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