Windy, Wavy, And Cold

Evie's Lilacs

6:57

7:00

I was out paddling by 6:50, on a cold, windy lake.  It was 43º out but with the wind chill, it had to be in the '30s, as cold as I have been since April.  It was too choppy to take any photographs as I either fought the waves or surfed along with them.  It feels good to be cozy in a warm house.

Kayak Morning

Yesterday was sunny and windy, cool much of the day, but pleasant, a good day to be outside as long as you were protected from the wind.  I was able to get in a paddle before the wind picked up, so I was out for at least an hour. After the blog and breakfast, we decided to go for a walk through the woods of Long Point State Park.  So we gathered all the trash, dropped it off at the Transfer Station, then parked at the end of Lakeside Drive.

Long Point Trail April 15

Same Traill A Month And A Half Later

The woods were an amazing combination of greens, as everything is green, no more bare bones of the trees.  We both agree there's nothing like early spring green, impossible to describe, just delicious when we walk through it.  We were out for close to an hour, met a couple others walking, and everyone is conscious of keeping a safe distance.

Ferns And Trees

Plethora Of Ferns

Tree Fungi

Orange Slime Fungi

It felt good to get in another walk, after our short one Friday at the Chautauqua Institution.  For once, we did not have a lot to do in the yard or we just didn't' think hard enough about it.  So we relaxed most of the afternoon.  I finished up the tuna casserole for lunch, and Evie read in the side yard, protected from the wind for much of the afternoon.  I napped and preferred to sit on the porch and read rather than the side yard.  It felt good to do nothing.  By 4:30, however, we were both bored so Evie worked in her garden and I practiced yoga for forty-five minutes, enhanced by the intoxicating smell of the lilacs Evie had picked earlier in the day.

Late Afternoon On The Lake

Dinner was fairly easy, frozen homemade meatballs with a pasta sauce and a salad.  Once the meatballs were warming in the sauce, we both enjoyed a glass of wine and instead of taking in the view, we watched the tragic unraveling of American cities, as protests often turned into riots.  It's hard to know what precipitates the violence; is it extremists, both white nationalists and left anarchists as the media seems to suggest? Who knows any more what's true.

We were happy to get to our spaghetti and meatballs and disappear into our shows, Real Time With Bill Maher, Hometown and Better Call Saul to end the night.  I am currently reading two very different books, Writers & Lovers, and The Paladin, a spy novel by David Ignatius.  I like them both.

After The Rain

Chautauqua Institution's Spring Colors

6:19

It's 9:00 and I just returned from a long paddle, down Woodlawn, across to Long Point, back to Sandy Bottom and home, my usual. I did catch one heron but other than that, an uneventful paddle with a brief pause, to shoot the breeze with fellow kayakers, Tina and Jim.

Jim,  A Good Friend, An Early Morning Kayaker From Victoria

I did not get off till around 7:30 because I was listening to a New Yorker podcast from a reporter who lived in China through the pandemic and the opening up over the past few weeks.  His kids go to school, but have their temperature checked at home before they get on the subway, then at school, and again when they leave.  They wore masks the first few weeks but no longer.  China was no doubt lax at the beginning of the epidemic but amazingly successful in stopping the spread.  Wherever the father, a teacher, travels,  he has a code and then is checked and the info is sent via his iPhone to his school or where he is visiting.  He says no one can travel without a smartphone, with the ability to keep track of the health of each citizen.  This kind of compliance,  a nationwide system for contact tracing, would be impossible in the US which is why we will always have breakouts until a vaccine is found.

Kayak Morning

Great Blue Heron Poised

Among The Rocks

Yesterday was mostly cloudy with afternoon thunderstorms and lightning, a good day to stay in and enjoy the threatening skies, the rain watering Evie's garden.  I kayaked as usual and then we decided to get a walk-in at the Chautauqua Institution before the storms.  It was a good time to walk as the flowers were just starting to blossom, so it was fun to take photographs of their colors.  We walked for only forty-five minutes but it was just right.

Brick Walk At Chautauqua Institution

A Striking Chautauqua Garden

When we returned home we did some work, spreading mulch outside in the morning before the storm along with Evie.  I worked long enough to work up a sweat because of the heat and humidity although it was not like this past weekend when it was in the '90s.  As it was clouding up, I jumped in the lake to cool off and perk me up from the heat.

12:08

By the time we were done outside, it was lunchtime so I made so ramen and a bagel with peanut butter and watched Bosch on TV.  I then finally finished my book, Plum Island, which dragged on and on so that I could not wait to finish it.  While Evie sat out on the porch, watching the storm come in, the lightning and thunder, I fell asleep twice, taking a couple of good naps,  I must have needed the sleep. Around 4:00, Evie put together out dinner, another throwback to our childhood, a homemade tuna and noodle casserole with mushrooms.

4:12

By 5:30, we were sitting on our porch, devouring corn curls and cheese and crackers, with a Manhattan in hand, watching the sky finally clear up as the storms passed.

5:12

We sat out for an hour os so, loving the early evening sky, then came in to enjoy our casserole, with a salad and watch our shows, Better Call Saul although we are getting bored with the last two episodes.  It will get better.


