A Morning Of A Blinding Sun

6:31

6:58

8:38

It's 8:40 and I just returned from a forty-five-minute paddle.  The reflection of the sun on the lake is blinding, so much so I have to find another chair.  The lake continues to be quiet and empty during the week, making kayaking a joy.  My paddle, however, lacks a camera with a telephoto lens, so that I feel like a hunter who hits the wild without a gun. I end up photographing landscape, with a heron occasionally blending into the background.  

Kayak Morning

A Prancing Heron Along Victoria Creek

Sunshine And Reeds

Mallards

Sunday was another pleasantly cool day, a harbinger of the autumn to come.  Evie slept in while I got in a paddle and wrote the blog and had breakfast.  Once she was up, we decided to get some exercise and drove to the Chautauqua Institution for our Sunday walk.  It was a good choice, lots of colors still in the gardens and cool weather.  We were out for only forty-five minutes but it was enough to make us feel good about ourselves.  When we returned home, Evie got busy, making a 'good mess' in the kitchen, putting together a colorful coleslaw and a tomato/corn/cheese pie for our dinner.  Halfway through, she made me an omelet with tomatoes and feta for breakfast.  She's good at juggling a couple of things.  

A "Good Mess"

Once the pie was baked, filled with goodies, most of Evie's work was done other than brining the chicken.  I had my breakfast, watched some NBA basketball and took my usual nap. We both spent some time on the phone, talking with our kids, seeing how they are managing with the virus, and their kids handling school on line.  The afternoon seemed to go fast.  I got things ready in the yard, as we were hoping to sit outside, perhaps eat out.  Evie put together our dessert just before Linda and Ron arrived at 6:15.

A Freshly Baked Tomato And Corn Pie

We were able to sit outside and enjoy our beers, appetizers and talk as I grilled the chicken thighs. The chicken took just about half-hour, browning for the first ten minutes, then baking until the internal temperature reached 165º.  After plating the chicken, Evie drenched it with a lemon vinegarette she previously made.  Unfortunately, it was too windy and cool and late to eat outside so we quickly set the table inside and had dinner.  Everyone loved the tomato pie, the star of the evening and there was just enough coleslaw and chicken left for dinner tonight.  We had yogurt parfaits for dessert, with raspberries and blueberries, a dessert which is fast becoming our favorite.  Ron and Linda left around 9:00 and Evie and I cleaned up the kitchen in record time, then watched some TV until bedtime.  

Kayaking, Changing Skies, And Drizzle

6:24

6:48

6:23

7:24

8:59

It's a fall-like morning sky, lots of clouds, some blue, some sunshine and an occasional shower. I paddled under the shower for about 15 minutes as I made my way back home, with blue skies surrounding me.  Lots of bass boats out as there is a fishing tournament today.  At 7:00, they blasted out of Long Point Marina, racing off to the far corners of the lake.  

Kayak Morning

Kayaking In The Rain

Yesterday was a bizarre day, hot and humid early and chilly late, fleece type of weather.  I returned from my paddle in a sweat, wondering why until I realized how humid it was even in our house.  After the blog and breakfast, Evie got busy making up some sauces for tonight's dinner.  I enjoyed my breakfast out on the dock as is my wont.  Evie joined me but we soon realized the sun was too hot and bright so we headed back inside. I then gathered up the trash and took it to the Transfer Station, my tasks done for the day.

Our Favorite Tattoo Parlor

Around 11:00, I decided to drive to Lakewood to support two businesses, the bookstore, and wine store.  Both were having a celebration, offering 10% off of books or wine.  I had to laugh as the Tattoo Parlor, next to the bookstore, was brandishing a huge Trump sign.  It's nice to know your tattoo parlors support Trump.  I briefly browsed the bookstore but it was crowded so I  left and went to the wine store and bought a bottle of Zinfandel for tonight's dinner. I felt like I did my duty, supporting a couple of small businesses and drove home,  

When I came home, Evie was finished in the kitchen and I then did up the dishes, the least I could do after her morning.  I had the last of the lentil soup for lunch with croutons and watched my show before going upstairs, turning on the air conditioner and read until I fell asleep.  We both wanted to get outside and enjoy the day but it was still too hot and humid so we both hung out inside, watching TV and reading until about 5:00 when the weather changed, as clouds and winds came in, temperatures dropped at least 15º and it was time to get out either a fleece or blanket.  We decided to enjoy a Saturday Manhattan and appetizers on the porch and Evie wrapped herself in a blanket.  It was a beautiful late afternoon, the sun highlighting both Long Point and Tom's Point as the lake traffic slowly disappeared.  We were looking forward to dinner, BLT with Utz chips and a Pepsi.  Sometimes, there's nothing better than a tried and true meal. We watched a good Real Time With Bill Maher. We ended the night with Building Off The Grid, saving a new series until next week.

