An Early Morning Shower

5:44

6:12

7:15

It's an overcast morning, gray lake, threatening clouds, and a humid 70º.  I was up at 5:30, uncomfortable in a stuffy bedroom.  It looks like a classic rainy vacation day, showers on and off all day.  It's now 7:20 and I was about to paddle about 15 minutes ago, thought better of it fortunately because it's pouring right now.  Maybe I will get out there yet but I doubt it.  I did, however, for a half-hour, starting in a drizzle, then five minutes of heavy rain, then dry most of the way home. 

Kayak Morning

Yesterday began with sun and heat, especially in the morning.  Because I decided to skip yoga, I was in no hurry to get out on the lake, waiting till after 8:00 to paddle.  It was pleasant to not be in a hurry because I had a yoga class, like a day off from work.  I had an empty morning which Evie partially filled, by asking me to wash some windows and trim some bushes. It was humid enough so that by the time I was done, I was ready to jump in the lake.  While I was in, I decided to do some more cutting of weeds and spent about forty-five minutes clearing our swimming area. 

Evie, meanwhile, was off around 10:00 for a doctor's appointment in Jamestown and then another big shopping day at Wegman's, stocking up for next week.  After weeding and a swim, I spent a couple of hours in a strangely empty house.  I rarely am alone in our house yet Evie is home alone most mornings because I usually go to yoga.  For lunch, I had the leftover enchiladas and watched part of the final episode of my show.

Evie was home by 1:00 and I helped unpack the car and put things away.  It's amazing to see how much we spend at Wegman's on staples when we hardly buy any meat or seafood, usually the most expensive items.  Evie even had me check the receipt to make sure it was correct.  After lunch, we both had a leisurely afternoon, having expended our energy either shopping or weeding.  I finished my book and looked on my Kindle for another book to start.  Evie just hung out, thinking about doing something outside when a thunderstorm hit, dropping almost two inches in an hour, once again flooding the area, filling the lakefront with mud.  We also observed two paddle boarders caught in the middle of the lake, smudges of gray in the distance because of the heavy rains.  They managed, we think, to finally get to Long Point.

We were meeting our friends from Hudson at Guppy's restaurant at 6:00, so we showered and were on our way by 5:45.  Our friends often rented a house in Maple Springs so they have always enjoyed dining at Guppy's, just up the road from their house.  It's always crowded but we were able to find a table outside and enjoy a nice breeze despite the sticky afternoon.  We had beers, appetizers, and great dinners and talked quite a bit about both of our travels, especially our life in Turkey, a county they had visited a couple of times.  They are great travelers, having been to France recently, Portugal the year before.  We bid them goodbye around 8:00, vowing to keep in touch.

We were home around 8:15 and watched another episode of HBO's DIVORCE, fairly uninteresting after a good opening episode.  There always seems to be a dearth of good programming in the summer.  The one bright spot from last night was the return of Stephen Colbert after a week's vacation.  He was in top form mocking Trump as usual.