Not A Good Day

6:57

6:58

7:05

7:25

A strange morning, as it's clouded up, started to rain but only for a few minutes and now the sun has peaked out from above the mass of gray clouds.  It's a balmy 50º, with more rain to come and increasingly warm temperatures during the day.

Rain At 7:48

Sun At 8:02

Yesterday began well, as we both had a leisurely morning coffee, planning out our day.  Around 10:30, I noticed our neighbor was working on the tree that had fallen a few weeks ago, so I went down to offer my help and ended up talking with three other neighbors all about the typical disputes that accompany a neighborhood association, this time about a shared dock at the rightaway.  Cest la vie.  When I came home to get some gloves, Evie told me we had no water.  So began the process of trying to figure out what had gone wrong.  It seemed as though it had just stopped and was not a result of a running faucet or toilet.  We worked on priming the pump, called one plumber who could not come, then our usual, Klingingsmith's who just happened to be leaving a house in Victoria, a quarter of a mile away.  He came right over, fussed with the pump and diagnosed a bad pump which sits underground, alas.  So Monday, our plumbers will arrive early, take the old pump out of the well and put in the new one and we will pray that's all that is wrong because we noticed lots of water in and around the well which seemed to suggest a broken water line.  If that's true, they will have to dig up our yard to fix it.  The joys of home ownership.  Anyways, I did manage to help my neighbor for an hour before he called it a quits.

The rest of the day was mostly a loss as we were both depressed at the need for a new pump and the lack of water in our house.  We could use the lake water to flush our toilets but we would need more drinking water so I went off to Wegmans and bought 10 gallons of drinking water, more than enough to get us through a couple of days.  And I stopped at Home Depot to pick up some fertilizer for our privets and bushes.

When I got home, I had lost my mojo, both from the bad news, working in the yard, and a quick trip to the store so I virtually collapsed on the couch, tried to read but fell asleep for a good long nap.  I woke up an hour later refreshed, and decided to go outside and work on enlarging our parking space. I had to skim the grass off of the new area which took awhile, then spread the stones I have had sitting in my car for a couple of days.  I finished around 5:00 and it looks good and will be easier for anyone who wants to park in our area.

We were at sixes and sevens about dinner, finding it difficult whether to stay in or go out.  After deciding to stay in, I changed my mind and said let's go out to the Stockton Inn for a beer and a burger.  That sounded good to Evie so we quickly washed up as best we could and drove off to Stockton, a 17 mile jaunt.  We were there on a Sunday three weeks ago and liked it and were not disappointed  It was a hopping place, with families waiting to be seated, the bar mostly full and we found two seats easily.  I had a burger,  Evie soup, and we both shared french fries and onion rings, another healthy meal to go along with a beer or two.  We enjoyed talking with the friendly bartender, Brett, and learned that he makes his own beer and is trying to grow hops.  So we are going to put him in touch with our good friend, Jack, who is a veteran hop grower and knows all the ins and outs.

We got home around 9:00 and watched Real Time With Bill Maher, then the Correspondent's dinner, with the highlight being Comedy Central's Hasan Minhaj giving the usual comedic speech.  It lacked the drama of other years because of the Donald's absence.  As usual, Donald was busy bragging and boasting about his greatness as well as lambasting the fake news media.  He ended his talk with a dramatic reading of his favorite poem, 'The Snake", "classy and appropriate."  Some things never change.

Wet And Not Wild

6:55

7:39

A quiet, gray morning on the lake, shadows from the trees fill the lake's edge.  No martins singing this morning for some reason; I hope they have not gone to find other homes.  No fishing boats yet, not a ripple on the lake, with some fog rising over the eastern shore.  It looks like we might have rain off and on over the next week, highs varying widely, from the 50's to 70's.  It's currently 57º with a light drizzle.

