O What A Beautiful Morning On The Lake

7:39

It's just before 8:00 and I am looking at a placid lake, not ripple, just reflections of the shoreline and out in the middle, hundreds of seagulls, either floating or circling the gang. It's after 10:00 as I finish because of an hour paddle, down to Magnolia and the McMansions and back.  What a great morning to be on the lake and best of all, I not only heard a loon's call but was able to get a photo. 

Kayak Morning

An Amazing Sky/Lake

A Rare Cormorant Sighting

Finally, A Loon

Thursday morning reminds me of this morning, as nothing has changed: it's all gray.  I did get in a breakfast in Bemus and we were the only two in the Lake Life Cafe.  I brought Evie home a freshly baked blueberry scone and she loved it. Points for me.  I then went kayaking for forty-five minutes as the drizzle had stopped and the lake was similar to this morning, not a ripple.

After kayaking, we finished up the blog later than usual, after 10:00.  Evie wanted to do things around the house so I drove to Tom's Point, two miles away and spent forty minutes walking out to the tip and back.  Earlier,  when kayaking, I noticed duck hunters at the point and two beer cans, evidence of their hunting, were scattered on the point. The path out to the point always has holes, made by some burrowing animal so it's dangerous if you step in them.  I always find large sticks and place them in the holes so I avoid stepping in them the next time I hike. It felt good, as always, to be out in a park, alone, enjoying the quiet and view of the lake and fields. 

Entrance To Tom's Point

Trail Through Scrub

Bridge Over Chautauqua Lake

Lunch was the last of the beans and potato soup and a cheese sandwich and another episode of Foyles War. The rest of the afternoon was taken up with finishing my book The Last Thing He Told Me which I loved, easy to read, and a page-turner to the end. We were having Asian for dinner and the worst part is the prep so Evie got it ready by 3:30, chopping up everything from carrots, to mushrooms, to cabbage, etc., and ginger and garlic.

We relaxed with a glass of wine as the gray sky turned dark, then went to the kitchen to begin our wok dinner.  I am the chef, usually, and everything seemed to go well until I added what we thought was the corn starch at the end to thicken things.  For some reason, it didn't and then Evie discovered she had mixed baking soda for the slurry instead of cornstarch, alas.  We quickly tried to remedy it but our dinner turned out to be tasty but somewhat soupy.  Live and learn.  We watched a film from Spain called Sunday's Illness, a typical European film, slow-moving, heavy, sad, overly symbolic but we liked it enough to stick with it to the shocking ending.  After that downer, we were happy to finish the amusing and fun Anxious People on Netflix as well, to round out our evening of viewing.

A Gray And Foggy Morning

7:37

9:47

A Morning Jogger On Long Point

It's 7:30 as I start this blog and the darkness is just beginning to ebb.  I have been up for over an hour, listening to a Bill Simmons podcast and skimming the NYTimes and Washington Post. The podcast extolled the virtues of NFL's John Madden, a legendary football coach, and announcer, whom I said hello to one morning in Carmel, CA in 1995 as he was buying a newspaper. It's now 9:50 and I just returned from a paddle on a calm, gray, foggy lake after having breakfast in Bemus.  It was exciting to be able to get out on the lake this morning despite the chill and light fog. 

Kayak Morning

Woodlawn

Long Point Peninsula

Mallards On A Foggy Morning

Yesterday was a long day, boring in fact, as we did not have much to do nor did we want to do much.  I had a doctor's appointment at 11:00 to get my stitches out so after a great morning paddle, I left early to stop at Wegman's to pick up a prescription and a few veggies.  I then stopped at Runnings to get shoelaces for my twenty-year-old hiking boots and ended up buying another shirt. I then waited for a half-hour before the five minutes it took to remove my stitches. I then stopped at Evans Liquor and picked up a bottle of Averna Amaro, a liqueur, highly recommended by my son-in-law Drew for the making of a Black Manhattan.  It better be good because it was tres expensive.

Loneliness

While I was gone, Evie made another pot of soup, this time it was chard, Italian sausage and lentils.  I had a bowl for lunch to go with a veggie wrap so I was a happy boy watching my show.  The rest of the afternoon was a waste for both of us as we lacked the mojo to go for a walk or get something done.  And I made the mistake of starting an NYTimes bestseller, The Last Thing He Told Me. It's a page turnner and I literally spent the afternoon on the couch reading it, taking time out to only to make some Turkish tea. lt's been awhile since a book so thoroughly took over my life. 

