First Cut, First Blue-Winged Teal, First Great Blue Heron

6:05

7:20

It's gray and wet outside, a half-inch of rain fell overnight along with horrific winds (gusts up to 60mph) through the night, strong enough to wake me at 2:00 as the house shook.  Fortunately, there does not seem to be any damage within eyesight.

I am listening to The Bulwark interview Chris Matthews.  Chris makes an interesting observation into Trump, that his success was like the Roman mantra, give the masses 'bread' (wealth,jobs) 'circuses' (entertainment, a reality show), and they will be happy.  Trump offered both until now when we no longer have bread  (money) and do not want circuses (entertainment). We want expertise, competent leadership, not fun.  Interesting.

When I got up, the wind had died and even though it was drizzling, I thought I might get in a paddle,  Now, at 8:00, however, the wind has picked up, the lake is wavy so there will be no kayaking,  Forget what I said above.  It's 10:30 and around 9:30 the rain stopped, the lake calmed down and I had a great paddle, worth it because of the photos below.

Kayak North at 9:40

First Sighting Ever Of Blue-Winged Teal

Great Blue Heron

Wednesday turned out to be a decent day until late afternoon.  The morning went as it usually has over the past few days.  I kayaked, then wrote the blog which Evie then edited and had breakfast, smoothie for a change.  Since Evie was interested in continuing to tweak the Shutterfly album, I decided to practice yoga, watching an hour Yoga With Adriene video.  It was a tough class for me, so I had to modify some of her asanas.  When I finished, Evie was still working so I drove off to drop off some items in my boat before launching it.  It's a good thing it was not yet docked because I would have been up a good part of the night worrying about the wind.

I was back by noon and discovered I had forgotten to pay my Visa bill this month and received a late fee.  Idiot.  So I sat down with bill pay and made sure all the bills were paid up.  I have yet to figure out the right time to pay bills because they all seem to arrive at different times.  This failure to pay on time happens every two or three years and I usually can get them to waive the late fee.  Not this time.

Evie took pity on me and made me a great lunch.  In between working on her album, she made an Indian cauliflower/potato soup, one of our many favorite soups.  So I had a bowl along with a tasty omelet wrapped in a tortilla.  I watched my show, relaxed on the couch with my Tana French book and fell asleep of course, having gotten up so early.  Evie was hot to cut the lawn, her favorite form of exercise, so I pulled the two lawnmowers out of the garage, checked the oil, and gassed them up.  Around 3:30, she discovered that rain was coming, so we fired up both mowers and she cut the front yard and I did the side.  Even so, we finished in a drizzle but at least the yard looks great, as there's nothing like spring green.

First Cut, Spring Green

While I read, Evie sauteed the scallops and made the sauce, so everything was ready when we wanted to have dinner.  We then enjoyed a glass of wine although I made myself Fleabag's favorite drink, a vodka gimlet,  Not bad.  We sat on the couch and went through every page, every photo, every frame of the album, making sure we were happy with everything.  We weren't so Evie still has to find another photo or two to fit the page theme.  Once we had enough editing, Evie heated up the lemony sauce and boiled the linguini.  Once the pasta was done, she heated the scallops in the sauce then added both to the linguini and let it marinate for a couple of minutes before plating it.  With a salad, we had another one of our favorite go-to dinners.

Still Light At 8:03

We were excited to watch a new film on HBO, Bad Education, about a school superintendent and assistant who bilk a wealthy,  high ranked Long Island school system out of millions of dollars over a period of years.  It's easy to watch, little violence, the suggestion of sex but basically, a watchable film for the family if you don't mind that the Superintendent is also a closeted gay man.  I would give it a B.  After the film, we watched a fun Colbert as he interviewed actor Jake Gyllenhaal, then a Cheers to wrap up the night.

Winds, Clouds, Sun

6:23

6:30

6:45

8:08

It's 8:10, windy and sunny, and I have had to move from the couch to a chair to avoid the blinding morning sun.  I just got back from a forty-five-minute paddle, rough going as I headed south into the wind, easy on the way back home.  I woke at 6:00 to overcast skies that gradually gave way to clouds, then sunshine.

Kayak Morning

Threatening Southern Sky

Northern Sky

Turkey Vultures Hanging Out

Not much of a change yesterday, no surprise. Despite the early clouds, I got in a good paddle down to Wells Bay and came home to breakfast and finishing up the blog,  After coffee and the blog, Evie got busy tweaking the Shutterfly Album, as there's always more she can do.  I took my car to Hogan's, filled up the two five-gallon gas cans for my boat, a two-gallon can for the lawnmower and drove out Carpenter Pringle Road where my boat is stored.  Joe pulled it out of storage on Monday, so I did three things, getting it ready for Chris to put in a new impeller and plugs.  I connected the new battery, put ten gallons in the boat's tank, and screwed in the drain plug, always the last thing, something we do not want to forget.  It took me about an hour to get the gas, work on the boat, and get home where Evie was still playing with the photos.

