Winter Returns

7:25

Kayak Morning

Well, I am back at the lake, Chautauqua Lake, and it's a chilly 24º outside with another winter storm advisory for tonight and tomorrow.  We received a dusting of snow yesterday, just enough to whiten the yard. And it's back to routine for the next few weeks, after our excursion to Cleveland Monday and Tuesday.  It's just 9:00 and I am back from a great paddle in light snow, a partially frozen lake, and a group of seagulls, hanging out on the ice. What a great way to start the day. 

Paddling Around The Ice

Seagull Alert

Noble Gulls

Yesterday was a busy day for us, having spent Monday night at my sister's house.  We woke up on the shores of Lake Erie, had a nice, long morning coffee before driving off to visit the Apple Store on Cleveland's eastside at Eton Place.  We had an appointment with the Genius Bar at 10:05 and when we arrived, there was already a line of ten people and the store was busy, having just opened.  We spent twenty minutes with the 'genius' who was some help.  He diagnosed what I already knew, that I needed a new battery for my Air Mac and gave us some insight into some of the problems we were having with our iPhone's cellular service.  We then drove a mile up the road to TMobile at his suggestion but the gal at the desk was absolutely no help, suggesting we call TMobile customer service.  So much for that.  After our disappointing visit with TMobile, we headed to Trader Joe's, our obvious destination for the day, and spent a bucket load of money on cheeses, wine, bacon, ribs, and other goodies.  We had two carts, both of us going through different lines to facilitate our checking out. 

A Rose Among Thorns

We then loaded up the car and drove to the Manhattan Deli in Mentor and met our good friend Vi, a friend since our college days at Ohio University.  It's always fun to visit with her as she's good for lots of stories.  She had just returned from a b-ball reunion in Athens so we were able to catch up on my old teammates.  We arrived around noon and did not leave until 1:30,  the last of the lunch customers in the deli.  So ended our 36 hours in Cleveland, a really good trip.

Our Lake At 4:30 PM

We were home by 4:00, to a dusting of snow and a cold Woodlawn.  We quickly unpacked our goodies, put things away, and because we already had some chili defrosting in the refrigerator, we did not have to worry about dinner.  It's always good to get home and it's getting harder to leave it, unfortunately.  We have to make ourselves do things like our trip to Cleveland.  We quickly were back into the usual, wine time in front of the fireplace, dinner in the TV room, watching a Colbert and whatever series we were currently watching.  This time it was another episode of MY BRILLIANT FRIEND on HBO before going up to bed.

Dusk