A Winter Playground

Cross Country Skiing At Dusk (enhanced sky)

9:23

It's just beginning to get light at 7:00 and I have been up for forty-five minutes, enjoying the dark and quiet.  A solitary light on the lake welcomed me, an early bird ice fisherman. It's 21º, warming up from the teens of the past few mornings. It's 9:30 now as I finish this.  I have been to Wegman's and back and now it's snowing, getting the lake ready for us to cross country ski.

Walking A Dog

A Village

Saturday was a let's enjoy the frozen lake kind of day.  By noon, there must have been at least a hundred guys out fishing if not more, many huddled in Bemus Bay, the others off of Long Point.  Neighbors were out walking their dogs, cross country skiing, or hiking on the frozen lake.  It was that kind of day.  We had our typical morning, watching the ice fishermen walk out and stake out their sweet spot as we had our coffee.  We then got busy, gathered the trash and I was off to the Transfer Station by 10:30.  When I returned, Evie was ready to cross country ski, so I got ready and we grabbed our skis and went out and skied the lake, down to Sandy Bottom and back.  Evie loved being on the lake, with some sun, and no wind to make her trip uncomfortable.  We are so lucky to have this lake to enjoy in front of our house.  

Man In Red

Wow...An Open Lake

We had no big plans for Saturday, so when we returned, I warmed up the chicken satay and ate while watching a movie I started on Friday, No Country For Old Men, violent but an amazing film.  We both wasted the rest of the afternoon, doing absolutely nothing productive.  It felt good.  I read some, as usual, fell asleep, and then watched some TV.  Basically, we were waiting for dusk when we would get back out on the lake.  So at 5:30, we put on our skis and went out to enjoy the lake once more as it began to darken.  I wore a headlamp just in case but it was fine skiing at dusk.  We were out for forty-five minutes and glad we waited.  

Skiing Home Dusk

Dusk

Dinner was no fuss as we were having imitation crab cakes, Brussel sprouts, salad, and home fries for dinner.  I bought the crab cakes at Aldi's, thinking they might be decent.  Well, they reminded me of fish sticks but I ate them anyway.  At least the salad, potatoes, and Brussels sprouts were good. We watched a great Real Time With Bill Maher.  He had as guests two environmental biologists, both experts on the Coronavirus and the vaccines.  They raised all sorts of interesting and troubling questions concerning the viruses and their variants, the kind of answers we don't get from the Media or Government.  We ended the night with comfort and laughs, watching Midnight Dinner and Better Things.

 

Homeland Elegies: Ayad Akhtar

 

A Pakistani family drama, set in the world that 9/11 made.  Part autobiography, part fiction, part social commentary but ultimately about a father and son, one born in Pakistan, the other in the United States.  

A Cold, White Saturday

Westside Overland Trail

7:31

Saturday Morning Ice Fishing

I have awakened each of the last three mornings to an inch or two of snow.  It's a pleasant way to wake despite the cold 16º morning.  The ice fishermen are out as it's the weekend.  No wind yet so it should be a perfect day for us to cross country ski on the lake.  As I walked out on our front porch to take a photograph of the morning sky, I heard the roar of a snowmobile off in the distance, on the lake for the first time.  Let's hope the lake is thick enough.

Road To Village Of Panama And Hiking Destination

Friday we were able to take another jaunt in the woods. I was up early, listening to podcasts, having my coffee, and writing the blog, waiting for Evie to get up.  By the time she gets up, I have been thinking about what to have for dinner, where to hike or ski.  We did up the dishes from the previous night's dinner then put on our layers for snowshoeing.  We drove ten miles to the Village of Panama where we accessed the Westside Overland Trail.  We have hiked all 26 miles of it in various stages and have hiked this section numerous times.  It was tough for me on my skies because of the ups and downs but for Evie, on snowshoes, it was perfect.  I had enough after 50 minutes, having worked up quite a sweat. We loved being outside, protected from the wind by the trees, and were never cold.  

Snowshoeing Among The Pines

In The Woods

We did not get home until afternoon, time for lunch.  I had forgotten about the leftover chicken tikka masala from Wednesday night so I had a filling lunch, lots of chicken, rice, and yogurt.  I watched another episode of Shooter, bad TV but I keep watching it,  I then started a new book, The Children's Bible, and napped but Evie, as usual, was busy in the kitchen making, this time, an apple pie for Friday night's dessert.  

Evie's Apple Pie

We knew dinner would be easy because we were having the leftover chicken satay and rice from Thursday night.  Around 4:00, as the pie came out of the oven, filling the kitchen with its deliciousness, I went outside, donned my skis, and went out on the lake to see what it was like to ski.  