Breakfast With The Boys At Eat'n Park

Yesterday morning was really fun for me, as an old friend, Stan Marshaus, picked me up and 9:00 and we drove to Erie, PA, for breakfast at Eat'n Park.  We were meeting three of his childhood friends and guys I got to know in high school and college from playing basketball.  We have kept in touch over the years and get together once or twice a year, usually here at our house on the lake.  Don Gacey and John D'Angelo played basketball for John Carroll University and were very successful high school coaches.  Tom O'Brien was Stan's neighbor and fellow Miami University graduate.  We of course spent a couple of hours talking playing and coaching basketball, bringing up names of players we had not thought of in fifty years.  It's always great fun to reminisce about the 'good old days' playing summer ball at Shaw Field or Patterson or Euclid.  All of us have been basketball fans since childhood, so we remember the names of guys we looked up to as kids, the late 50's and 60's when we were still active players,  as well and the more recent greats from the Cleveland area.  All five of us ordered the Sunshine Special for $3.99, most likely along with all the other retirees looking to save a buck.  We must of sat there for two hours before heading home, the guys to the Cleveland area, Stan and I back to the lake, a great way to spend the morning.

Spring Tulips From Our Yard

When I got home, Evie was out enjoying the sun on the dock but was soon driven in by the wind.  I had no interest in lunch because of the late breakfast, so I read some and took a nap.  Evie did some more weeding and working in her garden and around 3:30,  she decided our lawn needed cutting so that took a good forty five minutes as it was long and thick.  I did some work on the dock, drilling in some lag bolts to make sure it was steady and would remain firm and stable.

We were both excited about dinner with Linda and Ron at the new tres expensive restaurant in the area called The White Carrot.  They had a $125.00 gift certificate and wanted to share it with us at the Carrot's bar.  So we drove to their house around 5:30, had a beer and some appetizers and took another walk through their new home before driving over to The White Carrot,  a couple of miles from the Chautauqua Institution gate.  Even though it was a Friday night, there were few people in the restaurant and no one at the bar which was fine with us.  We settled in with a pleasant bartender, Tom, and talked with him about our drink options and food.   Everything is very expensive and the menu consists of 'small bites,' the typical three course small bite meal costing $65.00.  And when they say small bites, the chef means it.  We ordered four 'small bites off the menu, none of which I  can describe because they were all so bizarre and different.  And though each of us had only a bite or two of each, they were fantastic.  We surprised ourselves by having such a great time with so little food.  The wine we chose, the cheapest on the menu, Torres 5G Garnacha from Spain, was excellent and the homemade baguette with softened chive butter was to die for.  Next time, we decided we would just have the bread and butter with our wine and we would be happy.  We stayed for an hour or more, talking with the bartender  and when we left, there were only  two couples in the restaurant.

Friday Night At The White Carrot

We went back to Linda and Ron's and because Linda knew we would not be gorging ourselves at The White Carrot, we sat down and had a delicious Mexican soup with all the accompaniments, guacamole, cilantro, etc.  It was a great way to end a special evening.  We did not get home until around 10:00, and watched some TV before going up to bed.

Interesting Think:

When someone is honestly 55 percent right, that’s very good and there’s no use wrangling. And if someone is 60 percent right, it’s wonderful, it’s great luck, and let him thank God. 

But what’s to be said about 75 percent right? Wise people say this is suspicious. Well, and what about 100 percent right? Whoever says he’s 100 percent right is a fanatic, a thug, and the worst kind of rascal.

— An old Jew of Galicia

Overcast Skies, Calm Lake

6:41

7:56

Well, I was up in time for this morning 6:27 sunrise but there was none because of the heavy cloud cover, just gray on gray.  It's cooled off, 48º, after yesterday's high of 85º, not quite a record high but close.  No rain forecast but cloudy much of the day and the rains come in over the weekend.

Purple Martins Have Returned To A Duct Taped Home

Yesterday was not the best of days for either of us. I had a dental cleaning in the afternoon and knew that there was going to be bad news, like two new crowns.  And Evie had an appointment with a physical therapist who thinks she can be of some help with her TMJ which is good news.  So like many of our retired friends, our day was organized around doctor/dentist appointments, alas.  I did start my morning with a good yin yoga class and we spent most of the morning working on the back because most of the women are gardeners.  My back felt great after class, too. When I got out to my car, Evie had texted that a truck was stuck next door and she was worried about being able to get to her appointment on time.  Fortunately, they were able to get the truck out of the ditch in time so she could make her appointment at 12:15.  I was home just before noon, had a final lunch of gruel and a bagel, watched some SPIRAL, then took a quick nap before driving off to the dentist at 1:30.  I had to wait 45 minutes of course before I got a cleaning and heard the bad news.  What a way to spend the afternoon.