Paddle Boarders

Fortunately, Evie was soon tired of working on the album, so she volunteered to make my lunch, heating up the leftover baked beans, frying a hot dog, warming up a piece of pizza, an eclectic lunch for sure.  I watched a couple episodes of Fauda, then read my Tana French, Faithful Place, and napped briefly.  The rest of the afternoon was a waste as neither of us felt like doing much, no hike or walk at the Chautauqua Institution. Finally, around 4:30, I got fed up with myself and practiced yoga for forty-five minutes, always an effective panacea for the blahs.  Meanwhile, Evie worked some in the yard and I then met her out on the dock with a glass of wine as we sat in our Adirondacks on the dock, enjoying the late afternoon clouds.

Marshmallows In The Sky

Since it was Tuesday, I volunteered to do dinner so around 6:30, I drove over to Steeners Pub and picked up two rib eyes and fries for dinner.  I am a good boy.  We quickly plated our steaks and fries, grabbed the ketchup and salad, and we had one of our better steak dinners from Steeners.  We watched Colbert, a Home Town, and Homeland.  And, we, of course, ended the night with Cheers.  In this episode, Sam enters Diane in the Best Waitress in Boston contest.

Spring May Be In The Air

7:09

7:10

It's 8:50 and Evie and I are sitting here, serenaded by the incessant sounds of our neighbors' leaf blower.  He starts about 8:30 and blows on and off most days till 4:00.  At least I got in a good paddle, down to the Power Boat Club and back, with a light wind and waves and a 48º temperature.

Kayak Morning

Wood Duck

Practicing Safe Distancing? 

Yesterday, a Monday I think, ended up being a quite pleasant day after a questionable start of clouds.  I did paddle, however, and finished the blog and breakfast by 9:30, just as it was starting to clear up as the sun came out.  Yippee.  I decided to get in a yoga practice while Evie geared up for the day. By 11:00, I was on my way to Walmart to pick up a new battery for my boat and some oil.  We want to get our boat in the water sooner rather than later because it will give us something to do, a new cruise, on those lonely afternoons of isolation from neighbors and friends.  Walmart was crowded as no one seems to be staying home although most wear masks.  I did stop to get a coffee at Ryder's Cup, said hello to Joyce who said business is down but not terrible.

I was home by noon and while I was gone, Evie was busy on my computer, finding pictures for the Photo Book of our Summer, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with family.  Once she picks them out, she has to rearrange them in some order, then enhances those that need it.  It's quite an effort but worth it. Lunch was a bowl of Greek chicken soup, frozen and thawed from last week.  I watched a couple of episodes of Fauda, then read my Tana French mystery until I fell asleep for a brief catnap.  Evie was tired of working on the Shutterfly book, so she was outside working on the side yard, trimming the bushes and raking leaves.  I helped her out by planting a privet in our front yard, then went up in the garage attic, putting away some winter things and getting out summer tools.

Once we came in, Evie was back on the couch working on her photos and I served her a glass of wine to fortify her as she worked.  By 6:00, she was practically done and decided to get dinner ready.  It involved sauteeing some Brussel sprouts, making a salad and heating up the leftover beef stroganoff in the microwave.  To be honest, our dinner was better than the night before.  We were either really hungry or leftovers are always better.  We watched a home improvement show, Home Town, before starting Homeland, now that the series has ended.  We watched the first two episodes and things don't change much, Carrie is manic, Saul has been kidnapped.  Things will get better.  We ended with an episode of Cheers, as Sam and Diane are beginning to admit they have 'feelings' for each other.

Cloudy, Then Sunny, Then Cloudy

6:02

6:31

6:40

6:41

8:42

It's just 8:00, Evie's up and I have been up since 6:00 and just returned from a pretty good paddle, out for 50 minutes, down to Wells Bay and back along Woodlawn and home. I noticed for the first time that the turkey vultures are back, hanging around in groups in the trees or on the shoreline, ugly birds!

Kayak Morning

A Juvenile Bald Eagle

Northern Sky

Southern Sky

Where Went The Sun?

Yesterday was the definition of a miserable day, overcast, windy, rainy, with no let-up, no puffy clouds, no sun, nothing but a curtain of gray, a lake of gray.  It was a good day to stay in, make some good food, get something done, and enjoy being housebound.  We did a good job of it early, with coffee, blogging and I practiced yoga for an hour with Adriene.  Evie wanted to get some large pots for her dahlias, so we zipped down to a crowded, what else, Walmart, to pick out a couple of pots and more dahlias.  We will have them coming out of our trees pretty soon.  Most shoppers were wearing masks.  I guess without churches open, it makes sense to get your spiritual fix at Walmart.

