Obsessed With The Group Twenty One Pilots

6:57

It's now 7:40 and I have been up, to a gray, overcast sky for an hour.  I just walked outside and felt a few drops of rain but it doesn't look like it's going to continue.  Rain, however, is forecast for the morning and then it will warm up to the 80's later in the afternoon.

Yesterday was not the best of days for Evie but she soldiered through it.  Let me explain.  I was off to yoga at 9:00, got my coffee, and came home to Evie seemingly cleaning out the refrigerator.  How wrong.  It started early morning when she was looking for something in the freezer but accidentally spilled a container of her home breadcrumbs all over the inside.  She got out the shop vac, and vacuumed out the bread crumbs, not an easy task as the crumbs stuck to the ice.  Anyways, once she was finished with that, she decided to reorganize the shelves in our new refrigerator.  As she was working on them,  she accidentally knocked over a plastic container of her homemade vegetable soup and it splattered over the inside of the refrigerator, shoes, clothes, floor and shop vac .  So that took awhile to clean up and I walked in just as she was finishing,  trying hard to laugh about her morning.  And so it goes.

She kept her cool, suggested what I might have for lunch and went outside to enjoy the sun and finish her book, forgetting about her morning.  I fried up some leftover homemade noodles from Friday night's dinner, topped them with a couple of fried eggs and I was very happy.  I then read some, napped and joined Evie on the dock for an hour or so until our carpenter, Scott, stopped by to finish up our pantry doors.   After he left, we decided to do our grocery shopping for the next couple of days so we headed off to Wegman's at 4:30.  Evie had made up a mega list on her iPhone, then made a smaller one for me.   I was along for moral support and to make sure we did not forget anything (we did and I will pick it up today before yoga).  We were home by 6:00, quickly put away everything, filling up our newly cleaned refrigerator and pantry.  We did have a goal in mind, a mid week cocktail hour, with chips, dip, and a Manhattan once we were done unpacking.

View From Our Porch At 8:10

So we gathered our drinks and appetizers, sat on the porch and spent literally the next two hours enjoying the view and listening to the group Twenty One Pilots and really enjoying their album "Blurryface" and two songs that we listened to more than once, "Goner" and "Tear In My Heart." And, I am embarrassed to admit, we sang along having looked up the lyrics on Google.  They are an amazing duo from Columbus, Ohio, a drummer and the lead singer who also plays the piano and ukulele.  They have made it really big, with two of their songs an historic # 1 on the Pop and Alternative charts.  We just sat as the sky darkened, listening to their music, occasionally looking up their lyrics like a couple of teenagers, which we still are... inside.

We stayed out on the porch until it was almost dark.  Dinner was already done, a couple of Yuengling bratwurst with sauerkraut.  They were pretty good I must say and that's all we needed for dinner after filling up on chips and dip, veggies and hummus.

Fog Rising On Chautauqua Lake

6:37

6:43

7:26

6:27

It's actually chilly in our living room, as I sit on our couch, sipping coffee, listening to Morning Joe, and watching the fog slowly lift, Long Point coming into view, then disappearing.  It's 58º out, thus the fog but its going to burn off as the sun rises and be another warm day at the lake.

We basically took most of the day off yesterday, before gearing up for the weekend fun when Evie's sister arrive for the weekend.  I did go to yoga at 9:30, the most crowded class of the week and we worked on the lower back, just what I needed.  It's a bit sore this morning, but then I have always had a sore lower back on and off over the years.  Yoga, however, seems to help it.  I started the week with a coffee and the same group of regulars were there, the barrista's parents and Dave, a retired neighbor.  One of these days I should sit down and talk with them rather than a quick hello and I am off for home.  When I got home, we accomplished our first task of the day, dropping my Pilot off at a friend's barn, a guy who used to be the mechanic for the Chautauqua Institution.  He supposedly can fix anything, so he was going to check out my Honda to see if it was safe to drive, if anything needed to be fixed.  He lives about 15 minutes away on Potter Road.  So we were back home by 12:00 in time for lunch, leftover chicken and soup.  I am still catching up with Ray Donovan so I watched it and then was tempted to go outside and read on the dock with Evie.  But the heat was such that I decided to stay inside until 3:30, when the heat subsided a bit.  It was actually pleasant, however, when I finally got out there, not as hot as it seemed in the yard, with a nice breeze.  We vowed to stay out until 5:00, then come inside and accomplish a few things before we sat on our front porch with a glass of wine; Evie made up a couple of servings of guacamole and we devoured it with chips, obviously hungry.  It was pleasant sitting on the porch as the day was cooling off, the haze lifting,  the eastern shore becoming clear, the trees still a rich green.  I also got a call from my mechanic to say he felt my Honda was safe to drive, a couple of problems I could ignore but not dangerous.  Yippee.