I got home around 4:00 as storm clouds were gathering.  Earlier, I had bought some grass seed with fertilizer added, so we both went outside and worked on the bare spots where our huge maple had once been.  This is about the third or fourth time we have tried to grow grass in this area and this is the last time I will try.  Let the weeds grow if the grass won't.  By the way, everything is beginning to bloom around here.  The daffodils and tulips are spectacular, the lilac tree is close to blooming and I even saw variegated shoots from the hostas.  Spring has sprung.

Dinner was easier than usual as Evie had picked up a rotisserie chicken at Sam's, cut it up along with lots of veggies and added an Indian Simmer sauce from Trader Joe's, made some rice, and we had a tasty Indian dinner.  We watched a recent film, NOCTURNAL ANIMALS, with some trepidation because we knew it would be violent.  And to our surprise we both liked it and were riveted by the dual stories despite the bizarre artistic license taken by the director, Tom Ford, whose goal is often to shock, like the opening nude scenes.  What it had to do with the story that followed is questionable although I am sure there are critics out there who have explained it.

A Sunny And Warm Morning

7:37

 Well, I missed the sunrise again, getting up at 6:35 to a living room filled with light.  It's 63º, about as warm an early morning as we have had this spring.  The lake's choppy because of a variable wind, so I won't be kayaking this morning.

Merganser?

Yesterday was a good day for working outside, not too warm but sunny with a breeze.  I started my day as usual with yoga, then a quick stop at the store to pick up some cream and fruit for Evie.  As I headed home, I decided to check out the new discount store owned by the Amish in the village of Ashville.  It's mostly a grocery store filled with items which have expired expiration dates, thus the cheap prices.  Some items, however, are within the limits and they also sell some dry goods like socks from Vermont that have a life time guarantee.  I talked with the manager, Adam, about the polywood chaise loungers they had sitting outside.  And I asked him about whether his chair makers could put together a chair which matched our favorite Adirondack chairs which our daughter Beth gave us twenty years ago.  He did not think it would be a problem.  All I needed was to bring him the chair.   When I got home, Evie was working in the yard on our privets, clearing out all the dead branches and weeds, an onerous but necessary task.

Neighbor's Azalea

I had a quick and easy lunch, leftover leftover chicken breasts and my lentil gruel.  I finally finished MISSISSIPPI BLOOD, a 700 page tomb.  It got really tiresome towards the end and I was happy to put it aside.  After a quick nap, I decided to drive to Hartville, to another Amish farm, where we had dropped our Adirondack chair off a year ago, to see if Mose would build it.  He went out of the chair business, so I picked it up and brought it back to the lake.  By the time I returned, Evie was ready for a break, so we drove up to Ashville, to the Amish store, with the chair.  We could not make up our minds about their chaise lounges so we passed but we did order two chairs to match the one we left with Adam.  He will call us when he gets a price for it.  We are excited because this chair is tres comfortable, unlike most of the polywood chairs we have sampled.

The rest of the afternoon Evie spent either on the dock or working on the privets and I kicked back in the house, starting a new novel by Michael Connelly, as Bosch is back.  Earlier in the day, I ran into our neighbors, Ken and Marjorie, who are up to the lake for a few days, at the Amish store.  We made plans to go out to dinner at 6:30, so after showers, they picked us up and we drove to Steener's Pub in Greenhurst.  This was a first time for them and they seemed to enjoy it, good food, beer and ambiance.

Neighbors

We caught each other up on the past six months since they close their cottage up in late October.  They, like us, have three kids and spend as much time as they can with their grandchildren.  We have similar political views, so it's easy to imagine what else we talked about.  They have also been to Turkey and are very interested in what's going on there.  I got wings, Evie chili and Ken and Marjorie had the fish fry.  We were home just before 9:00, at dusk, the lake just beginning to darken.  We had enough time to watch both The Americans and Vice News before going up to bed. It was a busy but fun day.

Where Are The Purple Martins?

Wednesday's Dawn at 6:25

Tuesday's Dusk at 8:15

It's another overcast morning, no sunrise to speak of, a warm 55º morning.  And no purple martins. Usually, the martins arrive on April 15th  and last spring,  all of the martin houses in our neighborhood (eight of them) had at least a couple of martin families.  We would wake up each morning to the sounds of the purple martins, building their nests.  This morning, none of the houses are occupied.  About ten days ago, I noticed a few martin scouts dancing around a couple of houses but since then, we have not seen any.  And on Monday, the day after we put our dock in, we noticed barn swallows, swooping under our dock, looking for nesting spaces but since then we have not seen any.  It's been a strange spring.