Skiing On The Lake At 4:30 PM

It was great except for the fact I skied with the wind to start, forgetting that it would be tough going into it on the way back to our house, I put on a mask to make it less bitter on the way home.

Tree On Our Porch

We decided to partake of good cheese, Boursin, with our glass of wine, and enjoy the increasing light in the late afternoon, early evening. Dinner was delicious despite being left overs,  but we could not wait to have the pie.  I had mine with ice cream and we were both happy.  We watched the news, a Colbert, and Midnight Dinner before going to bed.  I have started a new book, A Children's Bible, a finalist for the National Book Award.  

Cold Enough

6:54

7:34

Another morning in the teens, a few inches of snow overnight, and a partly cloudy morning begins our day here at the lake.  We are still happy with our winter, mostly because we get outside every day and look forward to the snow, the cold weather, and the natural world.  

Snowshoeing Long Point in 17º Weather

Yesterday was a busy but fun day despite the cold weather.  Evie was making an Asian extravaganza for our friends Linda and Ron.  So she had lots to do during the day to get it ready.  She wanted, however, to get in some snowshoeing so after getting both a marinade made and the Thai soup, we drove over to Long Point around 11:00. It was cold, 14º out be we forgot about the wind, with a wind chill of 3º as we hiked to the woods.  The wind was so bitter, so heavy, that we almost turned around.  Once we made it to the trails in the woods, however, it was fine and we had a good hour on the trails, happy that we made the decision to get outside despite the cold.  We always start with three or four layers and if its too much, we take one off and put it in my backpack. 

We returned home at 12:30, later than we thought and Evie whipped up the leftover grits into cakes, fried them along with a couple of eggs for my lunch.  While I ate and watched TV, she got busy with our dinner, spending a good part of the afternoon on the Thai Shimp and coconut soup, the peanut satay chicken, almond cookies, salad, and spicy green beans.  I was her bottle washer, occasionally dropping into the kitchen to clean off the island, wash up, then return to the couch to read until there were more dishes to wash. 

By 5:00, everything was ready and we both were able to relax some, shower, and get ready.  We have been enjoying cocktails recently so I made the first cocktail I ever had, a Sidecar, compliments of my Grandfather Davis who was down to see me at college in Athens, Ohio, in 1962. Before they arrived, I moistened the rim of the glasses with a lemon, dipped them in sugar, and set them out on the porch to chill.  When they arrived, I had the Sidecars made and chilled, a combo of brandy, triple sec, and lemon juice.  Needless to say, Linda and Evie loved them.  After we finished them, we sat down at the table and had our Thai soup, egg rolls, and edamame.  We then relaxed as Evie baked the Thai chicken satay, with peanut sauce, stir-fried the green beans, made the rice, and salad. The chicken was perfect, the flavors strong, as were the green beans and salad.  We ended the night with homemade almond cookies and Chinese tea, in the teacups I bought when I was in Hong Kong in 1975. It was a nice way to end the evening.  They left around 9:45 in light snow and we did up some of the dishes before deciding we had enough and went up to bed.  It's nice to be able to share a meal with our bubble friends. 

14º...Too Cold To Fish?

7:53

8:48

It's the coldest morning of the year so far, 14º, and some blue sky has just appeared.  I spy only two ice fishermen out this morning at 7:00, a surprise because cold does not usually discourage them.  We got an inch or two of snow overnight, just enough to cover the gray, icy areas of the lake and the walk to our house. 

Yesterday began with my slipping on the icy driveway and falling on my duff as I went to get my newspaper.  Not the way I wanted to start my day.  Fortunately, only my ego is sore.  It was a busy morning on the lake for fishermen, out early to catch that walleye.  I am not tempted.  Evie had an appointment with the dentist for a cleaning at 1:00 so we wanted to get in some exercise before she left. We decided to try Webb's Trail, hoping we would not run into a horde of snowmobilers.  We were lucky in that we saw none, only the tractor which was grooming the trails.  I started out with another fall, as my ski caught on a groove, my first of the year.  Embarrassing but I was not alone.  We ran into another skier, a guy we have met a couple of times on a hike, and he had blood dripping from his nose, a result of a fall. Fortunately, the rest of the hour of skiing and snowshoeing was uneventful, as we both enjoyed our trek, the beauty of winter woods.

We were home by 11:30 and Evie got busy in the kitchen, making the dough for almond cookies and letting it sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours,  She left for the dentist in Jamestown at 12:30 and I had lunch, vegetable soup, and an avocado and tomato sandwiches on toasted homemade bread.  I watched a couple of episodes of Shooter, mostly because I did not feel like reading or doing anything. 