 About 7:00, Evie made a salad, heated the leftover pizza from Brigadoon and we had dinner.  After pigging out on guacamole, neither of us was that hungry, so a couple of pieces of pizza was enough.  For some reason we were unable to get Netflix, so we watched The Circus, on Showtime, which chronicles the election, week by week, with interviews with the candidates and their surrogates.  We ended the night watching Stephen Colbert though we are getting tired of him, wish he had never left Comedy Central to start a new show.

Two's Better Than One

6:38

6:49

6:53

It's a sunny morning, what else, although it appears to be clouding up.  It's already a warm 71º out and will get once again into the 80's later in the day.  There is, however, some cool weather predicted by the end of the week, with a high in the 60's.

Yesterday was a carbon copy of Saturday, hot and humid, with an occasional breeze for relief.  For us, it did not seem like a Sunday, perhaps because we have not yet gotten into our routine of a walk around the Chautauqua Institution.  Its season, however, is over, so gates are open for everyone during the day.  After coffee, neither of us were sure what to do.  It was warming up, obviously, and we didn't want to walk, so I decided to get some exercise and put my bike in the car and drove over to Bemus Point for a bike ride.  I was shocked at how warm it was by 10:00 in the morning but my ride was surprisingly pleasant, much of it in the shade of trees and there was also a decent breeze.  I met a few other bikers on Lakeside Drive, a few dog walkers in the Long Point State Park trails but that's about it for a Sunday morning.  When I got back, it was close to noon and Evie wanted to get breakfast over with, so she made our bacon, eggs, and bagels, and we watched CBS Sunday morning, hosted by Charles Osgood for the last time, as he is retiring...a sad day because we really like him. The program will continue and has yet to name its new host.

We then spent the rest of the day as we should on a day of rest.  We rested, either inside or outside, depending on whether we could stand the heat.  Evie could and I couldn't.  We did have a goal in mind.  We were going to go out for dinner, so we did not have to worry about prepping or getting dinner ready, which is always nice for Evie.  It was obviously a warm day on the dock but around 3:30, the wind picked up and Evie thought it felt like she was sunning along the ocean, as the waves rolled in, bringing with it lots of the seaweed that's been sitting on the bottom.

Around 5:00, we both showered and headed off to Pine Junction, one of our favorite restaurants, about a 20 minute drive.  I had read on Facebook that they were having an 'end of the summer' ride for motorcyclists.  We thought it would be fun to be there, to see the bikes, the bikers, perhaps some Trump supporters.  Well, when we got there, nary a bike stood in the parking lot, just lots of cars.  We sat down at the bar, a beer and found out that the bikers were there earlier in the day, around 1:00 and we gone by 4:00, alas.  We stayed for a beer, struck up a conversation with a guy named Tony, from Edinboro, who we talked with the last time we were at the Pine Junction bar.  A nice guy, we ended up talking about a new restaurant on Findlay Lake, also owned by the the Pine Junction family, called Brigadoon.

Restaurant/Bar #1, Pine Junction With Tony

Both he and the waitress raved about its pizza and a spinach salad, so we decided to try it out and drove 10 minutes to Findlay Lake.

Craft Beers At Brigadoon

The restaurant has a nice terrace, looking at the lake, but we decided to sit at the bar.  We recognized the bartender because she also works at Pine Junction.  She, too recommended both the pizza and salad, so that's what we ordered and both were great, the salad with a special grape seed dressing, spinach, blueberries, cranberries, and greens.  The pizza was thin crust with artichokes, mushrooms and spinach.  We talked with another guy who lives in the area, loves the food here, and had driven there on his motorcycle.