Trump-speak defined by the Washington Post's fact-checker:  a “constant stream of exaggerated, invented, boastful, purposely outrageous, spiteful, inconsistent, dubious and false claims.”  Perfect

In The Gentle Rain

Kayak Evening

Home In Green

6:29

It's 8:40 and I have been out paddling in gentle rain for an hour.  It started up as I paddled away, picked up, soaking my rain jacket, stopped so my jacket almost dried then started up again as I pulled in.  The sky was schizophrenic, threatening one way, some clouds, and welcoming light the other way.

Kayak Morning

Light And Dark

Threatening Clouds Over Woodlawn

Northern Sky

Yesterday was quite a contrast to Wednesday.  The temperature dropped into the 70's and rained on and off until the late afternoon.  I got in a paddle before the rain, wrote the blog, had breakfast and we both started working in the yard but then the rain arrived.  It seemed hardly more than a mist but after 15 minutes, we were both soaked and went in for the rest of the morning.  Evie always has things to keep her busy inside and I got some reading done till lunch. 

Gentle Rain At 3:30

I started a new series, the sixth season of Bosch, based on Michael Connelly novels, and enjoyed a couple of salami, tomato, and cheese sandwiches on sourdough bread.  Evie started prepping our dinner, getting all the ingredients ready for later when it was time to cook dinner.  It's always easier when things are organized, ready to cook. 

Blue Skies And Clouds at 5:20

After my nap, it miraculously cleared up to our surprise; we couldn't pass up sitting out on the dock so we were out there for a good hour before dinner, enjoying a glass of wine before dinner, the tress of Long Point many colors of green, as the sun lit up then darkened their leaves.  Around 6:00, Evie seared some chicken thighs, made of sauce of fennel, shallots, lemon slices, tomatoes, and olive oil, then covered the chicken with the sauce and baked it for forty-five minutes.  We liked it but it was not as flavorful as we expected.  We started the dishes but noticed how gorgeous it was on the lake, so we went kayaking as the sun began to set, Evie's first paddle of the year.  She loved it. 

Kayaking At Dusk

We were out for a half-hour, then got back in the routine, in front of the TV, enjoying an ice cream sandwich and watching our shows, Home Town and Better Call Saul.

Dahlias Are Planted

A Few Of Evie's Dahlias From Last Summer

6:21

It's an overcast morning but delicious because the heat of the last few days is gone.  It's a pleasant 68º with welcome rain to fall later this morning.  I had a good paddle along Woodlawn, across to Long Point's fishing dock, across to Sandy Bottom and home.  And I caught two different great blue herons, feeding along the shoreline.

Kayak Morning

Preening

Happy

Yesterday was another burner, temperatures close to 90º and we should have just hunkered down inside and turn on an air conditioner, grab a pop and watch TV.  We didn't of course but spent much of the day out in the heat.  The day began early with a paddle, then the usual, blog and breakfast and clean up the kitchen.  I even watered after kayaking because it was still cool.  Evie, then, spent a good part of the morning planting her dahlias, with great deliberation, deciding which dahlia would look good next to that dahlia.  It took her all morning with minimum help from me, filling her basket up with compost.  Around 11:00,  I washed our car, dirty from trees, then decided to get some mowing of our neighbor's yard done before lunch. 

Graceful

Lunch was the previous night's dinner, a bagel with steak, cheese, and mushrooms and I finished my series, FAUDA, which ended tragically but not the way I thought.  Revenge is all.  I then tried to nap, fell asleep briefly but woke when Evie starting mowing our yard.  I could not get back to sleep so I joined her and we had twin mowers going as we finished up the two yards.  Around 4:00 we decided to go for a boat ride, over to Bemus and back, the lake an amazing blue, the wind gusty.  It's always great to be out on the lake on a day like this.  When we returned, I put the cover on the boat, a task that's getting more onerous, worked up quite a sweat, and jumped in the lake to cool off.  Nothing like a cold lake to pick me up.

Around 6:00, we met Ron and Linda over at the Bemus Point Park, next to the Casino, where they picked up two double orders of wings, two fries for our dinner.  It was a pleasant evening.  We found a picnic table, sat close to six feet apart and devoured our wings, our fries, and surreptitiously, sipped our beers, no doubt breaking the law,  It's always fun to be with them, lots of talk, as we wondered what our lives will be like over the next five or six months, different or more of the same.  We were home by 8:30, in time to watch a couple of Better Call Saul and enjoy an ice cream sandwich before bed.

Heat Wave In May

5:50

6:00

6:01

6:09

It's just about 8:30 and I have not only done some watering while the coffee brewed around 6:00 but kayaked for a good 70 minutes, over to Tom's Point and back along Woodlawn and home.  A couple of boats in sight and no waterfowl or predatory birds, alas.  Still, it was a fine morning 70º morning on the lake.

