Lake Clutter

7:00

8:30

Purple Martin Male

Ducks And Their Messes

Slept in, sort of, and I got up at 6:50, to a damp morning, a changing morning sky of gray and white. Lots of action on the lake, as I have had to chase the ducks off our dock twice and scatter a  family of Canadian geese from our neighbor's lawn.  They both make quite a mess if left alone.  It must have rained briefly overnight, the lawn's wet.  Our boat's in, so summer is getting closer.  And the next few days look like it, as it's warming up, a high of 80º later in the week before dipping once again, just Chautauqua being Chautauqua.

Mom, Pop, And Hard To See Goslings

Chased Off As Goslings Huddle Behind Mom, Pop Oversees

Cruising To Safer Grounds

As I begin this, I cannot help but think about how our morning view has changed from only a couple of weeks ago when we could look out our window and see only water, sky and trees.  Now, as the warm weather nears, docks, boats, and boat lifts mar our view, as modernity invades the beauty of the natural world. I suppose I could add to this the sounds of summer, of leaf blowers, chain saws, lawn mowers and boat motors.  I am no luddite and I like my boat, the ability to sit on the water on the dock but I don't much like the 'lake clutter.'

Dock, Boats, And Purple Martin House

Yesterday was supposed to be gray and wet but surprise, it turned out to be a nice day, sunny much of the afternoon, perfect weather to be outside.  My boat buddy called to say he could help put my boat in the water around 1:00, so I got busy early, getting out all the gear for our boat, making sure everything was ready for the launch.  I decided to combine the trip to the Transfer Station with a stop at the barn where my boat is stored on a trailer.  So I dropped off the trash and drove another mile to my boat which was sitting outside the barn.   First, I put ten gallons of gas in the tank as it's much easier to do on the trailer.  I then put in the drain plug, remembering the day I forgot and had to literally go under water and screw it in before the boat filled up.  And I connected the battery, turned the key and the motor kicked over so I was good to go.  My last task was to store the life jackets and ropes in the boat before heading home to wait for Joe.

Fragrant Daphne Carol Mackie

When I got home, Evie was out in the yard, enjoying the sunny morning.  And she would stay out most of the day alternating between enjoying the dock and working around the yard.  Around noon, I got hungry so I grilled a couple of Sahlen hot dogs, the best in our area, heated up some leftover beans and had a good lunch until my friend showed up.  We then drove to the barn, in my Subaru, with a new hitch, hooked the boat up to it and we drove off to Snug Harbor where we launched my boat.  I was happy to see my Outback trailed the boat easily, one of the reasons I bought it.  My trusty motor started right up and I then slowly wended my way up Prendergast Creek to the lake and boated home to our dock.  Evie was waiting for me and we tied the boat but it took me another half hour to arrange the ropes so that I was confident the boat would hold even in a heavy wind.

Donna And Sam

The rest of the afternoon we alternated between working in the yard and relaxing and around 5:30 we adjourned to our dock to enjoy a beer after a day well done.  The lake was surprisingly quiet, only a few kayaks out, paddling around.  And we noticed a group picnic at the end of Long Point, enjoying the end of day.  Cool beans.

Family Picnic On Long Point

We then came inside to enjoy a glass of wine and guacamole and chips and Evie put together an easy dinner.  She had already poached some chicken breasts, so she cut them up, added broccoli and mushrooms and one of Trader Joe's simmer sauces and we had dinner.  We watched Friday night's Real Time With Bill Maher and a couple other Home Improvement shows.  One depicted a University Of Texas architectural student making his own tiny home.  It was interesting as it followed his building of the home without the usual drama or competition, like most home improvement shows. We liked it.