A Southwestern Morning Sky

7:27

7:31

7:4

8:21

It's 7:40 and I have been up for an hour, watching the technicolored sky change as the sun struggles to rise above the horizon and clouds.  The lake is still frozen but it's open in parts and with the warm temperatures, I may be out kayaking sooner earlier than later.  When I walked outside to take a photograph, I was welcomed by a bevy of songbirds, as Spring is in the air, alas.  By the way, I have not yet put away my snow shovels, hoping for one more snowstorm. 

Hiking Long Point

Sunday was a good day for us, lots of sunshine, temperatures in the 50's, with a bit of a wind.  We had our leisurely Sunday morning, no hurry for the blog because I did not have to get to yoga class.  I decided, however, to hike Long Point State Park and loved it, the trails still snow-covered so that I could have skied if I had wanted. I was out for an hour, as the morning warmed up. 

Long Point State Parl

A Majestic Tree

By 11:30, however, I was home and we decided to do something with our lives.  We thought it might be nice to drive up to Barcelona, on Lake Erie, check out the beaches and have breakfast at Jack's Barcelona.  Evie checked it out online and they said they were open.  So off we went, in the Honda, 17 miles to Barcelona and a closed Jack's Barcelona.  We were not happy but decided to make the best of it so we went to the beach, strewn with driftwood, the shoreline still three feet high with a crust of ice. 

Ice Crusted Barcelona Beach On Lake Erie

We then drove to the parking lot at Chautauqua Creek, to see how high it was and a couple of guys were fishing for steelheads.  We then drove to Westfield, thinking we might find a place to eat there.  Unfortunately, the corner diner closed at 1:30, just as we got there.  So we did some antique browsing and ended up getting an egg mc muffin with sausage for two bucks. 

Fishing For Steelhead On Chautauqua Creek

And it was great, the best I have ever had, better than the breakfast sandwiches I get every Thursday.  Maybe we ought to meet at Mc Donalds rather than a local dinner on Thursdays like lots of retirees. 

We didn't get home until 2:00, thought about pulling a lounge chair out in the yard and sunbathing but the wind was too much,.  So I did some reading, napped, and watched some basketball to wile away the afternoon.  Around 5:00, we poured ourselves a glass of wine and started getting dinner ready, roast chicken, set on a bed or potatoes, onions and carrots.  We salted the chicken the night before and let it dry in the refrigerator.  So Evie prepped it, by putting butter under the skin and poking small holes over the skin to allow the juices to flow and skin to crisp. 

A Family Enjoying Long Point Late Afternoon

It roasted for an hour and fifteen minutes while we enjoyed another glass of wine and Evie made a salad.  She pulled it out around 6:45, roasted some asparagus and we had a great dinner, enough chicken by the way for another meal or two.  We decided to take a brief hiatus from The Americans and watched JoJo Rabbit on Apple TV, a quirky and touching film set in Nazi Germany.  A ten-year-old boy becomes a member of the young Nazis but soon discovers his mother is hiding a young Jewish girl in the attic.  Anything having to do with the Nazis is slapstick and funny in this film.  Anything to do with the Mom and young girl is moving and sad.  I strongly recommend it.  Since we were through with the film by 9:00, we had time to watch another episode of The Americans before bed.