Morning Storms

6:25

6:49

6:52

8:49

Well, I am starting this earlier than usual, at 6:54 since I have been up for over an hour.  I am sitting on my front porch, watching a storm move in and drench our yard, blurring our view of Long Point. We probably got at least an inch in the past twenty minutes.  I actually love it because there's not much wind, thunder, or lightning, just rain pelting the roof of our porch.  I won't be kayaking for a while. 

Kayak Morning

It's 8:30 and I just returned from a paddle in the drizzle but by the time I pulled my kayak on my lift, blue skies to the north filled the sky,

Heron Among The The Reflections

Yesterday was a crappy day for me since I had a bad night, getting up way too early, making me irritably much of the day.  I did get in a paddle early although it was not the same without my camera and no need to search for waterfowl.  When I  paddled in, I put on my bathing suit and went into the lake, rescuing a couple of our neighbor's chairs which had been tossed in the lake from their dock during yesterday's wind storm. I then went for a swim since I was already in the lake and it was the best I felt all day, the miracle of a swim in a cold lake. I then wrote the blog, had breakfast, and helped Evie finalize her grocery list.  She left at noon to get her hair cut, then do some shopping at Wegman's.  I spent the morning looking for something to do but not doing anything other than finding a couch and reading, waiting for lunchtime.

Eden

Lucky Number

Evie left around noon and it's always strange to be home alone, something that rarely happens.  Wow, what can I do now?  Well, I heated up the moussaka and lentil soup, watched my show, then fell asleep reading my novel until I was awakened by a phone call from an unknown caller.  So I got up and because it looked so pleasant outside, I decided to go out and read on the dock. When I got out on the dock, I realized one of our chaise lounges was missing, most likely in the lake.  So I grabbed one of our lake rakes, raked along the dock and viola, it grabbed a part of the lounge and I pulled it up and on to the dock without having to go in the lake.  I took it to our backyard and washed it down with soap, water, and a hose, washing the weeds and seeds off it.  While I was finishing up, Evie drove in so I helped her unload the car.  By the time I was finished with the lounge, I had lost any mojo I had so I returned to the porch and read until 4:00 when I got so fed up with myself that I made myself practice yoga for forty-five minutes with Adriene on YouTube.  It worked because I felt much better.

Back To Normal, Friday Night Fish Fry

We both showered around 5:00 and drove off to the Viking Club at 5:45 for a fish fry, hoping we could sit outside and avoid what looked like rain.  Fortunately, we were able to sit outside under their covered patio, a safe distance from other tables.  It was a fairly busy night at the club as everyone wants to get out of the house.  We had to stand in line, a safe distance from others, to order a beer and the fish fry so they are being careful and everyone wears a mask unless they are sitting down.  We waited about 20 minutes for our number to be called and Evie walked up and picked up our fish fry dinners, in a styrofoam box.  It was as good as we expected, the fish nice and hot, the fries and coleslaw tasty, the roll with butter, soft like a marshmallow.  It ended up being a pleasant night, gray skies but no rain.  We were home by 8:00.  Our evening TV was highlighted by peaches and vanilla ice cream as we watched another Colbert, then some news and junk TV.  It ended up being a better day than I thought when I woke up so early.

The Delight Of Morning Rain

6:30

6:40

It's all quiet on the Chautauqua front, just the sound of raindrops falling on the porch roof. It looks like a rainy day, the first I can remember since Spring. All is gray as I look out our porch, not a boat in sight.  I did get out on the lake by 6:45 but it started to drizzle as I paddled off and only increased as I paddled towards Long Point.  I was determined to stay out despite the rain, in fact, I was loving it until I heard thunder and decided I better head home.  

