EARLY RISING ON CHAUTAUQUA LAKE

Sunday Sun Day

6:48

7:05

7:52

Another bright sunny morning here on the lake and when I stepped outside to take a photo of the sun rising, I heard the honking of Canadian geese off in the distance, a sure sign of the coming of Spring.  It's a chilly 15º at the moment but by late afternoon, the temperature may rise into the '50s. Yesterday was another incredible day on the lake, with blue skies and sun most if not all of the day.  We can not remember a winter like this with lots of sun, a frozen lake, and cross country ski conditions excellent for almost six weeks. 

Cross Country Skiing The Lake

We had a slow morning, in no hurry to get busy, knowing we had a full day without anything we needed to do.  We did want, however, to cross country ski if we could find somewhere with good conditions. We thought of driving off somewhere until I looked out on the lake and saw our neighbor glide by on his skis. Wow. Ironically, perfect cross-country conditions were right out our front door.  We quickly dressed in layers since it was in the teens and walked out to the lake and put on our skis.  It is hard to describe how spectacular the lake appears when the sun emphasizes the lake's whiteness, contrasting with the blue sky. We did have to be careful to avoid icy spots but most of our skiing was fine, with a couple inches of crunchy snow.  We skied north, into the wind, down to Whitney Bay, and then turned around and headed home, into the sunshine.  While we skied, we were serenaded occasionally by the sound of the ice cracking, like distant drumbeats. By the time we returned home, Evie had taken off a layer, her hat, and gloves and I had worked up quite a sweat.  We were out for over an hour, loving the morning on the lake.

We both were looking forward to a big breakfast and Evie did not disappoint.  We had hash browns, fried eggs, bacon, and toast.  We watched CBS Sunday Morning, of course, then relaxed until Evie decided to do some shopping.  She left about 2:30 and returned a few things to TJ Maxx then did some grocery shopping at Wegmans.  I hit the couch to read and promptly fell asleep, taking a fine afternoon nap, nothing like it.  Evie was back by 3:30 and brought dinner with her, a rotisserie chicken so dinner would be easy.  We spent the rest of the afternoon people watching, as the lake had become a playground, with ice fishermen, snowmobiles, and numerous families out walking their dogs, all enjoying the sunny afternoon,

After wine time, Evie put together our dinner, baked potatoes, salad, and chicken and we were happy to enjoy our dinner and watch a couple of our shows.  We also watched some of the NBA All-Star Game, but sooner got bored with it, the lack of competition and ended the night with another Home Town.