Sunny And Too Warm

6:24

6:27

6:28

6:29

I slept in some until 6:25, just up in time to see the sunrise over Long Point on another hot, hazy morning on the lake.  We can expect another day in the high 80's, perhaps some thundershowers later in the day.   It's almost 9:00 and I just finished a long paddle on a calm deserted lake.  Love it like this, just me and the herons.

Kayak Morning

Composed

Flustered

Ruffled

Yesterday was a hot one but it did not deter us from getting things done outside.  I got my paddle in and had breakfast.  By 9:30, we were both outside working in Evie's garden despite the heat.  The garden had been neglected for the past few weeks because we were busy with family.  So the weeds were lush, needed digging out by Evie and I spent a good amount of time edging, pulling weeds, giving the garden a finished look.  We were out there until noon when I had enough, went for a swim to cool off and Evie made me an omelet for breakfast.  I then read, took a brief nap while Evie puttered around until 2:00 when she, too, took a swim. 

Budding Dahlia In Front Of A Fading Dahlia

The Beauty Of Whiteness

We both then got dressed up casual and drove for an hour to Gowanda, New York, for the annual Gowanda Slovenia Club picnic.  It's a beautiful drive, through Amish country, mostly green fields, lush forests, occasional farms.  And, unfortunately, run down, abandoned buildings in one small town after another with names like Persia, Markham, Leon, and Conewango.  The picnic is set just outside of Gowanda at the Collins Conservation Club.  We arrived just after 4:00, to a crowded parking lot and polka music.  There's a pavilion to sit under and lots of tents, all crowded with residents from the town of Gowanda.  We paid only twenty bucks because Evie is a member of the club which entitled us to all the food and beer we wanted.  We had hot dogs, corn dipped in a crockpot of butter, beef on wick, sausage and sauerkraut, beans, tomato and cucumber salad, and watermelon for dessert. We were a bit disappointed as like last year, few people danced to the music except for one woman, who danced by herself, just like last year.

An Uninspired Polka Band

It was hot, in the 80's, so after eating and listening to music and walking the grounds, we decided we had enough, heading home after an hour and a half.  Last year we were able to talk with the band, with some of the locals, but this year we did not get much of a chance so that's why we left early.

We drove home around 6:00, again, a beautiful drive and decided to stop at  Big Shots, a bar/music venue in Kennedy because they often have bands we would have liked to hear.  It was practically empty, two locals,  regulars, smokers and drinkers, thin as rails, retired truck drivers, occasionally walking outside for a smoke.  We ended up talking with them and the bartender, a friendly gal who is a single Mom working a couple of jobs.  The guys ended up talking about Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories, all of which they believed in with no evidence to support their theories.  We kept quiet when it came to politics, the presidential elections and one of the guys mentioned he could care less because he was a convicted felon and could not vote.  We had a beer, tried to order french fries but the kitchen was closed.  We then headed home and as we were laughing and talking about our experience, I took a left then right on to what I thought was #86 West but soon figured out was #86 East, heading towards Binghamton, New York.  Idiot!  We got off at the Steamburg exit which had cheap gas and a gas station called The Turtle Pit, which our barkeep mentioned as having great food, cheap gas, and interesting gifts.  So we drove the extra mile to get gas at The Turtle Pit, wanted a hoagie, the best around according to our barkeep but the deli was closed, so we got two pieces of pizza, for the price of one because it was late in the day.

Sunset

We finally got back on #86 West, the right direction as the sun was setting and arrived home around 8:30, the end to an eventful day.  We settled in our TV room, me with pizza, Evie with some naan and watched another episode of THE HANDMAID'S TALE, surprisingly violent and depressing.  One episode was enough before we watched something else before going up to bed.