We couldn't wait, at least I could not wait to get out of there and come home for our big breakfast. Evie did not disappoint as she fried up some baked potatoes in her new Tramontina 10" frying pan, added a couple of eggs and sourdough toast and we were more than happy.  CBS Sunday morning was its usually excellent self, one of the few weekly programs that does not seem to have suffered from the lockdown.  Because of the lousy weather, Evie made up her mind to get a good start on putting together a photo book of the summer of 2019.  She makes one for each summer and it's always bothering her during the winter and spring if it's not done.  So she made great progress yesterday and will most likely finish it up today or tomorrow.  They are amazing photographs of our summers here at the lake with family.

I read, napped, then broke my afternoon rule and watched a couple of episodes of Fauda, feeling guilty afterward for giving in to the Boob Tube.  We were looking forward to a great dinner,  Earlier, Evie had pulled a good two and a half pounds of beef tenderloin out of the freezer, leftover from Christmas.  I sliced it up into strips for our beef stroganoff dinner while Evie got all the ingredients ready for cooking.  We then sat down with a glass of wine, wished the dreariness of our lake would end, and spent time on our computers or phones, listening to cool jazz.  Around 6:00, Evie got busy with the dinner, sauteeing the mushrooms, making the sauce, quickly searing the tenderloin, and putting it all together with sour cream while the egg noodles boiled.  Everything was ready by 6:30 and we loved out dinner, with a salad, of course, topped with blue cheese and sunflower seeds.  We were anxious to watch the last episode of The Plot Against America but it's problematic ending disappointed us.  We wanted closure.  The series, however, is worth watching and relevant to today's political polarization.  We were happy to get back to something light, like a quite hilarious SNL, with Brad Pitt playing Dr. Anthony Fauci.  We ended with laughs, a couple of episodes of Cheers.

Chautauqua Gray Sunday

7:26

It's 7:44 and I have been up since 6:40 and have little interest in kayaking this morning.  Both the sky and lake are gray, the lake is choppy because of the wind and it's drizzling.  Welcome, Sunday gray; it looks like a rainy day.

In contrast to today's rain and overcast skies for most of the day, Saturday reminded us both of the best of a Spring day, coolish but not cold, little wind and lots of sun and blue skies.  It was so wonderful early that I was out paddling for close to an hour and a half.  It felt like a summer day on the lake, not a whisper of wind, a warming morning sun.

Walking Long Point

After my paddle, we enjoyed the morning, our coffee, and finishing the blog.  Our weather app suggested that it would cloud up by noon (it was wrong) so we quickly got ready for a walk, stopping first to drop off our trash at the Transfer Station. It was a good choice, our walk out to Long Point and back was invigorating, energizing us for the rest of the day, sort of.  We were gone for an hour and by the time we returned, it was noon, time for my lunch of the leftover eggplant and tomato pasta.  I watched my show, Fauda, read and napped while Evie took a chaise lounge out on the dock until the wind picked up, forcing her to the side yard.

Afternoon Clouds

Mid-afternoon we both got busy in the yard, working on the beds around our house, moving around some plants, raking the leaves, pulling out weeds, tidying up the yard.  It felt good to be out and felt even better to see we had made some progress with our yard work.  Our neighbors were around, some cutting their lawns for the first time, making Evie envious. I guess we will be firing up the mowers in a few days.  I left Evie out in the yard to relax on her chaise lounge and I went in and practiced yoga for forty-five minutes, completing my trifecta of kayaking, hiking, and yoga.

Because it was Manhattan Saturday,  we were looking forward to the six o'clock hour, so we could kick back on our couches, watch the sky begin to cloud up, and enjoy a Manhattan and some Unexpected Cheddar cheese from Trader Joe's.  Because we discipline ourselves to a once a week Mannie night, it's always something we look forward to as the weekend gets near.  For dinner, we had a rotisserie chicken with baked potatoes and a salad and watched Real Time With Bill Maher, not as good as usual.  We watched another Colbert, then the penultimate episode of The Plot Against America as the Jews are being forced to move from the East Coast to the heartlands.  Many, however, are moving to Canada to avoid the obvious government-sanctioned antisemitism. It's scary to observe how some Jews see this as a good thing even if it denies them their rights as citizens.  We ended the night with an episode of Cheers.