Evie did not get home until 3:00, having stopped at Wegman's for a few things after the dentist.  She then got busy in the kitchen because we were having Linda and Ron over for dinner tonight, Thursday.  She had numerous things going on, along with prepping our Indian dinner of chicken with a curry sauce and broccoli.  While she was prepping, the almond cookies were baking in the oven,  I helped occasionally with the clean-up as needed and it was often needed as Evie is a multitasker extraordinaire. 

By 6:00, she was able to relax as the rice was cooking, her prepping for two dinners was done.  The chicken tikka marsala was flavorful, at its best with lots of yogurt on top. We watched the final episode of Tiger on HBO, about his fall and attempt at redemption.  Golf had never seen anything like Tiger's reign for close to ten years, making his dramatic fall all the more shocking.  

Winter Worsens

8:06

Another gray morning, a chilly 24º, with no sleet insight,  Yesterday was ugly, a mix of rain and sleet much of the day, keeping us inside because of the slush and wintry mix.  The temperature rose into the upper 30's during the day, then dropped to the 20's overnight. 

Where's The Sweet Spot?

Because of the weather, as I mentioned above, we were unable to walk or ski.  Around 9:00, I received a call from Spectrum Eyecare that my new lenses was ready, so I quickly grabbed my keys and drove into Jamestown, and got my lenses.  It took ten minutes and I was on my way home, the roads, fortunately, wet not icy. Evie had an appointment with her hairdresser Jaret at 1:00, so when I returned home, she left because she wanted to get in a big shopping day before Jaret.

So I was home alone for a couple of hours.  Since it was not yet lunchtime when I returned and it was too wet to get outside, I practiced Yoga With Adrienne for the first time in a couple of weeks.  It felt good although I am out of shape and need to be more consistent. Lunch was heating up the leftover pork and sauerkraut from Sunday and I started a new show called Shooter on Netflix.  I am not sure yet whether I like it or not,  It reminds me of the Jason Bourne films.  After the episode, I relaxed with my book, White Nights.  I tried to nap and maybe fell asleep for ten or fifteen minutes.  

Around 3:00, Evie drove in and I helped her put away the groceries, then went out and did some shoveling of the snow/ice off or our brick walk.  It may make it safe for a few hours before the temperature drops again and it ices up.  Evie had a Zoom call with her sisters at 5:00 and we didn't get to dinner until 6:30.  Earlier, I had cleaned some brussels sprouts and washed some potatoes before baking them.  Along with a salad we had a rotisserie chicken dinner around 7:00, easy and always good.  We were not sure what to watch as usual so I suggested the Tiger Woods documentary on HBO.  We enjoyed it and saved the second episode for tonight. The first episode chronicles his amazing rise, the second, I assume, is about his fall.  We ended the night with a couple of Midnight Diner episodes and Better Things.  

A Darn Good Day

7:17

This morning the temperature has risen, the wind has picked up and it's starting to rain or sleet, creating a winter advisory for driving on icy roads.  The lake, once white, now has gray areas, as the snow has begun to melt.  It has not discouraged many ice fishermen as I counted at least 10 out this morning.  

Yesterday, however, was a different story as we enjoyed sun on and off much of the day.  We also enjoyed a fun day in the kitchen as well as outside in the snow. Around 9:30, after coffee, breakfast, blog, and the news, we put together a no-knead bread recipe, compliments of my sister-in-laws Claire.and Jean.  We have not had much luck with this type of recipe but they swear by this one and it's easy. So after adding flour, yeast, salt, and hot water, we left the dough to sit for up to eight hours,  One thing was done.  

Evie wanted to cross country ski so we drove over to the Bemus Point Golf course where we noticed numerous snowmobiles and skiers enjoy the golf course on the weekend.  We arrived at 11:00 and were the only ones in the parking lot.  The course was groomed by snowmobiles so it was great for cross country skiing.  We had the course to ourselves except for on a pack of snowmobilers that raced by and disappeared. It was bright and sunny out and we needed our sunglasses and even had to shed some of our outerwear because we were too warm.  We were out for just about an hour, just right, and even got some sun.

For lunch, we enjoyed another bowl of Evie's vegetable soup and toasted cheese sandwiches.  I watched Deadwood but am about ready to chuck it and watch something else.  I started a new Ann Cleves mystery, White Nights.  The afternoon went as usual, quickly, with a nap in there as well as some TV.  Around 4:00 I suggested to Evie that chocolate chip cookies sounded good so she got busy in the kitchen, putting together the dough and starting our dinner, an early morning suggestion from me, shrimp and grits.  While she prepped the shrimp and grits, I went out and tested the lake for cross-country skiing and was pleasantly surprised by how nice it was.  Too bad this morning's rain will ruin it. I was out for maybe 20 minutes, long enough to enjoy it,  When I returned, I got busy in the kitchen, cleaning up after Evie's prepping of cookies and dinner. We also baked the bread while working in the kitchen and it turned out great.  I think we have a winner,. 

