Welcome, Chautauqua Gray

6:44

It's later than usual as I begin this since I did not wake until 6:40.  It's an overcast morning, a basically empty lake, just the seagulls and an occasional heron. It's 67º and we may have some rain. And it's 8:45 and I just returned from a paddle and an osprey sighting,  The lake felt like my own private Idaho (Chautauqua), as I never saw a kayak or fishing boat.  Just me, the morning and the lake.

Kayak Morning

Osprey Preening

Paddling Towards Long Point

Yesterday was a typical Monday.  It began with a paddle, then breakfast and finishing up the blog with Evie's help.  I then drove to yoga for a good Yin yoga class with Danielle, just me and the ladies. I then went to a self-service car wash as my beater, a 2000 Honda Accord, was filthy from the pine trees it usually sits under.  I then did a quick run through Wegmans, as we no longer need such extensive lists now that it's just the two of us.  It was not too busy despite being a Monday as the number of summer people is beginning to decline.

Deep Purple

Evie had been busy of course, working on the house, specifically, trying to clean our 24 year old carpet, a bit worst for wear.  Lunch was tuna sandwiches under the broiler and my TV show so I am really back to routine.  It was surprisingly hot and sunny out, and humid, so Evie went out to catch some sun although most of the time, she was under the umbrella.  I joined her after a nap and we sat out there enjoying the occasional cooling breeze until 4:00. 

We came in because Evie wanted to put together our dinner, another Greek specialty, a moussaka this time, however, with not only eggplant but potatoes, the kind we used to see in Greek tavernas in Crete, home of Zorba the Greek.  At 5:00, Evie called the Chautauqua County court system to see if she had jury duty today and to her joy, they will not need her this week so her duty is over.  She was happy.

We had our usual glass of wine to celebrate before enjoying our dinner of moussaka, a salad, and a Portuguese roll from Wegmans.  We couldn't wait to watch the last episode of The Loudest Voice, which involved the fall of Roger Ailes.  He was fired by Rupert Murdock for a history of sexual harassment, a result of the courage of Gretchen Carlson to go public about his actions.  It would seem he had a history of it, going back as far as the 1970s. The parallels between Ailes and Trump are striking; both are accused of sexually harassing women; both are bigots, perhaps racists.  The only difference, one can be fired for his behavior, the other seems to have been elected President in spite of it.