A Spectacular Spring Saturday

5:59

6:29

6:30

6:31 

6:34

It's 8:30 and I have been out kayaking for close to an hour and a half and did not want to come in it was so amazing. I was the only one out on the smooth, blue vacant lake, paddling over to Long Point, to the Bathhouse, then back across the lake to Wells Bay and home.  I spent a good five minutes photographing a pair of wood ducks, as they cruised along the shoreline looking for food.

Kayaking To Long Point

Paddling North

 A Series Of Photos of Wood Ducks

As nice as this morning was, yesterday was its opposite, cold, wet and gray although the wind was not bad.  It was not the kind of morning that made us want to go outside so we didn't, preferring to stay in, enjoy the radio, the Michael Smerconish show of course.   I did get in a good yoga practice, listening to the Pure Yoga mix on Apple Music.  It's amazing because all you need to do is type in a kind of music or group, and it pops up for you to listen.

Preening Mallards

Purple Martins Bickering

By lunchtime, Evie had started our dinner, baking up some eggplant for our eggplant and tomato pasta and started putting together the mix for a dessert, a Blueberry Buckle from Alton Brown, his favorite recipe.  For lunch I warmed up ramen and Evie made me a couple of sandwiches, on Wegman's sourdough, the best.  I watched another Fauda, then read my book before a brief nap.

'Empty And Marvelous'

Midafternoon, I found some mojo and went out and spread the last of the topsoil, then got out the hose and washed the Honda Accord for the first time this Spring.  No matter where I park it, it becomes the favorite target of birds.  Once that was done, I closed up the garage and came into the smell of a 'Blueberry Buckle' baking in the oven.  We then enjoyed a glass or two of wine, as the sun began to cast long shadows on our front lawn.  Around 6:00, Evie sauteed tomatoes, added Turkish pepper and the eggplant while the pasta boiled.  By 6:30, we were enjoying dinner, eggplant pasta, a salad, and garlic toast.  We sat down to watch Pangloss's Daily Briefing but it was cut short, probably because he did not want to field questions about his silly comments about the use of a disinfectant as a cure-all for Covid19.  We then watched a Colbert and two more episodes of The Plot Against America, an interesting, scary, and relevant rewriting of what might have been.  We ended the night with Cheers.

Overcast And Drizzle

A Rare Evening With Neighbors 

6:33

6:45

It's 8:00 and I got in an hour paddle, down to the Power Boat Club and back, despite a light drizzle just as I got to the Boat Club.  No interesting waterfowl this morning, as they are smart enough not to be out in the rain.

Kayak Morning

A Glimpse  Of Sun

Yesterday was a big day in our life.  We went shopping and enjoyed a campfire with four neighbors in the evening, change is good.  The day, however, started the same, with a paddle, then writing the blog and having breakfast, granola with yogurt, bananas, and blueberries.  While Evie woke up and finished her list, I practiced Yoga With Adriene for forty-five minutes.  Around 11:00, we drove off to Wegman's with our masks as they are now required in most establishments.  I dropped off Evie and went to Home Depot to pick up some topsoil and potting soil as it's getting near the time we can start thinking about dahlias by starting them in yogurt cups.  After picking up and paying for my stuff, using the self check out, I went to Wegman's and helped Evie finish up with the list.  We are pretty well set with almost anything but for fresh fruit and vegetables which we need/want once a week.

We didn't get home until 1:00, quickly put away the groceries, and then I had lunch, a sandwich and chicken soup.  While I ate and watched a new series, Evie sat on the dock for a good hour and a half, as it was pleasant if she was wrapped in a blanket.  I started what I thought was a new Fauda, about an Israeli seal-like team.  I watched the first episode and by the end, I realized it was not Season Three but One.  I guess I will rewatch the first two seasons again before the new season.  I then took a brief nap, read some, then went outside to spread the topsoil over a couple of areas where I planted grass seed.  It felt good to be outside doing something.  When I was done, I joined Evie on the dock just before she came in.  We wanted to get in a walk so we drove over to the Chautauqua Institution and went for a short walk, just enough to make us feel good.

We were having a special dinner, a recipe Evie found in a new cookbook, model Chrissy Teigen's Hungry No More, a gift from our daughter Beth. It was called Garlic Honey Shrimp but it had lots of fresh orange juice, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce in it as well  We loved it over rice and it more than made up for the 'fool on the podium', seemingly peddling a snake oil remedy for Cov19.  Just as we finished watching a Colbert, our neighbors, Joe and Betsy, texted us and invited us to a campfire with our other neighbors, Barb and Jim.  It was amazing to actually sit around a fire, keeping our distance of course, and talk with someone other than ourselves.  We stayed out until 10:00 when it started to get cold and we went home, reluctantly, because it was so pleasant.  I think we spent more time outside yesterday than in months so we both slept well.