Gentle Rain, Gentle Rain

North End Of Lake (Victoria Neighbor's Dock Visible), Photo Taken By Mitchell's Drone At 900 Feet 

6:01

7:30

It's just after 7:00, a quiet house except for the soft rain falling.  I have been up for an hour, watching the sky turn to gray, the rain blur the landscape.  It's been a long time since I have felt a morning like this, the quiet deliciousness of a summer rain, with no thunder or lightning.  A few poor guys are still out fishing off of Long Point.  Today looks like rain on and off and cooler, not quite the perfect summer beginning for our son Tom and him family who arrive from KC later in the day.

I really don't remember where yesterday went to be honest.  I know we were here at the lake most of the day, with an excursion or two but still, it's a blank until I think hard about it.  I remember Evie helping Marisa make Marisa's making special molasses cookies, the size of a cake, in which ice cream was sandwiched between the two layers and frozen for later in the day.  No runs or bike rides yesterday, as Jill and Drew drove to Lakewood, to pick up a cane of all things because Drew's knee has really been bothering him.  They also got the ice, so when they returned,  I iced the beer and water for another day at the dock.

Loving Their Granny

I remember kids spread around the house, in very phases of boredom, the kind we remember from our youth when it was too hot to go outside and there was little to do inside.  Fortunately, for this generation, they have their devices.  Some were watching shows, others instagraming.  Mitch was editing various shots from his Drone and Marisa was editing her GoPro short films.  Beth and Jill were sitting around waiting for it to cool off, Beth reading a book, then browsing her iPad.  Jill, mostly was on her phone, using it like a computer to search the web.  And Evie was in the kitchen, on and off, prepping the twice baked potatoes with Marisa and Halle while the rest of us lazed around.  I was busy, sort of,  kayaking across the lake and back early, then bringing in the floats, refilling them with air, taking them back out to the dock, swimming, then rearranging cars, taking some weeds up the hill, getting those little things done which only a host knows about.

Evie And The Weeds

Mid afternoon, we all were on the dock until it got too hot, the only hiatus for lunch. It felt good to sit inside, in the air cooled house, a relief from the sweltering heat and humidity.  The only place which was cool outside was the lake.  So Evie spent a good hour keeping cool by wading and cutting weeds while most of us relaxed inside.  Around 5:00, we went or a nice cruise, beyond the bridge and back, and the new sparkplugs in my outboard seemed to make a difference.  We actually seemed to get the old girl up to 24 mph with a full boat load.  Wow.

Steak and Potatoes, Yum!

When we got home, it was time for dinner.  Jill and Beth helped Evie get things ready in the kitchen and I grilled two marinated sirloins outside.  We were having twice baked potatoes, salad, and thinly slice steak with a chimichurri sauce, an Argentinian flair.  Every thing was delicious and Mitch's hope to make a cheese steak out of the leftover steak was too optimistic as it was all gone.

Chautauqua Belle At Dusk

After dinner we had another round of bean bag and to my surprise, Hayden and I were victorious, beating Mitch and Evie in the finals.  We were finally driven inside by the bugs around 8:45 and the rest of the evening was taken up with Telefunky.  The girls are really getting it down, so it's been lots of fun for them.  The game finished around 10:30 and the girls hurried upstairs, tired or anxious to get back on their devices.

Sunset of North End Of Chautauqua Lake