A Morning For Kayaking

6:20

6:21

It's 7:15 and I am sitting out on our front porch, watching the sun play hide and seek with the clouds.  It' a perfect morning to be out on the lake, calm and a pleasant 62º, and I have watched five or six kayaks paddle by our dock.  Once I finish this, I will be out there, too, paddling into the rising sun.  Well, I was wrong about a fine morning for a paddle.  By the time I got out on the lake, the wind had picked up, the waves were one to two feet and I had to fight my way home, getting wet in the process. And as I finish the blog at 8:50, it feels like a fall morning, windy with a cool 68º.  We love it.

Kayak Morning

Yesterday was a mid-summer day in August, hot and humid, making it uncomfortable to be outside although we did not bother us early and later, a nice breeze made it peasant for Evie to sit out on the dock under an umbrella.  After my early morning paddle, we got things organized, so that I could take the trash to the Transfer Station.  I also filled a couple of five gallons cans with gas for my boat, making sure it's gassed up for the next week.  When I returned home, Evie was spraying a porch table, to finish off our porch furniture.  For some reason, I decided to go to Tri James, to pick up a couple of baskets of dirt, three buckets of stones. I spread the stones around our foundation on one side of the house which seemed low, and the dirt was for our compost pile.  By the time I was done, I was drenched with sweat so I took a quick swim to cool off.  Evie had heated up the leftover chicken tikka marsala and rice for my lunch. It was pleasant enough in the house because we had closed it up early, so I ate lunch and watched another episode of the DOGS OF BERLIN.  

Evie, meanwhile, having finished her painting and prepped an appetizer for a Woodlawn picnic later in the day, went out to enjoy the dock for the afternoon.  I stayed in, however, read and napped and ended up on the porch reading, not wanting to sit out in the sun.  Around 4;:00, Evie came in and baked the mozzarellas sticks coated with panko and dressing, perfect for dunking in a marinara sauce.  We walked down to the picnic at 5:25, one of the three gatherings of neighbors we have each summer.  It lasts for an hour or two, perfect for catching up with the neighbors and still go out somewhere for dinner if you want.  We were anxious to meet our new neighbors who bought the cottage three homes away from us.  They seem nice, live in the Cleveland area and have three kids.  

Woodlawn Neighbors

We left around 6:30 as the gathering began to break up and sat on our front porch with a glass of wine, waiting to develop an appetite after the appetizers.  Finally, around 8:00, Evie heated up the leftover iskender kebab, warmed some pita bread and we had dinner.  We watched the final episode of the year of  Real Time With Bill Maher, hilarious and outrageous at the same time. It was a good way to end the day.