Restaurant/Bar # 2, at Brigadoons

It was a good choice, to hit two restaurants rather than one, and we were home early enough to see the final episode of our much awaited HBO series THE NIGHT OF.  (Spoiler Alert) The ending, for once, did not disappoint and was filled with tension all the way to the very last shot, as we feared for the young man accused of the crime.  It looked as though he was going to be convicted although the prosecutor was aware of new evidence that might have exonerated him.  Fortunately, the jury ended up split, a mistrial was called and the prosecutor was the able to refuse a new trial.  Thus, the young man was able to go free.  This was TV at its best, compelling and real, with little fluff or exaggeration.

Last Sunday In August (Tempus Fugit)

6:52

6:57

6:59

7:00

Sitting here thinking about the end of another summer more or less, wondering where it went, thinking it was just a few days ago when our grandson Nick and his buddies came to visit.  It was actually the second week in June.  Where does time go, the proverbial question, especially as we get older.

It's a warm morning, already in the 70's, a muted sunrise, as clouds, like gauze, lessen the morning sun's power.  The lake appears empty at the moment but will quickly fill up as the morning wanes. One more big weekend, Labor Day, and summer is really over, the weekenders close up their homes, the kids go back to school, and the Chautauqua Institution has already witnessed the emptying of their homes, their parking lots as the demolition of the revered amphitheater begins in earnest this next week.

Yesterday was one of those Saturdays where we could not make up our mind what to do so we ended up doing nothing, like Seinfeld, a show about nothing.  That's not quite accurate as we had plans to downsize the attic clutter but after about 15 minutes, we closed the door and said we would do it some other time.  So Evie cleaned out the refrigerator and sent me off to the Transfer Station to get rid of the week's trash.  I had decided to give yoga a pass, so that was my trip of the day.

By 11:00, it was warming up and humid, bound to get even worse so Evie fired up the lawnmower and gave the grass a good trimming.  Not to be outdone, I decided to clean and organize my garage for the fifth time this summer.  Both of us must have this obsession with straitening up, reorganizing, me the garage, Evie the kitchen.  By the end of my cleanup, Evie had a nice spankingly clean garage to park her lawnmower.

And that was about it for the day for both of us.  We spent the afternoon as usual, on the dock, the porch or in the house, as we watched the boat traffic increase as the day went by.  I had forgotten how busy the lake can be on a nice weekend, and it seemed as if there were 10-15 boats charging by Long Point every five or ten minutes, no exaggeration, making me wonder how many boats were on the lake at one time, perhaps thousands?  I don't really know.

Because of the boat traffic churning up the lake, we decided to forego an end of the afternoon swim and we both came in and showered, hoping to get our mojo back.  It half worked, as we had enough to get a dinner on the table, a noodles, mushroom, and sauce dish along with corn on the cob but that was it.  And we started a series on Netflix which many have recommended, STRANGER THINGS which reminded us both of the horror/si fi movies from the 1960's.  It's silly at times, overacted, with lots of echoes of Stand By Me, Close Encounters of A Third Kind and E.T.  And I am not sure why some of the secondary plots are thrown in.  Anyways, we watched three episodes so it must hold our interest.  I finished Jussi Adler-Olsen's THE MARCO EFFECT and started a fairly new novel by Noah Hawley called BEFORE THE FALL.  Hawley is the writer/producer for one of our favorite TV series, FARGO, so I thought it would be fun to see what his fifth novel was about, thinking it might have the quirkiness of FARGO.  I will have to wait and see.

Warming Up On A Saturday

6:48

6:49

7:06

7:10

It actually felt cool (59º) when I walked downstairs this morning around 6:20, surprising me as yesterday was quite warm.  Unfortunately, the cool morning gives way to another warm, high 80's afternoon here at the lake, what I am beginning to think of as Miami Beach North.