Kayak Morning

Thursday was a strange day as rain was predicted despite the fact that it was sunny much of the day.  I was the kind of day where I can hardly remember what I did as the days blend together.  I know I kayaked, wrote the blog, then had breakfast and then wondered what I was going to do.  Two things then filled my morning, a long phone call with my good friend Ron, from Oxford, Maine.  After that, another friend from Ohio, Johnnie, called, just to check in so that filled a good part of the morning,.  The other part was spent talking with camera specialists at B & H Photo in New York City because my camera is kaput, no longer working.  It was sent out once to get repaired so I decided it was time to get something else.  Unfortunately, I could not find another camera that was any better than the one I have been using, a Panasonic Lumix so I finally bit the bullet and ordered another one.  I won't get it until Wednesday so there will be no close-ups of wildlife for a few days,

I had the same lunch as the day before, the last of the rotisserie chicken on a sandwich, with tomatoes and mayo and lentil soup.  I watched more of my Japanese detective series but was more than happy to get back to my book set in Malaysia.  Much of the book revolves around the Emperor's gardener, his skill and love of a Japanese garden.  Well, this has got me interested in Japanese gardens so I have reserved a book at the local library and maybe, just maybe, Evie's garden may have a new twist to go along with the stone Buddha.  Of course, I took a great nap, one of those where you wake up wondering if it's morning or afternoon.

Neither of us did much during the afternoon other than a bit of work in the garden, mostly pulling weeds, deadheading, and staking some of the taller Dahlias, hoping they won't break from heavy rain or wind.  Just as we walked in from the garden, heavy clouds moved down the lake and we were able to sit on the porch, with an early gin and tonic and watch it pour, as heavy winds took chairs off of docks, downed trees in some neighborhoods, and took down electrical lines.  

4:32

Fortunately, we were spared any damage and had electricity. I cleared up within a half-hour and we received less than an inch of rain.  We then sat on the porch and Evie had the great idea of popping a bowl of popcorn, We ended up sitting out on the porch, finishing our gin and tonic, and listening to the news until almost 7:00 when we decided it was time to eat. 

4:32

Dinner was heating up the leftover moussaka, just as good if not better than the day before.  We watched a fun Colbert and he interviewed Nancy Pelosi.  She was at the top of her game, an amazing 80-year-old woman.  What a contrast between her reasonableness and calm and the frenetic hysterics of a scary, off tilter Rudy Giuliani at the Trump Festival later in the evening.  Giuliani was enough to make us skip the rest of the Trump Festival and start season five of Rita.  We loved the first three years, the last two just don't measure up alas. 

Morning Haze

6:58

6:58

7:02

7:02

It's 8:30 as I start the blog and I have just returned from an hour on the lake.  Evie, lucky gal, just came downstairs and is getting her coffee.  The lake was quiet, hardly another boat so maybe things have slowed down until the weekend, or until Labor Day, when things really quiet down.  On my way back, I talked with our neighbors, Betsy and Joe, up early, enjoying the sunrise and Joe's birthday on their dock.  He was born the same year we were married!

Kayak Morning

Long Point

A Great Blue

Quite A Figure

Yesterday was overcast much of the day, humid, and we never did make it out on the dock or in the boat for some reason.  We were having company for dinner but much of dinner was already done.  I kayaked of course and while Evie made a dessert, Nora Ephron's peach pie, I drove into Lakewood, parked my car, and biked for forty-five minutes, just enough, down to the Harbor House Hotel, Celeron, and back.  After biking, I stopped in at the Off The Beaten Path bookstore which has just moved to new digs and is doing better than ever. 

When I returned home, it was lunchtime and Evie made me a chicken sandwich to go with the lentil soup which she had made on Tuesday.  We are getting towards soup for lunch everyday season as a few leaves are beginning to turn and fall.  I watched my Japanese show, enjoyed lunch, read, and napped as Evie was busy off and on, mowing and prepping for dinner.  Around 3:30, I got bored and decided to spend some time weeding our brick walk, once again festooned with grass and weeds. It took me about an hour and then it was time to shower for dinner.

Sam And Us

Our friend, Sam, arrived around 5:40. We had never met him before, just communicated on and off over the past couple of years via my blog.  He lives in Indianapolis but his family goes way back at the Chautauqua Institution.  He's my age and like his father,  has spent at least part of a summer at Chautauqua every year of his life.  In fact, his grandfather was President of Chautauqua Institution in the 1940s and helped to keep it solvent in the 1930s.  So Sam is a font of information on Chautauqua going back to 1903 when his grandfather first came to Chautauqua.  We sat on the front porch, enjoying some appetizers and a cup of lentil soup as we both learned about each other's lives although Sam knew quite a bit about us because of the blog,  He's a retired cardiologist and avid runner, having run numerous marathons, dating back to the 1970s.  Dinner was moussaka, salad, and rolls, with peach pie for dessert.  It was fun getting to know him and learn about his family, his Chautauqua connections.  

We quickly did up the dishes after he left, not wanting to wake up to a messy kitchen in the morning,.  We then had time to watch Colbert and the Trump Festival on and off, mostly off when we would get upset at the lies.  One more night of this charade and back to a series.  

