Drizze On An Overcast Morning

7:28

Up just before 7:00 to a wet morning, wrinkled lake, colorless sky, the forecast for the day and quite a contrast to yesterday's blue skies.  It's 48ª out, with birds gathering around our feeders for their morning snack.  They are mostly the same species, nuthatches, titmouse's, finch, and sparrows, with an occasional cardinal, bluejay or woodpecker.  Interestingly the larger the bird, the more flighty they seem.

Yesterday morning, we wanted to kayak but it was below freezing when we got up and did not warm up till later so we missed our chance.  Evie had a doctor's appointment in Mayville, so we walked Sea Lion Drive before her appointment, a lovely morning, crisp and clear, trees bare, most of the yards still covered with leaves.  I stopped for a coffee at The Sweet Spot in Mayville, a bare bones cafe with its newly erected fence, forcing patrons of the diner next door to park elsewhere.  It's a shock to see it.  We were home by noon, in time for a tasty lunch of leftover pizza, vegetable soup or chick pea/orzo stew.  It's nice to have at least two healthy choices for lunch.  I am trying to follow the NYTimes Mark Bittman's healthy eating plan: breakfast and lunch are main healthy, mostly vegetarian and dinner is the time to eat what you want.  It seems like a healthy compromise.

We had our usual time to relax after lunch, then went outside to get air and work in the yard around 3:30.  Evie cut the lawn and we both raked more leaves, as the darn Bradford Pear in our backyard is still leafy, making it obvious we still have lots of raking to go.  The front yards are fine, the trees bare, the lawns like a golf green.

The Rust Of Long Point At 4:30

We like to go to a couple of high school volleyball or basketball games a year and last night two girls volleyball teams played for the regional championship at the Jamestown Community College gym, just outside of Falconer.  We have followed Randolph some over the years but their opponent, Portville, was new to us, a small town of 3000 people south and east of Olean, quite a distance.  We sat just above the Portville fans and it looked like the entire high school of around 100 students was there to cheer them on.  It was fun to be part of the fans, with Portville chanting, ''We Are Portville," and and the Randolph fans yelling back, "We Can't Hear You."  It was a good, friendly rivalry, no anger of silliness, as Portville won in four games. And we did not realize until this morning, when we read about it in the paper, that Portville won the State Volleyball Championship last year, quite a dynasty in the making.

Portville Post Game Huddle

Pandemonium As Portville Fans Rush The Floor

Because we sat with Portville fans, we cheered for them as well, as were awed by the play of one of Portville's players, only a freshmen, who hit like a college player.  Evie got some good photos of the craziness after the win, as the entire school seemed to run on the floor to surround the winning team and cheer.  I felt like I was back in Ohio in the 1960's, where high school athletics were king and the entire town would turn out for a small school's game, like something out of the movie Hoosiers. Finally, I noticed that for this match there were seven officials.  The usual number for a match is two, perhaps two more as line judges.  The extra three acted as ball people.  It seemed like a big waste of money.

Randolph Girls, Pre Game

I have always wanted to find a good restaurant in the Falconer area but never had much luck until recently. I noticed people raving about a small restaurant that's been a mainstay in Falconer for at least twenty five years, Bellville East.  I am not sure why I had never heard nor seen it until recently but we decided to try it after the game.  When we walked in, it reminded me of some of our favorite family restaurants in Ohio, like Dontino's or Luigi's in Akron, Ohio.  Unfortunately, it was a quiet night, the restaurant was empty, one guy was sitting at the bar.  We sat down, ordered a beer, and because the bartender, a woman who lives in Stow near us, seemed unfriendly, we decided to go somewhere else after our beer.  When Evie went to the restroom, I happened to strike up a conversation with the bartender, who leaned on the bar as she talked, and she mentioned how great the food was, especially the stuffed peppers.

A Shaky Photo By Our Bar Tender

By the time Evie returned, I was convinced it was worth staying, Evie agreed and we ordered from a slew of good looking specials, me the peppers, Evie a burger and fries.  The rest of the night we spent talking with the sole patron, a guy who when we asked where he lived, sheepishly said he was living two doors down in his antique store.  Anyways, we got to know the bartender more, Barb, and later the dishwasher sat down for a drink and we talked with him.  By the end of the evening, we had met three interesting people.  And most importantly, my stuffed pepper was great, a huge pepper stuffed with ground beef, lots of mashed potatoes, and a really tasty obviously homemade  tomato sauce.  We will go back for the food.  And I am sure its packed on weekends because the food though not cheap is really quite good.

We were home around 9:30, in time to watch the next episode of The Affair before bedtime.  It ended up being a good day.