Kayak Morning

Paddling Towards The Bridge

Yesterday gave us a taste of what used to be late July or early August weather.  It might not have hit 90º but it was darn close, so warm we had to take shelter under our shade trees much of the afternoon. Temperatures in the area have been record-setting.  That doesn't mean we weren't busy of course, just got most things done before it became unbearably hot.  I paddled, wrote my blog, made a smoothie and then was off to get some errands done.  First, I stopped and picked up some topsoil and mulch at Tri James gravel.  Then it was off to Home Depot, masked of course, to get more potting soil, then a quick run through Wegman's since I was in the area.  It was surprisingly crowded but then I realized it was 5% Tuesday, the busiest shopping day of the week

When I returned home, Evie was busy getting her dahlias ready to plant, setting them in place along with their packaging, so she could tell which colors went best with others.  I was so sweaty from shopping and shoveling that I put on my bathing suit, jumped in the lake, and refreshed, did some yoga on the dock for 15 minutes with no one in sight. By the time I came in, it was time for lunch, the leftover baked ziti from a couple of nights ago.  Still, tasty, I am now on the last episode of Fauda and I fear Doron may be the next to die.

Staying Alive

Zen Fishing

Because I was up so early, by 5:00, I took a great nap for once, close to an hour and a half, and woke refreshed and happy.  Evie had by then given up on working the yard because of the heat so she was out in the front yard, under our maple, reading.

Leisure On The Lake

I joined her and we stayed there until 5:00 when we gathered drinks and towels and pretzels and went for a boat ride over to Bemus Point, past the Casino, with a few boats docked, getting wings and home.  It was even warm out on the lake, especially heading home when the wind was at our back.  Still, it was great to be on the lake, with few other boats.  When we returned, Evie got busy planting some dahlias because the garden was in the shade and I did more watering from the lake.  About 7:00, we both had had it, so Evie put together egg, steak and cheese bagels made a salad and that was our dinner.  We watched another Home Town, then finished Season Three of Better Call Saul and will be ready for Season Four tonight.

Post Memorial Day Joy

5:41

6:01

8:06

What a beautiful morning, an empty lake, the only sound purple martins gabbing as they build their nests, find their mate.  I was out paddling for an hour and was practically the only out enjoying the lake. A funny thing did happen.  I saw an empty boat tied up to the Long Point fishing dock, something I have never seen before.  I wondered if something was wrong so I went over to check, make sure there was no problem, peaked in the hull and woke up an Amish kid who spent the night sleeping in his boat. We both had a good laugh and I went on my way.

Kayak Morning

Turkey Vultures Roost On Long Point

Great Blue Heron Along Woodlawn

Great Blue

Quite A Profile

Yesterday was a busy morning, an afternoon for leisure, and a breezy cruise before dinner.  I had an early paddle, ran into other paddlers as well as fishing boats; after all, it was Memorial Day.  I came home, finished the blog, had breakfast, and then Evie and I spent the morning working in the yard.  I did a lot of edging, pulling weeds, moving plants along with Evie.  She finally decided to mow the lawn in shifts because it was getting really warm, in the '80s by mid-morning.  By the time I was finished, I had worked up such a sweat that I took Evie's advice and showered before a lunch of a couple of salami and ham sandwiches.  It felt good to cool off, put on dry clothes, enjoy lunch, and watch my show.

Evie finished mowing about the time I was ready to read and nap.  She, too, had enough yard work and gathered up her book, iPhone, and water and went out on the dock to enjoy the sun.  She lasted about an hour because it was too warm, so she set up a chair in our front yard, in the shade of our maples where she also could get a breeze.  I joined her and read for about an hour. 

While I was reading, Evie was obsessed with a Facebook app called View From My Window.  We joined it a month ago and people from all over the world share the view from their window and people comment on it.  We sent a view from our living room about a month ago but it did not appear on the app until yesterday.  It was amazing to see how many people reacted to it, over twelve thousand.  Many people from every corner of the world also commented on our photo.  It was fun and everyone was so nice, complimentary, always wishing us good health  It gives us faith in humankind.

Around 5:00, I bit the bullet and gingerly stepped off our dock ladder into the lake, finally, going underwater, always a shock.  As always, I got used to it and loved being there and worked on our boat moorings and the buoys for 15 minutes.  When I had enough, I dried off in the sun and then came in because we were going for a boat ride.  We brought a cooler, some pretzels, and cruised down beyond the Chautauqua Institution, taking our time.  We were amazed at how many neighborhoods still don't have their docks in the water.  In our neighborhood, Woodlawn, everyone's dock is in whereas along Prendergast Point, probably the gold coast of the lake,  very few docks are out in a neighborhood of probably twenty-five houses.  Our boat ride was well timed, as most boats had headed home and we had the lake and the spectacular sky mostly to ourselves.

Blue Waters, Puffy Clouds

Spectacular Cloud Art

After our ride, we sat out on the dock, nursing another beer, as this beautiful Memorial Day waned.  We were reluctant to leave the dock but eventually went in around 7:45.   Evie grilled sauteed mushrooms, grilled a couple of tenderloins, made a salad and we had another good dinner.  We watched Hometown and a couple of episodes of Better Call Saul then went to bed, our bedroom hot and humid for the first time in months.