Sunny And Calm

6:26

6:46

7:06

It's 8:50 as I start my blog, having paddled for a good hour, over to Tom's Point and back.  When I returned, Evie was already busy in the kitchen putting together a pie crust for tonight's dessert.  It looks like another pleasant day until late afternoon when we might get some showers,  

Kayak Morning

A Relaxing Paddle In The Reeds

A Bald Eagle OnTop Of The World

Hiding In The Leaves

Monday turned out to be a windy day and because of it, we spent little time out on the dock.  So we spent much of the day either on the porch, reading or napping or in the garden, or shaping our privets.  I use an electric trimmer for all but the tips of the hedge, hanging out over the water. To get to them, I use a ladder, place it in the water, and Evie braces it so I can climb up it and trim the annoying tips of the privet.  Now it finally looks well-groomed.  All this was done after I took a bike ride in Mayville, parking at the lake park and riding along Sea Lion Drive and beyond and back, for just about 50 minutes, just right.  On the way home, I picked up some corn and a rotisserie chicken at the Lighthouse for dinner.  

Lunch was the leftover sub sandwich from Wegman's and I am getting tired of my Japanese cop show but will stick with it, hoping for the best.  I then read and am enjoying my novel, set in Malaysia in the 1950s, just after the Japanese brutal occupation of that country.  We both then relaxed the rest of the afternoon, mostly on the porch and occasionally, Evie would drift off to do something in her garden.  At 5:00, she had a zoom call with her three sisters. One of her sisters who lives in Arizona has her son, wife, and three grandchildren with her.  They live in California and fled because of the smoke from the wildfires that was making it difficult to live in their home.

Late Afternoon 

After the call, we enjoyed a gin and tonic and black bean hummus on the porch, commenting on the greenery of Long Point and the Bemus Point shoreline, soon to turn red, brown, and yellow as fall arrives. We had an easy but tasty dinner, rotisserie chicken, corn on the cob, and mashed potatoes, compliments of Bob Evans.  We watched a Colbert and particularly enjoyed his interview with three guys from the podcast called Podcast America. We then watched some junk TV including the Republican Convention until we had enough of the paeans to Trump's empathy, truthfulness, leadership, and integrity and went to bed.

Night Time Showers

6:25

8:16

It's a deliciously overcast morning, a calm, quiet lake, steam rising above the trees and 69º.  I had a fine paddle, shooting photos of both herons and eagles, perhaps the first merganser of late summer. Perhaps the rain scared off most boaters because I had the lake to myself most of the paddle.  

Kayak Morning

Blue Heron On Long Point Fishing Dock

Early Sighting Of A Merganser

Bald Eagle

Yesterday was supposed to be a day without anything we had to do until my temporary crown fell out Sunday night.  So after my paddle and breakfast, I drove to Jamestown and sat in the dentist chair for forty-five minutes, waiting for my crown to be cemented back in, a fun way to start the week.  Afterward, I did some mega shopping at a quiet Wegman's, stocking up for the week, then stopped at the can man, to get rid of my returnables and earmark the few bucks for St. Susan's Center, a food center for the needy in Jamestown.

Profile

Poppa Eagle

I was smart enough to buy a sub at Wegman's so there was no need to make lunch.  Just slice it and sit down to watch my show.  Evie always slices off a small part for her lunch and even so, it lasts both of us two days for lunch.  The afternoon was much more close than we thought, heavy with humidity and in the 80's, too uncomfortable either in the house or dock so we sat outside, in the shade of our willow tree, enjoying a nice breeze, the shade and reading,  

Boating With Kathy And Medio

Around 5:00, we asked our neighbor's daughter and her friend if they wanted to go for a cruise. They did and we cruised for a good hour, down to Cheney's Point and back along the shoreline, a fun ride with lots of conversation and house viewing.  We didn't get back till around 6:30 so while I put the cover on the boat, Evie put together our dinner which she had prepped earlier, scallops with a sauce of white wine, garlic, lemon juice, chicken broth and a dash of cream.  Once the linguini was done, the salad made, the corn on the cob buttered and salted, we had a scallop feast.  We watched a movie called  First Reformed, with Ethan Hawke.  About 15 minutes into it, we realized we had seen it before but stuck with it because it's such a powerful film, about a pastor who struggles with his faith, with what God's people are doing to his creation, its waters, forests, skies, and land.  The ending is abrupt and leaves the viewer with only questions, not answers,  It's worth a look.  We ended the night with Hometown, then comedy, the Republican Convention, led by a screeching, witchy, Kimberly Guilfoyle, the number one son's main squeeze (for now).