Autumn Like 51º Morning

5:56

6:32

I was up at 6:00, to bass boats, rounding Long Point, beginning their tournament.  The fog was rising, as they emerged from it, charging north and south.  At the moment, the sun is blinding me but soon it will hide behind the clouds, darkening our living room.  Needless to say, it's a spectacular early morning on the lake.  I had an exciting kayak morning, spotting at least six herons, a bald eagle or hawk (we are not sure) and an osprey.  And,  I paddled to the tunes of Macy Gray, a former sophomore English student of mine.  Then, she was known as Natalie McIntyre, a quiet, shy 15 year old who would hardly speak in class. I guess people can change,

A Blue Kayak Morning

Hawk Or Juvenile Bald Eagle

Kayaking Home

Yesterday was mostly blue skies and sunshine, the kind of day that makes you want to get things done outside, rather than stay in the house and keep busy.  I am not sure what I did, just small tasks, like cleaning the lawnmower, changing the oil, filling it with gas or trimming the hedges, pulling out the killer weeds from the rhododendrons, bailing the rowboat, clearing the yard of chairs so Evie could cut the lawn when she wanted.  O, yea, it took us a while to gather the trash from the week before I drove off to the Transfer Station.  When I returned, I was basically done for the day with my chores.

A Wading Heron

Evie, meanwhile was weeding her garden which she had ignored for a couple of weeks.  She came in, in, however, to make me lunch, a chicken and black bean quesadilla and I had my lunch while watching my show on TV, The Deuce from HBO.  I stopped watching it a couple of weeks ago when our kids arrived.  It's strange to get back to our routine.  After lunch, Evie powered up the mower and cut the lawn while I read some of my book, Where'd You Go, Bernadette.  It's also been made into a film, directed by Richard Linklater and will be in theaters on August 16th.

Osprey Eyes

After cutting the lawn, Evie gathered her phone, water, and a blanket and went out to enjoy the sun on the dock.  Because of the breeze, she needed a blanket when the sun hid behind the clouds.  I joined her after my nap and brought a fleece along in case I needed it.  It was a strangely still Saturday afternoon, the lake and neighbor quiet as summer and vacations for many come to an end.

We stayed out until 5:00 and then decided to enjoy a glass of wine on our porch and some pretzels until dinner time.  And how far have we fallen, culinary wise, in twenty-four hours?  Well, a dinner of wieners and beans gives you an idea after previous dinners of eggplant parmesan and racks of lamb.  I was happy with it, however, because I like hot dogs (Sahlen), especially with Stadium Mustard, and I like barbecued beans. We watched another Bill Maher although one of his guests, the Mooch, is hard to take with his 'loyalty' to his friend of 30 years, Trump, even though he does not agree with him.  Hypocrisy lives. We ended the night with a Colbert and the last two episodes of Working Moms, which ended with a shock, making us anxious for Season Three which debuts late in August.