Frost On A December Morning

6:56

6:57

7:11

7:13

7:56

It's 7:29, the beauty of the morning sky keeps me getting up off my couch and walking outside to take another photograph.  It's chilly 29º, the lawn stiff with frost, and I am listening to Only A Game, a part of my Saturday morning routine.

Ducks In The Morning

Yesterday began with a paddle and it was good to be back out on the lake, even if my hands get frozen by the time I return.  Gripping the metal paddle for forty-five minutes is not much of a hand warmer.  When I got home, Evie was busy making a couple of soups, a cauliflower soup from India and her go to vegetable soup.  It's that time of the year.  And I was her sous chef or more accurately, dish and bottle washer.  Most everything was done by 11:30 so we decided to get some air, some exercise, so we drove over to Long Point State Park for a hike around their woods.  It was perfectly cool for hiking in the high 30's and as usual, we never met anyone else on the trails.  There were a few guys at the marina boat launch, putting their fishing boats in, hoping to catch that winter walleye.

Long Point State Park

We were home by 1:00 and Evie fried me a couple of eggs and put them over some of the leftover grits from our dinner the other night.  It was heavenly, the grits tasty because of the cheese and cream Evie added.  I could eat this every day.  Evie got a few things done to get ready for the arrival of my nephew and his wife, prepping some of the dinner for Saturday night.  We then relaxed until around 4:30 when I decided to take a shower.  Then things began to fall apart.  I tried to turn off the water and the knob broke or stripped the cartridge.  The only way we could stop the water from flowing was to turn the house water off.  Great, we were having guests and we could not turn on the water.  We called our plumber but he did not answer.  Fortunately, I happened to look outside and Kevin, a carpenter, and plumber was two houses down from us, where he was remodeling our neighbor's house and was just finishing up their bathroom.  I asked him if he had a moment and he came over and was able to put a couple of caps on both the faucet and shower, enabling us to use the water.  And he said he would pick up the cartridge for the faucet this morning at Home Depot and put it in when it gets here.  What a guy...he saved our evening and today.

Main Street

Waiting For The Parade

Window Dancers

Thus, we were able to jump in our car and drive to Jamestown, to watch the Christmas Parade down Main Street, a part of the Christmas season every year.  We knew parking would be difficult so I figured the Prendergast Library lot would be free and it was, as I was the first or second car to park there.  We then walked two blocks to Main, walked down to the mall in front of the Administration Building where a band, We Speak Canadian, was playing. We walked Main Street until the parade began at the 3rd Street Bridge, people watching, taking some photos of dancers at the local dance studio,  and buying some caramel corn.

Ballerinas 

We watched the parade for about an hour and it was perfect for little kids, lots of trucks, tractors, fire engines, the Jamestown Marching Band, and any local business which wanted to drive their car or truck.  It was a cool night but better than snow or rain and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Jamestown High School Marching Band

Dance Team

We knew my nephew, Richie and his wife, Sally were driving downtown to a hockey tournament but the rink was right in front of the parade, making it impossible for them to park.  So we texted then, told them to put the Prendergast Library in their GPS and a half hour later, we met them at 3rd and Main and watched the parade.

With My Nephew, Richie And His Wife, Sally

About 7:45, they took off to the hockey game, the arena a block away and we decided to try a new bar called Pal Joeys, on Washington Street.  It's definitely a local bar, in need of updating, a dropped ceiling, a much-used bar, with what looked like local guys sitting around drinking beer, only a couple of stools open at the bar.  We were told their Long Island wings were the best, so we ordered a double and a couple of beers.  We talked briefly with a couple about what was good to eat,  but they soon left, so we were thinking about leaving after we finished our wings but another couple arrived and we ended up staying for another hour, talking with them.

At Pal Joey's With Our New Friends, Steve and Pat, And The Multi-Talented Jenna

They are a little younger than us, both locals, with kids and we had a lot in common, our interests in families, photography, writing, birding and the natural world.  They were fun to talk with and we exchanged numbers and vowed we would get together in January, after the holiday season.  Coincidentally, as we were talking about where we lived, Jenna, our bar tender, overheard us mentioning our neighborhood, Woodlawn. She asked which end of Woodlawn we lived on, was it near the Scholtz's.  It turns out her day job is to captain a boat which takes boat lifts out of the lake in the fall, puts them in in spring, at least 400 a season.  So she knew both of our neighbors, the Schultz's and Joneses.  We had a good laugh and decided to take a selfie of the five of us, just in case our neighbors might be looking at the blog.

We did not get home until 10:30 and Richie and Sally did not get here from the hockey game and dinner until after 11:00.  They had to pick up dinner for the team from a local restaurant called SAUCE, on Main in Jamestown, and take it to the team who were staying at the Hampton Inn just off Interstate #86.  I was exhausted and went to bed at 11:00 but the three of them stayed up until 12:45 talking.