Back To Ten, Alas

Evie's Garden

6:07

6:12

8:41

It's another beautiful morning on the lake as I sit here, the only one up. It's 6:30 and I have been up since 6:00, in time to watch the sun peak over the horizon around 6:10. We are down to ten as Jill and her crew had to leave yesterday morning for home because Drew is flying to India today. It's a chilly 54º, will stay in the 70s during the day, classic Chautauqua weather. It's 9:00, most of us are up enjoying coffee and their devices. I kayayed for 75 minutes, a beautiful morning to be on the lake.  I am a lucky guy. 

Kayak Morning

Paddling Home

Bald Eagle

Great Blue Is Back

Yesterday began with a paddle, then the send-off to Jill and her family around 8:30, a sad parting. They were stopping in Morgantown, WV, where their daughter Hayden is a senior, to help her set up her apartment before heading up to Virginia. Tommy drove off to the Lighthouse and picked up two pounds of peameal bacon and corn. 

When he returned, Evie took orders and fried up both the peameal bacon and eggs for most of us because we all loved peameal bacon. By the way, peameal bacon is wet-cured unsmoked bacon made from trim, boneless pork rolled in cornmeal. It is found mostly in Ontario, Canada. 

Hiking Long Point Trails

Mary On Point

Finishing Their Hike

By 11:00, we were all fed and seven of us drove over to the end of Lakeside Drive and walked the trails of Long Point State Park, then out to the point and back to the car, about 3.5 miles total. We met a few people on the trails but mostly had it to ourselves. While we were gone, Evie worked and watered her garden. We were home by 1:00 and settled down for the day, making lunches, enjoying the dock or yard, napping, and working online, whatever we wanted. Around 4:00,  Evie mowed the lawn with the help of Tyler and I pulled in our huge air mattress, deflated it, and put it in the car to take to the Transfer Station because it has a hole in it. 

Ollie And Her Best Friend

A Happy Gang

Burgers And Fries At Pine Junction

By 5:30, we were all showered and gussied up because we were dining out at Pine Junction. I took the back roads through the amazing hilly Chautauqua countryside, with manicured fields of green of mowed hay. We were lucky to get a table for ten inside and quickly ordered our drinks and appetizers. Unfortunately, we did not get our burgers for an hour because the place seemed understaffed, with few waiters. It's a neat place to eat, set in the middle of the countryside, with towns miles away. Everyone ordered burgers and fries and we left full and happy, taking a long way home once again. 

We then sat around our living room until 10:00, either on our phones or talking. Some had ice cream with peaches or hot fudge sauce or brownies. At 10:00, the kids went in to watch some TV and us oldsters went up to bed, tired from our day of large leisure.