Thankfully, we did not have to fuss with dinner, as we had both beans and potato soup and Slovenian sausages leftover for our dinner. We watched our usual, some Jeopardy, then started a new series on Netflix based on the best selling novel Anxious People.  I read the novel so I knew what was happening but it was fun to see on the novel translated to film. 

A Dull, Gray Lake Morning

7:21

Woodlawn This Morning

It's 9:20 and I just returned from a forty-five-minute paddle, down to Bootey Bay and back, on a gray but in some ways spectacular morning on the lake because of the reflection of homes and trees on the lake. Still few lake birds other than ducks and seagulls and I wonder where all the migratory birds have gone.

Kayak Morning

Northern Sky

Victoria/Woodlawn

Tuesday was cool and overcast but it did not rain so after our morning ablutions, we drove over to Long Point late morning to go for a walk at Long Point State Park.  We walked through the park and out to the point then headed back, running into one person walking their dog.  It was good to be outside, always a pick me upper, and the temperature was perfect for walking, at least for us.

Long Point State Park

Trail To Long Point

Long Point

Black Locust Trail

We were home by 12:30 and Evie quickly got ready for another big shopping day at Wegman's and I made lunch, warming up the last of the vegetable soup and a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on toast. I watched my show, read my book, and took a brief nap, waiting for Evie to return. She was back by 2:30 and I helped her unload the car and put things away.  She was having a Zoom call at 5:00 with her sisters so she put together our dinner, a Petkovsek family recipe, Slovenian bean and potato soup.  

From 5:00 on, she talked with her sisters while I relaxed and read, hoping to finish my book.  After the call, Evie boiled the Slovenia sausages, drained them and added sauerkraut, warmed up the soup and we had one of my favorite dinners.  O, yea, I forgot, after her Zoom call and before dinner, she whipped together the makings for gingerbread and baked it while we ate.  After our dinner, we watched a couple of episodes of Jeopardy and a couple of episodes of Ted Lasso, while enjoying our gingerbread, topped with ice cream and caramel sauce, a good way to end the evening.

Back To The Routine

7:13

8:00

It's 7:40 as I start this and I have been up for an hour, on a striking morning, the sky filled with slow-moving clouds highlight a blue sky, the lake calm but wrinkled. It's chilly, 36º, perfect for a paddle because of the lack of wind. It's just after 9:00 as we finish the blog.  I did get in a good paddle for forty minutes, my usual paddle, down to Wells Bay and back.  No interesting birds to speak of, just a few rafts of mallards floating by and crows both in the trees and along the shoreline. 

Kayak Morning

Victoria/Woodlawn

Southern Sky

Yesterday, Monday, we thanked ourselves for having the foresight to drive home on Sunday because the roads Monday here and in Pennsylvania were wet, icy, the skies filled with snow or sleet. It was a miserable morning here of wet snow or sleet so I didn't get out on the lake.  Evie for some reason was full of energy and got many things done in the morning to her delight.  I was slow-moving but by 10:30, I drove to Mayville to pick up some ground chuck for chili.  When I returned home, Evie already had the fixings for chili sauteeing in the pot and all she needed to do was add the meat and tomatoes.  She made enough to last us for a few days at least so much will be frozen to be enjoyed later.

I had her veggie soup for lunch along with tuna sandwiches and it was good to be back to my matinee, Foyle's War. Most of the afternoon we spent relaxing, either reading, napping, or watching TV until 4:00 when we both got busy and organized our downstairs closet and pantry.  I also took a short walk around the neighborhood just to get some fresh air and I needed it.

We enjoyed a Manhattan, well-earned, and appetizers, a couple of good cheeses and crackers before time for dinner.  We had the chili, on top of toasted pita bread and lettuce, topped with sour cream and cheese. Yum. And we watched the latest Netflix thriller, Don't Look Up, an end of the world flick. It's worth watching even though its message is obvious.  Those who ignore science, the facts, let politics or money enter into decision making, doom our planet to the extinction of one sort or another.  In this case, a comet destroys life on earth because of political greed, incompetence, science deniers, and the lies told by some of the news stations. Sound familiar? 

“Time passes. memory fades, memory adjusts, memory conforms, to what we think we remember,” writes the late novelist, Joan Didion.  How true. 