I began yesterday with a good yoga class, just six of us, but varied enough to make it interesting and fun.  Afterwards, I got my coffee, some organic eggs, than stopped at our new go to grocery (read cheap) Save A Lot, chain that's popping up all over the US because of its cheaper prices.  As I was shopping, Evie texted me to let me know that she had invited two of our neighbors over for dinner, so I was to pick up a few more items than just those on her list.  When I got home, Evie was already organizing things for dinner, making up the dough for homemade noodles, poaching the chicken thighs, and making brownies for dessert.  All this was done by 1:00, so she could then spend the afternoon enjoying the outdoors, the dock, the water.  I tried to help out (sort of) by cleaning up the kitchen and making my lunch, a bagel, with cream cheese and fresh tomatoes.  I watched another Ray Donovan, almost caught up and didn't venture outdoors until around 4:30 when I deemed the heat and humidity pleasant enough to head out to the dock and join Evie.  She, fortunately, has an umbrella to shield her from the sun, so she gets the breeze.  And she's into her book, one of Elizabeth Strout's earlier novels, AMY AND ISABELLE.

Dinner With Our Neighbors

Around 5:15, we both went in and started to get things ready for our guests, the table set, the appetizers out, the noodles put through the pasta maker into long sheets, ready to cut into fettuccine.  And I went outside about 6:00, heated the grill and barbecued the chicken before our guests arrived.  The Leonard's and Pat Jones arrived around 6:30 and we sat out on the front porch with drinks and appetizers to enjoy the late afternoon.  It was pleasant enough to sit out on the porch, out of the sun, with the fan.  We sat out talking until 7:30, when we sat down to piping, hot homemade noodles (cooked in chicken broth from the poached chicken), a watermelon, basil and feta cheese salad, coleslaw, and barbecued chicken.  Everyone seemed hungry, most had seconds, and we sat around the table until it was time for dessert in the living room, brownies and ice cream.  We sat around talking, finishing up our desserts until 10:00 when everyone decided it was time to go home.  Evie and I then cleared things up and did the dishes before watching some TV to relax and then heading up to bed.  It was a good night with the neighbors, as summer seems to have waned, all the guests, mostly family have been and gone and all that's left are the locals like us and summer people.

A Sticky Morning

6:42

6:43

6:55

7:41

Up at 6:00 on the dot, my internal clock at work, to an overcast and warm and humid morning, more like something in Florida than Chautauqua but we had better get used to it.  It rained again overnight, a blessing, and its clearing up now, lots of sunshine over the next couple of days and temperatures in the 80's.

Yesterday, for whatever reason, was a wasted day for both of us.  We had lost our mojo and the heat and humidity got to both of us, so we did not accomplish much other than get through the day.  I did go to a good yoga class, this one emphasizing back bending, something I should be doing every day. And when I  got home, Evie was off to the mall to get her hair trimmed and do some shopping at Sam's Club and Wegman's, as we start to think about Labor Day weekend when Evie's sister arriving for the holiday weekend.

While she was gone, I lounged around, turning on the downstairs air conditioner, watched another Ray Donovan, read and napped until Evie got home.  We then sat for an hour, getting up enough courage to go out on the dock despite the heat.  We finally made it out around 4:00 when it had cooled off some.  We stayed out until 5:30 but I got bored by 5:00, so I took off for a kayak paddle over to the other side of the lake and back, working up a sweat so I could join Evie for a nice swim before we came in for cocktail hour.

7:00 PM

Earlier in the day, I was listening to NPR's On Point, which talked for an hour about cocktails.  I am easily influenced by what I hear so I convinced Evie to have our once a week cocktail a couple of days early.  She is not hard to convince, so we sat on our porch, sipping a Manhattan, watching the sky cloud up, it rain, the sun come out, a rainbow appear, then clear up again, all in an hour and a half.  We had a slice of our favorite cheese, Fromager D'Affinois, a kind of brie,  as an appetizer along with some endamame, so we were happy.

A Slice OF A Rainbow

And best of all, dinner was easy, corn on the cob and leftover stuffed portabello mushrooms, reheated with an egg on top.  Yum.  We watched more junk TV not wanting to start a series, got our fill of Rachel and Megan, both sides of the aisle before going up to bed to read till we fell asleep.

A Wet, Gray, And Warm Morning

7:41

I woke to an overcast sky,  no evidence of a sunrise.  The yard looks freshly washed, the road is puddled.  It may rain more this morning but will then clear up.  It's a humid 70º at 7:15 and some fog seems to be rolling in.  I have breakfast this morning at 8:00, yoga at 10:00, a typical Thursday for me.