We did not have much of a Tuesday, at least Evie didn't, having decided early on that Tuesday was going to be a day off from any chores so she stayed in her pajamas the entire day, without guilt, just kicking back, doing some work on the Shutterfly album.  She made it into the living room for an enjoyable wine time and into the kitchen, to heat up some frozen leftover dinners from who knows when.  They were tasty by the way, mine chicken with gravy and sauce and Evie had noodles and sauce.

I did a little having gone to yoga at 9:30, with Julie, trying to master a few asanas to no avail.   I came straight home, no coffee or shopping.  Evie had not moved but volunteered to make me a couple of toasted cheese to go along with vegetable soup.  My afternoon was lunch, some TV, a nap, and then I wanted to do something although I did not have much mojo.  So I drove off to the gravel pit, found the gate was closed, opened it, shoveled five buckets of pea gravel, and left, closing the gate after me.  I am now ready for it to rain, to show the low spots, so I can fill them with the gravel.

5:42 pm

At 4:30, I noticed the lake had settled down, so I asked Evie if she wanted to kayak but she was busy on the phone talking to our daughter Beth about their plans to visit us in June, how exciting.  So I paddled down to Sandy Bottom, tried to extricate a floating raft from its position on the shoreline but couldn't, then looked for other detritus from the winter storms.

Photo Shooting At The Golden Hour

Rainbow with no Rain

Ellery Farm

I was home by 5:30, in time for wine time, cheese and crackers and golden hour's metamorphosing sky.  We would take a sip of wine, then take a photo. Cool beans.

7:54 pm

 We watched BETTER CALL SAUL, which is getting better, some Vice News, and CNN, MSNBC and FOX, just to see what they were talking about.  Both CNN and MSNBC were talking about Michael Flynn's problems, the testy Sean Spicer's press conference.  FOX news was talking about Hilary, of course.  How typical.  That was enough to send us up to bed.

Dandelion Daze

6:18

6:42

I was up in time to see the sunrise but because of the clouds, there was none, at least one that was noticeable.  It obviously rose.  I had hoped for another day like yesterday but it's not to be.  Clouds all day, a chance of rain, 54º at the moment.

Monday was another day where we were excited and filled with gratitude to be living on Chautauqua Lake.  It was a perfect spring day, blue skies and lake, a gentle breeze, a warming sun.  I should have gone kayaking but felt I needed a good yoga class.  So off I went, a class full of gals and me.  I stopped at Ryder's Cup afterwards, then a quick run to the Dollar Store to pick up some aluminum pans, for freezing the cabbage rolls.  And since I was next to Walmart, I picked up a couple more cans of sauerkraut to top off the cabbage rolls.  I was home by noon and had a lunch of warmed, frozen leftover pizza.

Duck On The Dock

I watched more of the Spiral series and Evie, feeling the warm sun, got her dock stuff together, chair, cushions, phone, iPad and went out to sun on our dock.  It was a good choice, a light breeze, warm sun, and blue waters. Too bad the lake's too cold to swim.   I did my usual, read and napped and then got busy, with two more trips to the gravel pit, to finish off the edges of the road and driveway.  I am obsessed with filling every single spot.  Meanwhile, Evie tired of the dock and indulged her obsession, pulling yellow dandelions which covered out front yard.  Once she started, I could hardly get her to stop when it was time to enjoy a beer on the dock.  Both of us were sweaty from working in the yard, so we took showers, then gathered a couple of beers and pretzels and had our first cocktail hour on the dock, a good way to end our day.

Around 6:30, I grilled some burgers outside and Evie roasted cauliflower, sauteed mushrooms, warmed up my lentils and sweet potatoes and got out all the condiments for the burgers.  I grilled them 3 minutes a side, as recommended by the NYTimes Mark Bittman and they were done perfectly. Nothing like a burger unless it's pizza, my two favorite foods.  We watch a good BILLIONS, finally, and then the depressing but topical AMERICAN CRIME.  No one seems happy and nothing works out well.  Vice News was almost an antidote to it's depressing story.  And I am almost through with Greg Iles's 700 page MISSISSIPPI BLOOD.