Winter Advisory

Our Hard Working Granddughter, Halle

Surprise! I am sitting in our living room on the lake, looking at the wind buffet the flag, fog, and snow rather than sitting comfortably in my daughter Jill's living room in Virginia.  Because of the winter advisory, we decided to leave a day early and avoid the possibility of snow, ice, rain, and sleet forecast for Monday in the mountains of Pennsylvania and New York.  This morning, it looks like a wise move. At the moment, it's sleeting, windy, and 31º, not quite kayaking weather.  

7:34

7:18

Sunday morning, then, was unsettling because we had to make a decision whether to stay or leave.  By 10:00, however, we had decided and were packing, after a leisurely coffee. We said goodbye to Halle, who was leaving for work, and Hayden, who was getting ready for work, thanked Jill and Drew for great Christmas and were on our way home by 10:30.  We were worried about the traffic but like our trip to Virginia, we were surprised by the lack of traffic, no bottlenecks or slowdowns, even on the Pennsylvania turnpike. We stopped once at the Shawnee Market for gas, then at Mc Donald's in Berkeley Springs for lunch. It was not the most scenic of drives because of the partly cloudy skies and the winter woods but still, we enjoy the drive because we are mostly on backroads.  

Kane, PA

Allegeheny State Forest, Sheffield, PA

Once we got to Warren, PA, we were able to listen to the Bills game which was fun because they beat the Patriots.  We arrived home at 4:30, the quickest we have ever made it home from Virginia.  We did not have much to bring in so we were able to watch a good part of the Kansas City game which started at 4:00.  It felt good to be home safe, with the drive behind us, with a couple of boats out on the lake fishing. 

For dinner, Evie fried up some bacon and eggs, toasted bagels and we had a tasty breakfast/dinner. We watched an episode of Landscapers, then 60 Minutes, and were happy to watch a new episode of Hometown, a favorite HGTV show.  We stayed up until 10:00 before giving in to our tiredness and going up to bed.  

The Day After

Christmas With Daisy

What A Good Girl

Jenga!

Well, it's another fine morning here in Virginia, blue skies, the sun rising behind the barren trees.  Drew and I are watching Sports Center go through all the NBA and NFL games played on Christmas Day.  Everyone else is sleeping in.

Christmas in Virginia felt more like Christmas in Florida as the temperature did get up into the 70's mid-afternoon. Ironically, as we were leaving Christmas dinner at Drew's sister's house, it started to rain, a not so perfect ending to the day.  

A Happy Kansas City Chiefs Fan

Christmas morning was not too different from other mornings at least until 10:30, with Drew and I the  first one's up, watching Sports Center, waiting for everyone to wake up.  The girls finally came down at 10:30 and everyone got their coffee before the opening of presents began. The girls were excited and happy with their goodies, as were the adults. 

Evie's fishing rod spatula was by the far the favorite gift of the morning.  It's not quite the same as when they were young and believed in Santa but still fun.  Jill had croissants for breakfast and Evie made crepes for the gang after the presents.  

Greg, The Barbecue King

Jill And Inlaws

Fantasy Football Fans

Once the fun was over, we hung out, mostly doing nothing, some napping, others watching TV and I was the only one to get outside and take a walk around the neighborhood, actually working up a sweat because it was so warm.  By 4:00, we were all showered and gussied up and drove over to Drew's sister's home for Christmas dinner with his family.  Carrie, Drew's sister, had the appetizers spread out in the kitchen, so we either stood around them, eating, drinking, and talking, or sitting in the living room, watching the Browns lose another game, Baker throw four interceptions. Depressing.  After the game, the guys went outside where a couple of pork roasts were on the grill.  

Christmas Dinner With Cousins

Halle And Mom

The young uns ate first, sitting around the kitchen table and once they were done, the adults had dinner, pork loin, roasted potatoes, carrots, salad, and rolls.  Football seemed to be the center of attention for most of our family and I think it was probably true for most Americans. What's Christmas without football and basketball? 

Christmas Sweater

We left for home, in the rain, around 8:15, and everyone was tired from the fun the past two nights. When we returned home, the girls hurried upstairs to no doubt use their phones, texting friends while the adults ended the night sitting out on Jill's screened-in porch because it was so warm, watching football and having a nightcap until we got tired and went to bed, another good day.