Yesterday, unlike today, was sunny all day.  While I went to yoga, Evie got busy in the house and organized my sock drawer among other organizing.  I now have white socks in one drawer, black in another, and all the old socks are in the trash.  After yoga, I stopped for coffee, then did some shopping at the grocery, picking up only a few things since we were going out for dinner via boat, an idea both of us woke up with for some reason.  I also picked up a quart of tomatoes so when I  got home, I made a couple of avocado and tomato sandwiches, hoping the tomatoes would be tasty.  They weren't.  I still have a difficult time finding really tasty tomatoes at this time of year.

By the way, when I got home at noon, Evie was out in the water, cutting weeds and piling them up on the dock.  Three hours later, after my nap and reading, she emerged from the water, happy with her work, our swimming area weedless for the most part.  Most people, after having weeded for hours would have relaxed.  I certainly would have.  Not Evie, as she powered up the mower and cut the lawn, occasionally calling her 'boy' for some water.  He was happy to do so.  My only task was to turn the weeds every hour or so, hoping they would dry so they would be easy to transport.  About 5:00, I filled a couple of trash cans and took them up the hill to the weed pile.  Both of us then went for a swim to cool off, to clean up and came in and got ready for our night out in Bemus Point.

I had taken the cover of earlier in the day, so we jumped (stepped) into the boat and cruised over to Bemus on a lovely late afternoon, a nice breeze keeping us cool.  We fortunately found a docking spot at the village dock.  We had decided we were going to the new Ellicottville Brewing Company Restaurant for the first time and have a beer, and then make up our mind where to eat.  When we arrived the bar was half full, mostly with a busload of guys from Erie, who were on a beer tour of the Southern Tier Brewery and then Ellicottville.  When they left the bar was practically empty except for us and two or three others, although the outdoor terrace was full.

Micro Brews, Pretzels And Beer Cheese

We got to know all three bartenders, Taylor, Kent, and Maria and they were more than accommodating as we tried three or four beers, trying to find one we might like.  I ended up with a Southern Tier Tangerine and Evie got an Ellicottville Fall Favorite and we were both happy with our choice.  We perused the menu, talked with Taylor and decided on an appetizer, baked pretzels with beer cheese.  It was a good choice, as we devoured it, loved both the cheese and pretzels, and by the time we finished, we were practically full.  We found out the restaurant would be open till December and depending on business, would stay open into the winter months if they had the patrons.  We did get to talk briefly with a guy who has a third generation grape farm, 250 acres, in Westfield.  He takes all his grapes to Welch's in Westfield, in fact, he has a contract with them.  We left around 8:00 and decided to stop at the Casino for a beer and could not pass up a single order of 8 wings and fries, a bad choice, as we hardly finished the wings and felt stuffed after the fries.  When is enough, enough.  And to be honest, the Casino seemed tired, run down, dirty and hot after the sparkling, new Ellicottville Brewery.  Maybe we are becoming elitist but we both preferred the brewery,  its food and atmosphere, not the price.

8:21

We cruised home on a quickly darkening lake and I had to put the boat cover on in the dark because rain was forecast overnight.  By the time we got settled in the TV room, it was 9:30, so we watched some Rachel Maddow, then Megan Kelly for a contrast before it was time to go up to read some before sleeping.

Summer's Back, As 80º Weather Returns

6:32

6:44

A mostly clear sky on a still nippy morning of 57º.  At the moment, 8:00., its hazy, the sun muted, as the day begins to warm up.  It looks like a fine day, with a high in the low 80's.

Yesterday was another near perfect day from our point of view, sunny and warming up as the day progressed but little humidity and warming sun.  I could not face a yoga studio on a morning like this, so I packed up my bike and drove 17 miles to Findley Lake.  It was a good idea, as the lake and its surroundings were at its best.  The around the lake trip was just over five miles, with few hills, and I took my time, sometimes biking down into neighborhoods to look at the homes.  And I biked around the major campground, Paradise Camp, which was busy, with mostly permanent RV's or manufactured homes.  Kids were riding their bikes up and down the roads as the smell of bacon wafted through the woods.  The west side of the lake is called Shadyside, for obvious reasons, and is the most interesting to bike.  It took me just about an hour to meander around the lake.  I then stopped at the new restaurant, the Brigadoon, owned by the son of the owners of Pine Junction.  It's open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and instead of burgers, it offers various interesting paninis, along with pizza, some pastas and wings.  And it has a full range of micro brews on tap, so its worth trying out some evening.

