (he was just reelected as Sheriff if you follow the series) and read and took a cat nap.  It was a lazy afternoon for both of us as neither of us felt very energetic though we wanted to be outside.  We did get the lawns cut and Evie did some raking of the garden and flower beds.  Around 5:30, two sets of neighbors were out on the water, one in their kayaks, the other in a scull.  It was an amazing hour to be on the lake so we  got out our paddles, jumped in our kayaks and went out, talked with them, took some photos then paddled over to Long Point, the sun setting behind the tree line at our backs.  We are not usually out on the lake at this hour, watching the sun dip behind the trees from the water so it was neat.  We stayed out for at least an hour until the sun had disappeared, the lake darkened and we were starting to get cold.

Fall Colors

Our Neighbors, The Johnstons

Sunset Over Woodlawn

For dinner, Evie grilled some onions and made a box of macaroni and cheese while I grilled some burgers outside and we had a quick dinner.  The burgers, topped with grilled onions, were amazingly good, just like a diner if that's a compliment.  It was a good night for TV as we had saved both Homeland and Fargo, so we were happy.  Unfortunately, waiting for a week for the next episode of a series often means we have forgotten what happened in the previous week and have to wrack our brains to remember the story line.  I bailed out on the Reagan years novel and started another Charles Cummins thriller.  Now I am happy.

Today, my good friend, Paul Storey, a teammate from Ohio University, arrives late afternoon from Boston.  We have not seen him in a couple of years so we are looking forward to seeing him.  And, before he arrives, we hope to get our tree planted.