37º Yesterday Morning, 79º In The Afternoon

First Baltimore Oriole 

6:20

6:21

6:34

Another beautiful morning here on the lake, a cloudless sky, brilliant sunrise, smooth lake, and a 51º temperature.  As I stepped out to take a photograph, a loon called from a distant shore, competing with the beating of wings of a gaggle of ducks or geese.  I just got back from a good hour kayaking, down to the Powerboat Club and back.  I passed within ten feet of a swimming muskrat.  He saw me, dove in the water, swam under my kayak and surfaced about 15 feet away.  And a kingfisher dove in front of my kayak, flying quickly away with a small fish.

A Muskrat Diving

Swimming Away From My Kayak

Heron's Back

Female Mallard

Menage A Trois

Yesterday seemed like the first day of summer, not spring as the temperatures hit close to 80º in the afternoon.  Early morning, however, was cold enough for a fleece when I went out for a kayak paddle around 7:00, never expecting it would warm up to such an extreme.  Evie was up early as well, wishing she could go kayaking with me.  Around 9:00, I drove off to yoga with Julie, eight ladies and moi, a good group.  Afterward, I stopped at Ryders, had to wait for ten minutes as the trio of women could not make up their minds about what to order.  We did talk about the weather, gardening when to put in flowers.  I then dropped another package off, a return to Amazon, then went to the self-car wash as my Honda was a mess from the trees.  I ended up at Tractor Supply, picking up a battery tester and more straps for our dock which I will return today.

First Signs Of A Chautauqua Spring

When I got home, Evie was off to her second chiropractic appointment in Lakewood.  I warmed up the cauliflower soup and made myself an avocado and tomato sandwich on a bagel, for once a healthy lunch.  I watched some of the NBA playoffs, then Jack Taylor,  and finally napped, tired from my early rising and kayaking.

Buffleheads

Evie was home by 2:00 and went straight upstairs, changed into shorts and went out to enjoy the warm afternoon on the dock.  It was a perfect day for sunbathing so I briefly joined her but soon got tired of the sun and the heat and thought about autumn.  I went into a cool house, read some but then could not resist the temptation to get out on the seemingly calm, blue waters of the lake.  I paddled my usual route, down to the reeds but noticed the wind was picking up, so I headed back.  Fortunately, the wind was worst out in the middle of the lake and if I hugged the shore, I was able to avoid most of it. And we can tell Spring has 'maybe' arrived as our neighbors from Pennsylvania, Ken and Margorie, Tom and his Mom, arrived to open their houses and stay for a couple of days.

For some reason, we decided to have a beer inside, rather than out on our dock.  Maybe we had enough sun for a day.  Anyways, dinner was warming up the chili and boiling some pasta for me.  I like my chili on top of pasta, with cheese, perhaps some sour cream, my version of Cincinnati chili, developed by Macedonia immigrant restaurateurs in the 1920's. It's strange eating dinner in daylight, watching TV when we should be outside, enjoying the early evening.  We are, however, creatures of habit, so we watched Colbert, then the final two episodes of Doctor Foster, dramatic and tension-filled but not uplifting as parents, so angry with each other, tend to ignore their son's unhappiness.  They suffer as a result.   It's a series that hard to watch at times, just as hard to turn off.

A Bit Of Nostalgia:

Robert College Plateau, Fall, 1971 - Standing in Europe, Bosphorous and Asia in Background