Breakfast On The Dock

Morning Breakfast

6:40

7:02

I have to start getting up earlier as the sun had already risen and filled the living room with light when I came downstairs at 6:40.  The sun, obviously rises a bit earlier each day until the summer solstice on June 21st.  Right now, it rises in our area at 6: 31, sets at 8:19.

Stillness Of Early Morning

Yesterday morning was quite different from our usual routine.  We both enjoyed a leisurely coffee, trying to decide what to do with our day.  Finally, we decided that I should go to Kundalini yoga, a variation of the gong show, and Evie would stay home and start the process of making cabbage rolls.   My class was interesting and different, as we meditated for close to 20 minutes and a couple of breathing exercises which ended with a held breath which made me feel as though I might pass out. Scary and not so good.  I won't do that again.

Cabbage Rolls Ready for Sauerkraut, Tomato Sauce, and Bake

After class, I headed home, so I could help with the cabbage rolls but Evie had completed the task of making her step mother Dot's recipe, of over 50 cabbage rolls, filling three 9 by 13 pans, quite a task. Needless to say, we did not have to think about what we were having for dinner.  We both decided to pass on going to the Rod and Gun Club for bean bag, as our dock guys were coming in the afternoon and we wanted to be here to make sure things went smoothly.  So we both did some mowing during the afternoon, cutting both our yard and our neighbors until the guys arrived, around 3:30.  I cut for awhile, then came in and watched some of the Cavs game and then went out ide.  Evie did the same, checking on the cabbage rolls, then cutting the lawn, then coming in again.

It was another sunny and warm afternoon on the lake, perfect for being outside or putting in the dock because the temperatures got up into the 70's.  It took the guys over two hours to get our dock finally in, as the end pieces are a bear plus the water is up to their necks and despite the wetsuits, very cold. They earned their money for sure.

We had hoped to have wine time out on the dock because I had gotten out some chairs but the wind had picked up and at 6:00, it was already getting too cool to sit out.  So we had our glass of wine inside, as the aroma of cabbage rolls and sauerkraut filled the kitchen.  And at least I cannot eat cabbage rolls with out a mound of mashed potatoes, so Evie put them together just before we ate.  Both of us went back for seconds because the cabbage rolls were so good, hit the spot.  We had a difficult time figuring out what to watch on TV as Sunday is a bad night until later.  We watched The Circus on Showtime, a weekly chronicle of the Trump Show, always amusing and some other stuff I  cannot remember.

Foggy Sunday Morning

7:11

7:53

The temperature has dropped to 34º, thus the heavy fog on the lake.  No striking sunrise this morning as Long Point is hidden and all is gray.  Once the fog clears out, it should be a nice day, lots of sun and cool, high around 60º.

Yesterday was a less than busy Saturday for some reason.  Once again, we hardly got out of the house,  certainly didn't hike or go to yoga.  Maybe today.  We took our time during our morning coffee, in no hurry to get the kitchen cleaned up, the refrigerator emptied, the trash ready for my trip to the Transfer Station.  We did make one momentous decision; we are going to make cabbage rolls, something we have been wanting to do for months but never got around to doing it. So after my trip to the Transfer Station, I came home and Evie had a short list for me, coffee, hit the bank for some money to pay the dock guys who may be putting in our dock soon, perhaps today, and then picked up the makings for the cabbage rolls, ground beef, pork, cabbage and sauerkraut.  I was home by 12:30 and by early afternoon, neither of us felt like making cabbage rolls so we put it off till today or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Lunch was what I had been hankering for, pancakes.  I thought about having them for breakfast but forgot about it so I had my usual breakfast of yogurt and an oats mixture.  Fortunately, Evie reminded me of the pancakes in the freezer so I popped them out, put them in the toaster and had a delicious lunch, with maple syrup, of course.  We didn't do much exciting the rest of the day.  I watched a few minutes of a couple of different NBA games, read some, napped and woke up with a recipe in mind that I had read about in the New York Times called Red Lentil Dal.  It's an Indian spiced dal, with lentils, tomatoes and sweet potatoes and by the time its done, it's like a vegetable stew but more of a thick soup consistency.  It's not a very enticing looking dish but I like it especially over rice.

