The Gang's Not Here!

Summer. 2017

For the first time in twenty-four years, our kids and grandchildren will not be enjoying the lake, the great meals, and each other this summer. We have gathered here summer after summer, watching the grandchildren grow into young adults, something we always cherished.  Unfortunately, because of the Cov19 virus, we agreed to cancel the gathering this summer, for the health of us as well as our families.  How sad making.

6:39

It's an overcast morning, with the sun occasionally breaking through the cloud cover.  I was out for close to an hour and a half, paddling over to Tom's Point and home.  I was rewarded with a couple of photos of herons and one bald eagle, perched high in the tree by the Power Boat Club.

Kayak Morning

The Bridge At Bemus Point

Bald Eagle Ignoring Me

Bald Eagle

Yesterday was another hot one and we better get used to it. It did not change our day much as we are ignoring the heat and just doing what we want.  I paddled, had breakfast, wrote the blog.  Evie got busy doing her thing. Around 11:00, we both decided to get some exercise so I went for a bike ride in the neighborhood, on #394, and some back roads, a big mistake.  It was excruciatingly hot riding on the road, with no shade and lots of trucks and cars, so I cut my ride short and came home after twenty-five minutes.  When I got back, Evie was cutting the lawn, taking water breaks, to make it easier and safer in the heat.

Northern Sky

Clouding Up

Great Blue Heron At Booty Bay

Great Blue At Tom's Point

Around 12:30, Evie made me a salad with the leftover English cut and I watched my show and could not wait to get back to my book Winter Prey.  I fell asleep reading of course and then joined Evie briefly on the porch.

Amish Country

Around 3:30, I left for my friend Jack's house because we were having a meeting of the breakfast club but instead of eggs and bacon, we were having beer, pretzels, and nuts.  Jack lives on a 60-acre piece of property, with a great garden where much of his land is farmed by the Amish.  It's a beautiful area of Chautauqua, north of the lake, set up on a ridge so on clear days we can see Lake Erie. 

Dick, Joe, And Jack, The Gentlemen Farmers

We sat out on his patio, enjoying our beers, talking about John Deere tractors and vegetable gardening, like a bunch of farmers.  Jack showed us his handy work, a water fountain, set inside his garden of various vegetables and flowers. It was a nice respite from our daily routines.

Beers, Not Eggs

When I returned home, Evie had dinner prepped so we sat on the front porch and enjoyed a glass of wine before dinner.  We had Palestinian meatballs, ground turkey with zucchini, and spices. For sides, we had eggplant slices topped with mozzarella cheese and the meatballs had a sour cream and sumac sauce. We watched a Colbert and two more episodes of Money Heist.  We are getting bored with Part IV but will stick with it to the end.  We finished the night with the last piece of cherry pie and added ice cream. 

Edison Opening