EARLY RISING ON CHAUTAUQUA LAKE: A Porch Morning

A daily journal of our lives (begun in October 2010), in photos (many taken by my wife, Evie) and words, mostly from our home on Chautauqua Lake, in Western New York, where my wife Evie and I live, after my having retired from teaching English for forty-five years in Hawaii, Turkey, and Ohio. We have three children, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandson, as you will notice if you follow my blog since we often travel to visit them. Photo from our porch taken on 11/03/2024 at 7:07 AM

Saturday, June 30, 2018

A Porch Morning

First Garden Iris (Flag?)

Porch Shot At 5:58

6:05

It's just after 6:00 and the sunrise will probably drive me back in the house because it's so bright, making it difficult to look out at the yard and lake. I am not complaining as it's a pleasant morning, a coolish 65º, just teasing us before it hits the high 80's if not 90's later in the day. What is this, Florida? It's 8:00 now, just turned on NPR after a warm, long hour paddle, over to Sunset Bay and home. And I closed up the house, as the temperature inside just matched that of outside, our cheap air conditioning.

Kayaking In Blue

Mom And Ducklings Hang Out On The Shoreline

Yesterday was one of those days, hot and humid and we had to go into Erie, leaving by 12:30, ruining the day. I did get in a long paddle, came back sweating and when I did, I noticed the Amish boat next door cruising out with one of the guys sitting in the front seat with a bow and arrow. A couple of hours later, as you can see, he came back with a huge carp, the only fish on the lake that can be caught/hunted with a bow and arrow.

Carp (e diem)

Anyways, I got in a trip to Wegman's around 10:00, picking up some staples we needed for the long weekend and some mulch from Home Depot, a deal, five bags for ten bucks...love a deal. When I got home, Evie made me a spinach and tomato omelet with tortillas thrown in and I watched 15 minutes of Babylon Berlin before we had to go to Erie. Evie was getting a final epidural to see if it would help her sciatica which has been rearing up its ugly head recently. The people and the doctor at the Pain Clinic are great and were very encouraging which is nice. And, because Evie was such a brave soul, we stopped at Krispy Kreme on the way home, picking up five sinkers, as we used to call them, five glazed donuts. And it was crowded, with at least five customers ahead of me, no doubt, ready for a sugar high like us.

We were home by 2:30 and I set up some chaise lounges for Evie, both in the yard and out on the dock and she spent the rest of the afternoon resting both places. I started to watch a World Cup match from Thursday but soon fell asleep, taking a good hour nap, out like the dead. Around 4:00, I briefly joined Evie on the dock, thinking of taking a swim but the lake was unattractive, most likely because of the heat, with lots of weeds and moss, typical this time of the year I think.

For dinner, with had a pizza which I picked up at Coppola's in Bemus Point at 6:30. Neither of us felt like fussing after the drive to Erie. So around 7:00, Evie made a salad, and we had what once was a high school treat, pizza, salad and a Pepsi. It tasted great, the way some meals do when they hit the spot. We watched Colbert, with a guest diatribe by John Stewart, about you can guess who. We ended the night with Amazon's GOLIATH.

I am including some photographs I took earlier in the week, when I rode my bike through Bemus Point, out to Long Point, to the Bathhouse, its newly renovated beach, then home.