On the way home, I stopped at the Lighthouse Grocery, picked up a beef on wick sandwich for lunch (they have them on Tuesdays and Fridays) and drove home to find Evie had been busy working in the yard all morning.  Because it was such a beautiful day, we decided to work a bit longer, than take a nice long boat ride for lunch.  So around 12:30, Evie packed up drinks and lunch and we cruised slowly down towards Point Chautauqua and back, as we were one of only a few boats out on the lake. The lake in front of Woodlawn was calm, flat but as we got farther down the lake, the wind picked up, ruffling the lake's surface, a good day for sailors.  We were back about 2:00 and Evie quickly readied herself to get out on the dock, putting aside gardening and cutting the lawn.  I did some reading, napped, then worked in the yard, edging and digging up around the side yard beds.  Around 4:30, I joined Evie and we both had a beer to celebrate another good day and the fact that we were invited to dinner by our neighbors, so Evie had an easy evening.

Al Fresco Dining At Our Woodlawn Neighbors

We went over to our neighbors, Ken and Marjorie's around 6:30, and they had invited Charlie T and another colleague, Susan,  from their teaching days.  It turns out she knew many of the people I taught with as she has worked at various schools in the Cleveland and Pittsburgh over the years. Dinner was barbecued chicken, corn on the cob, and a great salad.  We first, however, had wine and appetizers on their porch, always pleasant and were able to eat dinner outside for the first time in weeks.  It was nice as we had much in common, as all of us were in the teaching profession.

When we got home, we watched some news, got caught up on the political gossip and scandals of the day before going up to bed to read.

A Nippy Morning On The Lake

7:00

7:05

It's almost 8:00 and both Evie and I are up, sipping our second cup of coffee, listening to Morning Joe, and both are wrapped in sweaters or fleeces, as it's 53º outside prompting me to even close the windows.  What a contrast to the weekend of heat and humidity.

Yesterday was what we both would call the perfect day on the lake, as well as what may be the  first day of autumn.  The temperatures never  got into the 70's, the sky was filled with puffy, cotton ball clouds, and the wind was slight enough to not cause a chill.  For some reason, neither of us wanted to kayak or boat, just sit outside on the dock and breathe in the cool air, embrace the warm sun for much of the day.  In other words, it was a day of 'large leisure' for both of us.  I did go to yoga, my favorite yin class but the poses were such that I had trouble doing them, especially my knees, so I did not enjoy it much, alas.  And, yet, I loved last week's class.

When I got home, we both got busy working on our brick walkway, which always is filled with weeds and moss, so we edged and weeded in the warm sun until lunch.  Evie, then, made me a avocado and tomato sandwich on toast and I heated up some ramen (wish I could find a healthy packaged one) and watched another episode of Ray Donovan.  It's been a month or so since I last watched an episode so I am not sure what's going on but it seems to have lost is way, like quite a few series in their later years.  They live on their past reputation, not knowing when enough is enough.

After lunch, I read, took a brief nap then went out and finished the brick walkway.  Evie, however, was glued to the dock, hardly moving, loving the afternoon, and she finished her Graham Greene novel, THE HEART OF THE MATTER.  We both intended on going for a boat ride but after I joined her on the dock, we decided that having cocktail hour on the dock sounded better.  So we got out the pretzels, hummus, crackers, two beers and welcomed the shade from the setting sun, a sure sign of the changing seasons when the shade from our trees hits the dock in late afternoon.

We went in to heat up the leftovers, lamb and moussaka, around 6:30, then watched Chris Matthews for a bit, to catch up on the latest Donald news (what else is there to talk about other than Hillary's emails). Once we had our fill of politics, with a brief nod to Fox News, we watched the final episode of Netflix's Marcella, unsatisfying as we expected because we are not sure of her involvement in the crime.  And we then watched the penultimate episode of THE NIGHT OF on HBO which did not seem to move the narrative ahead much, so we wonder how all of this can be wrapped up in a final episode.  After these two series, I was happy to get back to THE MARCO EFFECT, by Denmark's Best Selling Crime novelist.

I thought I would include today's inspiring poem from The Writer's Almanac by William Ernest Henley.  We may need its message during the next 76 days.