Photo Not Gourmet Magazine Ready

After a brief wine time, Evie made up some salmon cakes with the leftover salmon from last night's dinner and with rice and the gruel of lentils and sweet potatoes, we had dinner.  The salmon cakes quite good, the Dal decent not great.  We then watched the much ballyhooed film, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA.  It's a difficult movie to say we like because of the tragedy at the center of the film.  Let's say it's unimaginable how anyone could continue with life after something like this has happened.  But the character Casey Affleck carries on, takes on the care of his nephew for a few months to get him on an even keel after the death of his father but eventually realizes that he cannot take on Patrick, his memories too painful and will not stop.  We really liked the young nephew, Patrick, who also deserved an Oscar.   It had such an effect on me that I dreamed about it and woke up thinking about it, how one careless moment can change or destroy your life.  Scary.  We ended the night with Real Time With Bill Maher so we had a few laughs before going to bed.

Today's Big Sunday, a bean bag tournament at The Rod and Gun Club, and perhaps our dock may be put in the cold waters of Chautauqua Lake.

Saturday Chilling

6:45

7:38

Long Point At 7:40

Woke up late, at 6:50, to an overcast morning sky and a cool 38º morning.  Twenty five or thirty buffleheads are cruising by, the males often chasing the females, on a ruffled lake surface.  It looks like decent weather over the next couple of days, lots of sunshine and temperatures in the 60's, our kind of days.

Morning Buffleheads

Yesterday it  felt good to get back in my routine of yoga, coffee and then some shopping.  Class was good and a new guy showed up, a neophyte, so I was not the only guy.  We worked mostly on hip openings, something I had never heard of before yoga.  I picked up a dozen eggs at Ryder's Cup, then on to Wegman's, surprisingly quiet for a Friday afternoon.  When I got home, I was having an easy morning, enjoying TGIF, no goals in mind.  Lunch was another plate of prime rib, twice baked potato and gravy and I watched the fourth quarter of the Cavs 26 point come back in against the Pacers. Things are looking up if they continue to play like they did in the second half.

After some TV, reading and a nap, I found my mojo once again, and decided my newly minted parking area need more pea gravel to top it off so I drove off to the gravel pit twice, filling five buckets with stones.  No one was around so I felt a bit guilty taking the stones without asking or paying but I will go back either today or Monday and make sure to pay for what I took.  Twice was enough for my back, and I spread it on some of the low spots.  Not sure why but I like doing this, probably because I can see progress as I spread the stones.

After Evie prepped dinner, salmon with a creamy, tomato picata sauce, we had wine time until 6:30.  The salmon was done just right after a couple of false starts and we had brown rice and garlic spinach with it, our go to salmon recipe.  We started to watch Vice News but Evie got a call from her good friend Vi, so while they talked, I watched the NBA game.  After she got off the phone, we watched another hilarious episode of Designated Survivor, finished up Vice News, then were happy to go up to bed, to read some before falling asleep.

Clouds And Stuff

6:24

6:36

6:46

7:17

I woke just after 6:00 to a Chautauqua gray sky, threatening rain, but within the hour, the cloud cover broke up, blue skies appeared as did the sun.  Right now there are lots of puffy clouds, some blue,  as the sun peaks in and out.  It's 50º and will not get much warmer.  The next few days should be dry, quite a contrast to yesterday when we got a couple of inches through the day and night.

Yesterday was out of character because we spent much of it in Buffalo.  Evie had appointments in Buffalo at 11:30 and 2:30, a good hour and a half away, so we left around 9:00, warned to get there a half hour early.  It was a particularly nasty day, stormy with torrential rains at times, usually when we attempted to get our of the car.  After the first appointment, we had a quick lunch at McDonalds and did a little shopping and waited a good 15 minutes to get into the car because of the heavy rain.  And after the second appointment, we just wanted to get home as traffic was heavy and the rain torrential. We might have enjoyed Buffalo more had the weather cooperated.

6:24 pm

We were happy to get home and quickly relaxed with a glass of wine and some cheese and crackers.  And the sky became threatening once again, dark clouds looming, and begin to rain, the weather gods unable to make up their minds.

