Another Clear Morning Sky

8:00

8:14

I am sitting here, as the sky begins to lighten and turn light blue.  And I have stopped reading the NYTimes on my computer because I have been listening to a podcast, Marc Maron's WTF and he is interviewing the comedian/actress Kristin Wiig.  For some reason, I got into listening to her describe the arc of her life, beginning in Rochester, NY, with no idea that she might become famous, that she might act.  There was no real direction to her life, just a series of zigs and zags, until she finally realizes she is most comfortable with stand up comedy (even though she has always been shy, the kid who hated standing up and talking in a class).  Interesting.

Anyways, yesterday was another Donald Trump kind of day, GREAT, for one reason.  We were listening to Lawrence O'Donnell show last night at 10:00 and he had a Princeton professor, Dr. Sam Wang, on  his show.  Wang called the 2012 election almost perfectly.  And his analysis of this year's election, using state polls, suggests that Hillary has a 99% chance of winning. Whew.  It made us both feel good, like we had just taken a Zanax.  Let's hope he has not lost his touch.  And it was a welcome antidote to the truck we saw parked outside our restaurant Friday evening.  It  gives you some idea why Chautauqua County is definitely Trump country and it's scary.

Passionate Trump Supporter?

Back to yesterday, which began with a yoga class with Julie, lots of people which was great.  Then home because I thought we might be driving to Erie to look at ovens.  Not so as Evie was outside raking the flower beds on a surprising cool morning.  I changed clothes, put on my work jeans and my  Carhartt work vest (makes me look like a yuppie outdoorsman), and helped Evie clean the beds, filling a couple of barrels with leaves and taking them up the hill.  It felt good to be outside working, getting something done, working up a sweat despite the cold.  Around 12:30, we both went inside and I had lunch and discovered that I had already watched the last episode of Longmire and was lost because I had no idea as to what  to watch next during my lunches.  So I watched the last Ray Donovan but I had not watched it for a month so I had little idea of what was happening.  I turned it off, opened my book, NUTSHELL and hoped to take a nap because I had gotten up so early.  I might have taken a cat nap but I was soon up and antsy, wanting to get outside and get working.  So I joined Evie who was busy chopping leaves, cutting our lawn a couple of times, and I filled up two more barrels with leaves.  By the time we were  both through with our leaf raking and mulching, our lawn was once again leaf free...for the moment.

A Leaf Raking Kind Of Day

Never Tire Of Photographing Long Point

We had plans to go to JCC to watch a high school volleyball final, so we showered and drove off to Jamestown by 5:20.  We got there in time to sit in the North Collins cheering section and watch the two teams warm up.  Our local team, Panama, was undefeated.  They started strong and won the first two games, and it looked like it wouldn't be much of a match.  But North Collins came back, upped their game and won the next two matches, taking it to fifth game which Panama finally won 25-20.  It was an exciting, fun way to spend a Friday night.

Volleyball Action At Jamestown Community College

We then drove through Falconer to have dinner at a restaurant we had eaten at a year ago and liked, Belview East.  We were a bit uncomfortable, however, when we saw the anti Clinton truck and assumed the psycho was probably inside eating dinner.  We walked in, sat at the empty bar after the bartender somewhat reluctantly said we could eat at the bar.  Not a good start.  We ordered our beers, got the menus, and soon things warmed up.  We ended up talking the rest of the night with Gary, the owner and bartender, and his manager, Kathy.  He grew up in Bemus, played both football and volleyball on their great teams back in the 1950's, was a UPS driver for 20 years before buying this restaurant 25 years ago.  It's definitely a place where locals eat with lots of regulars, all who seem to know Gary.  Our meals were really good, huge portions, as we both took home doggy bags.  Evie had pan fried perch and I had the meatball and sausage rigatoni.  As we were finishing, a couple walked in and sat at the bar, regulars obviously, who were there to have a drink and celebrate their 43rd anniversary.  We talked with them for a bit, learning about their lives as well.  We were reluctant to leave but it was getting late so we said our goodbyes, saying we would definitely be back.  It was a good night out.

We were home by 9:40, watched some of Beyonce's rally in Cleveland, as she was revving up the voters in Cleveland, imploring them to support Hillary.  And in one of her last songs, her entire group came out on stage in pants suits, in support of Hillary, the fashionista.   After listening to Dr. Wang's prognostication, we went to sleep more easily.