Shades Of Gray

A Heron On A Sunday Morning 

5:37

5:39

It was dreary and gray when I got up at 5:30 and Long Point was visible.  At the moment, an hour later, we are fogged in, the dock barely visible.  We can just make out the silhouettes of our pair of purple martins, and an occasional heron flies by.  We just noticed what looked like a twig floating by but when I got out my binoculars, I realized it was a water snake.  Cool beans.  Well, I was able to get in a paddle, as the fog cleared up enough to see.  And I was able to get within 20 feet of a great blue heron, perched on a log,  as he hardly paid attention to me.

We spent most of Sunday waiting for 3:00 when it was supposed to clear up.  Evie predicted it and like magic, it did.  Because of the rain during Saturday night, the yard was too wet to cut but we did manage to get some work done in the garden before and after our big breakfast around noon.  It was actually pleasant out, cool enough so we could get things done without working up a sweat.

After our coffee, I went for a long kayak paddle despite the clouds, down to Whitney Bay and back.  It was one of those days where it was work and I just wanted to get it over with.  I did run into a couple, Tina and Jim.  We have seen them paddle by for the past few years during the warm months.  They own quite a bit of lakefront, 700 feet, just before Sandy Bottom and sold 200 feet to the Chautauqua Conservancy a few years ago. While I was gone, Evie was busy having read about delicious sounding biscuit for strawberry shortcake.  So when I returned, I was able to sample a warm biscuit or two. Yum.

The Stow Ferry Retired?

We had our big breakfast, then, around 12:30 as we were both hungry, eggs, bacon and, yep, freshly baked biscuits.  We watched CBS Sunday morning and loved the interview with a British family, where all seven of the children seem to be classical music prodigies.  This is the kind of story that makes this program so excellent.  I fell asleep reading, took a nice nap and we both went outside to weed and transplant around 3:00.  The weeding never ends, nor does my talking about it and we are constantly transplanting, this time a plant called Goat's Beard (astilbe-like) which was hidden on the north side of our house.  We had a goal in mind, enjoying a refreshment on the dock by 6:00.  It was put off a half hour by the arrival of Chris, who checked out the plugs and bailer on our boat to make sure they were working properly.  So by 6:30, we were enjoying a libation along with chips and dip as the wind died, the lake calmed down and we sat enjoying the acrobatics of both purple martins and barn swallows, both marvelous fliers.

A Solitary Loon 

While we were on the dock, our dinner, the leftover pork and sauerkraut was warming up and the salad was made.  We stayed out on the dock until 7:30 it was so delicious and reluctantly came in, probably because of the promise of strawberry shortcake with whipped cream for dessert.  The pork was just as good if not better as a couple of nights ago.  We watched Bill Maher's Real Time, then SNL as we enjoyed our strawberry shortcake.  A great way to end the day.

Geese out for a Sunday Swim with their Goslings: