Free At Last

At The Rod And Gun Again

7:02

8:17

Another bright, shiny morning, the sun's reflection on the lake filling our living room with light. It's colder than I expected, 22º, and will get into the high '30s later in the day.  The lake continues to thaw, as there's open water along the shoreline, yet frozen out in the middle, where a single ice fisherman sits.

In The Woods

Beginning Of Audubon's Trail

Friday was a fun day because, for the first time since last March, we went to the Rod And Gun for dinner, sat at the bar, talked with another couple (both vaccinated, Evie won fifty-five bucks gambling, and had a fish fry.  It felt so good. That being said, our morning and afternoon were fun, too.  We wanted to enjoy the sunny, cool day so we drove off to the Audubon Nature Institute and walked their trails. We were one of the few walking the trails which was nice and the weather was perfect, cool enough yet some warmth from the sun.  We walked for an hour, covering a couple of miles, mostly in the woods and along the ponds. 

Bridge Across The Marsh

Canadian Geese

We were home surprisingly early because we left by 9:30.  So it was lunchtime and Evie made me a couple of open-faced tuna sandwiches, with tomatoes and pickles, no soup. because she was still in the process of making chicken soup, by simmering a whole chicken.  I am watching a new series on Acorn called Rebecka Martinson, set in Sweden.  It kept my interest so I will stick with it for a few more episodes.

Friday Afternoon Blue

The rest of the afternoon was waiting to go out for dinner.  I read and napped, my usual.  I drove into Mayville to talk with Evergreen Outfitters about getting a new seat for my twenty-year-old Pungo kayak.  Unfortunately, the owner was not there so it was a wasted trip.  At 6:30, Evie had a short Zoom call with her sisters, lots of fun thanks to Evie's sister,  Claire.  And we were off to the Rod and Gun by 6:45, hoping it was not too crowded, that we could find a seat at the bar.  Even though over half the barstools were missing, luck was with us and we found the last seat at the bar and ordered our first beer from Bruce, the bartender, who thought he had not seen us since last March (he was right!).  

Our Bartender, Bruce

We had fun talking with another couple; the conversation began with the husband mentioning that his wife was Romanian and they were going to visit in September.  Since we had visited Romania back in the 1970s, we had lots to talk about.  We loved our visit there, our night staying at a modest family farmhouse because there was no campground, and our visit to the painted churches, with frescoes on the outside, not the interior.  While waiting for our fish fry, Evie found photos of the churches and went to show them to the couple, coming back with their names, address, and emails because they want to get together with us.  A neat couple, Lakewood residents for most of their lives.

Our fish fries were great, just what we expected, with baked potatoes and coleslaw and our usual waitress served us.  It's nice to see that some things don't change.  We walked out with a thirty-dollar check, always a deal. We were home by 8:30, in time to watch a Colbert and Jeopardy, the end to a great day. 

A surprise gift from Ellen

Beauties From Barb and Jim