Invictus Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishment the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

A Chilly Fall Like Morning In the Fifties

6:18

6:43

6:44

6:55

Another spectacular morning sky of clouds, sun, reflections, and water, as morning begins here at the lake. And though I did not need to get out my fleece, it is cool enough so that I am sitting inside on our couch. We did have more rain last night, not sure when, but there are lots of puddles on our road. Our drought is slowly disappearing in drips and drops, nothing sustained.

Yesterday was a day like any other despite the fact it was Sunday and our anniversary.  We started with coffee, the Sunday paper, and our devices.  It was a quiet morning, the lake smooth and inviting but by the time we went kayaking, it had ruffled up some.  We also were worried somewhat about the black clouds off to the West so we paddled first down to the reeds, then across to Long Point and home.  And, of course, the black clouds disappeared by the time we pulled our kayaks back on the shore.  In contrast to Saturday, the lake was almost empty of boats, perhaps most were still sleeping in.

Local Peaches

We decided to put off celebrating our anniversary with a dinner out, so I drove into Lakewood, stopped at Ryder's Cup for coffee and eggs, and picked up our favorite cheese for cocktail hour, and local peaches are finally here, so I bought a large basket of them for dessert.  While I was gone, Evie put together our dinner, portobello mushrooms stuffed with garlic spinach, so we would not have much fuss at dinner time.  The rest of the afternoon went as planned, watching some of the Olympics or reading out on the dock on a deliciously cool Sunday afternoon.  The heat has fled for the moment.

Afternoon On The Dock

View From Our Porch, Cocktail Time

We then enjoyed a Manhattan, brie, crackers, and hummus on our porch, listening to our Sonos, luxuriating in the late  Sunday afternoon, the sky filled with clouds that reminded us of marshmallows.  Dinner as I mentioned was easy, heat up the portobellos for 15 minutes and make a salad.  We enjoyed the portobellos, salad but the cut up peaches on vanilla ice cream were the hit of the evening.  We could have just had a dinner of them.  We continue to watch the series Marcella on Netflix but are looking forward to the last episode as it gets more and more confusing and silly.

A Beautiful Afternoon 

More Clouds

As you can see, we went 'cloud crazy' with our photographs from yesterday but it's hard to leave any photos out.

Not sure what today will bring other than yoga at 9:30 and a sunny rest of the day.

An Overcast And Wet Morning

7:07

Up at 6:10, seemingly my usual time, and came down to a wet walk, puddles on the road, and a windless, 70º morning.  It may clear up later in the day, but surprisingly, it's cooling off, with the high in the 70's, a break from weeks of 80º+ weather.

We started yesterday with a meeting of the Chautauqua Lake Association at the Bemus Point Casino and it was well attended.  We got an update, very optimistic, on the lake, on weed growth, water quality, on what's being done by various agencies, with lots of pats on the back to various people.  In other words, it was a bore.  The major project, however,  is the updating and extending of the sewer system around the lake, which is good news if you don't care about the cost.  Our area is scheduled for sewers once and if they get any money which seems doubtful for now.  And if they ever do get the money, our area won't be scheduled until 2024.  So we are solvent for now, can order that second beer or an appetizer.  Candidly, the interest in keeping the lake healthy is important and lots of people are working towards this end which is to be commended.  And new sewers are probably important, necessary eventually but the cost seems prohibitive especially since, as I have heard, septic systems are only 5% of the lake's problem, run offs from streams and farms the major polluter.  I wonder if money might be better spent addressing that problem instead of 1200 homes along the lakeshore, many of them empty nine months a year.  Anyways, we came home happy, not having to worry about things for the next eight years if at all.

We came home to another quite warm and humid afternoon on the lake.  The first thing we did is gather trash, so I could head off to the Transfer Station.  Since there are only two of us, there's not much to do and I was quickly home.  Evie had one thought in mind, to get out on the dock, set up her umbrella, lots of ice water,  her book and enjoy the afternoon; I had some lunch, leftover moussaka, and watched the women's volleyball team win a bronze medal.  I think I am going to miss watching the Olympics next week, as it was a nice respite from the junk TV I usually watch at lunch time.  I also read some, avoided the heat of the dock and sun; I would rather be doing something so I got out my kayak, paddled down to the ridiculously busy Sandy Bottom, where thirty or forty boats were tied together, their crews standing in the water, drinking beer, and blasting music.  I feel sorry for the neighbors.  It was so warm kayaking that I took off my life jacket and jumped in the water a couple of times as I paddled, to keep cool.  At least I got some exercise and its always settling to  be out on the lake.