7:58 pm

Dinner was easy and tasty, leftover prime rib, twice baked potatoes, popovers and gravy.  We watched a bit of the Cavs, then got caught up on The Americans and we started but did not finish the first episode of the new Fargo series.  We are not sure of it, lost interest because we were getting tired, so we saved it for another night.  It felt so good to go to bed.

THE OTHER SIDE OF SILENCE: PHILIP KERR

In this, the tenth of Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther novels, it's 1954 and Bernie is working as the concierge at the Grand Hotel on the French Riviera.  He's happy to put his past behind him and is working under the name Walter Wolf.  His only fun is to play bridge a couple of times a week with friends.  This leads him to the Villa Mauaresque, to play bridge with the novelist W. Somerset Maugham. Maugham, however, has more than bridge on his mind.  He's being black mailed and Bernie has been recommended to him as a man who might act as a good between. Because Bernie likes Maugham, he reluctantly accepts which begins the story.  It's more than just blackmail; it involves a former Nazi antagonist of Bernie's, Harold Heinz Henning,  an East German Stasi secret agent Anne French, whom Bernie unfortunately takes on as a lover, and various MI6's heads from London, who worry about the implications of the blackmail on their relations with the US.

The blackmail involves a photograph which might suggest that various higher ups in the British Intelligence might actually have been Russian spies and this is something the MI6 cannot afford made public.  Like most of Bernie's novels, there are flashbacks to Nazi Germany, to the reasons why Bernie so dislikes Henning. The biggest reason is that Henning blackmailed Bernie in 1943, forcing him to send his pregnant and soon to be wife away from Germany, on the ship, Wilhelm Gustloff. The ship was sunk by Russian submarines, nine thousand and four hundred people drowned, many of them children, including Bernie's wife to be. Harold Heinz along with a few others survived.  Thus, Bernie's hatred of the man.  It gets complicated and a bit silly by the end when Bernie discovers that Anne French, his lover, was a Stasi agent, setting him up for a fall.  He doesn't and, we assume, she does by the end.  And Bernie uncharacteristically takes no pity on Henning.  Who would.

Fog And Rain

6:33

7:00

Up at 6:00 to a lake blanketed in fog.  It's still warm, 52º, and there's not much of a view as I look out at the disappearing lake.  I don't think we will have much of a sunrise this morning.

Yesterday was back to normal for me, as I started back with yoga after a two week hiatus.  It felt good to get back but it seemed more like work than usual as I am out of yoga shape if there is such a thing. I also bought a bolster, which will be a big help in my home practice.  After class, I stopped for a coffee, talked with the young barrista who had her book of poems for sale at the counter.  I talked with her about poetry and regret not buying her book.  Next time I see her, I will.  We have to support our young writers.

When I got home, Evie was busy as a beaver; I assume beavers are very busy.  We were having the McClures over for a late Easter dinner.  So we were having our all time holiday favorite, a rib roast, with twice baked potatoes, popovers, asparagus and salad.  Thus, it took quite a bit of organizing and prepping by Evie so that all was done by the time they arrived.  And she balanced the kitchen stuff with working on the Shutterfly album which is about 95% finished although it will take some editing to make it perfect.  So that was how Evie spent her day.

Linda And Ron, Again

I helped when I could and for lunch, Evie took time out from her chores to make me a tomato and feta cheese omelet.  I am a lucky boy.  The rest of the afternoon went quickly, with a book, a nap and vacuuming the downstairs and getting the house spiffed up for Linda and Ron.  They arrived at 6:00, just as Evie took the prime rib out of the oven.  We relaxed with a beer and appetizer before sitting down to dinner at 7:15.  Everything was great, or course, and my favorite was the prime rib with popovers and gravy, reminding me of Sunday dinners at my grandparents house in the 1950's.

Better Together

We sat around finishing off a second bottle of wine until 9:00, rarely mentioning politics, and then watched a skit from Saturday Night Live we saved, with Melissa McCarthy playing Sean Spicer as the Easter Bunny at the White House.  I think even conservative republicans would have to laugh at this skit. She looks so much like Spicy that when I look at him during a press conference, I only see her.  Linda and Ron left around 9:30, and Evie and I quickly cleaned up the kitchen, so we don't have much of a mess to face this morning.  Another good dinner and fun night with Linda and Ron.  We went to bed listening to rain on our roof and ended up with over an inch of rain overnight.