Let There Be Clouds (A Five Heron Morning)

Happy Heron

The First Coneflowers

5:50

Well, what a difference an overcast morning makes as we are back to Chautauqua gray.  No sunrise to speak of, a few splashes of orange but that's it.  It's a pleasant 64º and because of the clouds, I can sit on the front porch, no sun blinding me as I sit.  It's 9:00 and I just returned from an extraordinary morning of photo shooting.  I captured five different great blue herons, twice within 15 feet of each other which is rare.  Usually, herons are solitary birds, and I have never seen them that close to another heron.  Exciting morning on the lake. 

Two Herons And Three Mallards

Pickup Sticks and Doritos!

Yesterday was not the best of mornings as we were off to the hospital at 6:30 for Evie's colonoscopy at 8:30.  We were out of there at 10:30 and all went well, no problema.  I volunteered to stop  at Mickey D's for a Big Mac, a favorite but she decided on a just old plain egg omelet when we returned home.  And Evie followed the directions from the doctor and did not do much the rest of the day, despite wanting to cut the lawn or weeds, a good girl.

Beginning Paddle At 7:15

Ending Paddle At 8:15

Our Wren

I had my leftover sandwich from the Ashville General Store, a hijacker, with Cape Cod chips (my new favorite and 70% less fat), and coleslaw.  I watched FAUDA which is getting bit boring, as in each episode, they get a tip about the Abdul, the terrorist mastermind, seek him out but somehow he gets away, for the next episode to follow the same itinerary.  I then finished  THE GREAT  ALONE, set in Alaska, and really like it. The author, Kristin Hannah also wrote THE NIGHTINgALE which I also enjoyed, set in Nazi-occupied France.  Since there is no World Cup game until the final on Sunday, I watched the last 20 minutes and shoot out of a previous game, Russian/Croatia which i had neglected to finish.

Dahlia

Dahlia

I then joined Evie out on the dock and sat out there for a good hour or more, unusual for me as I get tired of it.  But it was a fine afternoon, not too hot with a nice breeze and I was into my new book, THE DIRECTOR by David Ignatius, a Washington Post columnist, and MSNBC contributor.  I have read most of his works and really like them.  And around 5:00, I gathered up the weeds I had cut earlier in the day and just left them to rot in a garbage can.  I was too lazy to get rid of them and will do it today.  Anyways, the lakefront is looking much better, the swimming area even good, ready for our grandchildren. 

Dinner was leftover pork that Evie had put in the slow cooker around noon, with tomato sauce.  We made soft tacos out of it, with all the fixings and had an easy dinner.  We watched some Colbert and started a new series from HBO called SHARP OBJECTS but Evie was falling asleep so we saved it for another night and she went up to bed around 9:00, exhuasted from her day.