6:36 PM

Dinner was excellent, as good as the shrimp and grits we enjoyed at Rita's on Folly Beach, North Carolina a few years ago.  The grits were creamy and rich and the shrimp was in a roux of onions, garlic and bacon.  And while we were enjoying our dinner, chocolate chip cookies were baking in the oven.  We could not decide what to watch but ended up watching a new series on Prime based on the novel A Suitable Boy.  Neither of us was taken with it so we may or may not continue with it.  We ended the night with Better Things.  

It's Cold Out There

7:08

7:26

7:27

8:49

A 15º morning as I woke at 6:30. It's now 7:30 and the sky has some pink to the southeast as the sun struggles to rise above the skyline. A few ice fishermen are out but not in the numbers like Sunday morning.  It's strange to listen to Morning Joe with hardly a mention of you know who.  

Sunday was a day of football, as it gobbled up our afternoon and early evening.  We did manage to get in a long walk around the Chautauqua Institution in the morning despite the fact that neither of us really wanted to walk. Evie, however, suggested we get out there, if only for a half-hour.  The half-hour turned into an hour and a half walk, as we navigated the snow-covered walks, taking our time to enjoy the going. We started walking down sidestreets until we realized that most of the quaint porches were covered with canvas curtains. obscuring their charm.  We passed maybe six other couples out for a walk like us, none wearing masks.  

Thunder Bridge

Covered Porches

Our Favorite Church

We did not get home until 1:00 which was fine.  We were both hungry by then so Evie made us an egg, cheese, and ham burritos and we watched CBS Sunday Morning.  After breakfast, I read some and took a nap and at 3:00, our football afternoon began as we watched all of the Packers/Buccaneers game which was exciting.  Around 3:30, Evie took a time out to sear pork ribs, covered them with tomatoes and sauerkraut, and let them slow cook in the oven for a couple of hours.

We had dinner as the Chiefs/Bills game began. It was a sad day for our area, which supports the Buffalo Bills because, after the first quarter, their game was practically over as the Bills appeared inept, the Chiefs in control.  At least we enjoyed our dinner, ribs, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes.  By 9:00, we had enough and watched a couple of episodes of Better Things, assuming, rightly, the Bills had lost. 

Waking At The Crack Of Dawn

Safe Distancing

7:47

8:17

It's 8:40 as I start this blog.  I have been listening to our local NPR station for the past hour.  I woke to the sun peaking between a crack in the clouds, filling the lake with light.  It's a great morning for ice fishing as I have counted over 50 tents spread out on the lake, from Warner Bay to the tip of Long Point. 

Yesterday was another cold, winter day, the way we like it and decided to get in another activity outdoors.  So we gathered up the trash and I took it to the Transfer Station, then drove to Lakewood, to Save A Lot, to pick up a few things for our dinners this weekend.  When I returned, it was 11:00 and Evie was ready to go.  We drove into Mayville, hoping to ski/snowshoe on Webb's Trail or the Rails to Trail.  Unfortunately, both were littered with snowmobiles as the trails are now open.  So we punted and drove back across the bridge to Bemus and parked at the end of Lakeside Drive.  We took our usual route through the woods and ran into nary a snowmobile and only one or two dog walkers so we were happy.  It was a good choice.  

Groomed Trail

We did not get home until 1:00 and Evie heated up the leftover mango chicken for lunch and had a bowl of her vegetable soup, which was simmering on the stove while we skied/snowshoed.  I am getting tired of Deadwood but I will stick with it to the very end.  Our afternoon was leisurely as we were both pooped from our excursion to Long Point.  I napped, read, and watched TV as did Evie.  I did take a brief walkout to the lake, tested it for 100 yards to see if it might be good for skiing but it was wet underneath the layer of snow, making it hard to cross country ski. 

Around 6:00, Evie popped some popcorn and got out the dip and pretzels while I made us a Manhattan, and we couldn't wait to sit down and enjoy dusk.  The weather cooperated as it started to snow on and off as we enjoyed our drink and appetizers.  Dinner was the leftover prime rib which had been frozen, with mashed potatoes and gravy, just like a diner lunch. We watched Bill Maher's Real Time, some of the news, and ended the night with Better Things, raunchier than usual. It was another good day with 'just the two of us.'