The Mayor Of Woodlawn Speaks

How Big?

Around 5:30, Evie warmed up some appetizers, eggplant stuffed with ricotta, and we walked down to the third Woodlawn neighborhood picnic of the summer, a gathering for a couple of hours of neighbors and their guests.  It's always fun to see each other, as we don't get much of a chance during the week or weekends because everyone is busy with guests.  We had a brief meeting, made a few decisions effecting the right of way, and we were home by 7:00, in time for anyone who wanted to go out to dinner or have dinner.  So this gathering rarely gets in the way of doing something on a Saturday night.  Evie and I wanted to do something but we were not sure what.  We scratched going to Bemus for a  beer as we both had already had two, so we decided to go out on the lake for a paddle, over to Long Point, to Wells Bay and back.  It was nice to be out on the lake, surrounded by a darkening sky, and a quickly emptying lake.  We were out only for a half an hour but that was enough.

Kayaking At Dusk

When we came home, I warmed up some moussaka for a snack, Evie had some peaches, and we watched Netflix's Marcella, an increasingly confusing series about a female detective.  And the fact that its an English series, with English accents makes it even more difficulty as we miss quite a bit of the dialogue.  We were both in bed by 11:00, our usual bed time.

O, yea, I almost forgot.  Today is a special day...our 51st wedding anniversary.  Amazing.  How fortunate and grateful we are.

A Hazy Saturday Morning On The Lake

6:40

6:47

7:00

It's a muggy morning, again, on the lake, lots of sunshine however, as the sun rose above Long Point through the haze.  It's 70º already, will get into the high 80's later in the day, with thunderstorms predicted, keeping the humidity up in the 80's as well.

Early Morning Kayaking In The Fog

Fishing In The Fog

Yesterday morning greeted us with a heavy fog.  So what did I do?  Go out and lose myself in the fog while kayaking.  I wanted to see what it felt like to be enveloped by the fog, surrounded by gray but it soon lifted as the shoreline became visible.  Still, it was fun to be lost in the grayness for a few minutes.  I then paddled home, had breakfast, finished my blog and drove off to yoga class at 9:30 in Lakewood.  Another small class, only six of us.  A basic class, something I always need, to remind myself of proper position.  Afterwards, I stopped for coffee, then came home to a spic n span house, as Evie was busy, finishing up one of her projects.  And we were having friends,  Linda and Ron for dinner so she put together a  moussaka and baklava for dessert, to go along with our Mediterranean dinner.  By noon, however, most of her tasks were done, so she was able to spend most of the afternoon relaxing, reading on the dock.  I had my usual lunch of vegetable soup and a schnitzel sandwich, watched more Olympics, read, took a nap, and sat out on the dock for awhile.

Late Afternoon Storm Clouds

Threatening Skies

Around 5:00, we both came in, showered, and started putting the finishing touches on dinner.  Evie made a white sauce for the moussaka, and I got the drinks ready.  Linda and Ron arrived around 6:00 and it was nice enough to sit on the front porch, with appetizers and beers and enjoy the waning of the day as the storm clouds slowly enveloped the lake.

Storms Off To The North

Around 7:00 I fired up my grill only to discover that it would not get above 250º, a problem I have had on and off with the grill, so I had to borrow my neighbors grill.  We were having a butterflied and marinated leg of lamb, and it took longer than I thought to get it done, so we did not eat dinner until 8:00, typical for me.  Dinner, however, was excellent, the lamb both rare and medium, to your taste, the moussaka great, the baklava not too sweet and syrupy, and we sat around the table talking and finishing the wine until we realized it was after 10:00, almost past Ron's bedtime, so we bid them good night and then spent some time cleaning up the kitchen before bed.

Ready For Dinner 

This morning, at 9:00, there's a meeting for lake residents at the village Casino to discuss the lake, its quality and we will have an update on the sewers that are supposed to finish the ring around the lake in the near future, probably bankrupting all of us who live on the lake.