Mostly Gray, Again

6:50

Morning Showers At 7:40

It's 7:40 and I have been up for an hour, enjoying my coffee, taking my time getting out on the lake as there's no hurry. A few kayaks just paddled by, friends Tina and Jim, up for the weekend. It looks like rain and by god, it just started to rain. I am glad I waited to kayak. It's 9:35 and I just returned from a 75-minute paddle, over to Tom's Point, along Stow, and back. As I was approaching Tom's Point, I wondered why I haven't seen any herons lately. Just as I rounded the corner, I saw a couple near Stow, then as I got nearer, five of them flew off, leaving one behind for me to photograph. I guess the great blue herons are still sticking around. 

Kayak Morning

Kickin Back

Northern Sky

Osprey

Hawk?

Great Blue Heron

Yesterday was a good day, lots of sun, and I got in some exercise. First, however, I went out for a paddle and was surprised by the wind and choppy lake. When I returned home, I finished the blog and waited for Evie to get up, a sleepy head as my mother would say. Once I had breakfast, I decided to get some exercise so I put the bike rack on my car, added my bike, and drove off to Mayville Park. I then rode Webb's Trail and was pleased to see the second half had been covered with gravel so I was able to bike another mile along the trail. I then biked back to the park and took Sea Lion Drive to the end and back, and I was out for just about an hour. I stopped at the Lighthouse on the way back for some ground chuck and corn and was home by 12:30. 

Webbs Trail

Biking In Green Shade

Evie was busy while I was gone, making Hawaiian macaroni salad for our dinner. We then waded into our lakefront and did some pulling out the weeds that stuck out of the water, as I said, a fool's mission. At least we felt like we had accomplished something: a pile of weeds drying on the dock.  For lunch, I heated up the leftover pizza and watched my show. Meanwhile, Evie fired up the lawnmower and cut the grass in one swoop, never stopping for a water break because there was a nice breeze. While she mowed, I read and tried to nap, my usual afternoon at the lake. 

Missy And Evie, Enjoying The Afternoon Sun

By 5:00, we had tried sitting on the dock but it was too cool, so we sat in our side yard, joined by our new neighbors, John and Missy, enjoying a glass or two of wine. They live an hour and a half away, in Clarence, a suburb of Buffalo, and love their new house. Missy grew up in Jamestown so it's like coming home for her. They have two daughters who are just as excited about having a lake house. It was the first chance we had to really talk and was fun getting to know them. They remind us a bit of ourselves, moving to the lake in 1981, with three kids under 12, excited to live on a lake for the first time. 

For dinner, Evie fried up some hamburgers and stacked them with pickles, onions, and a special sauce, and with the macaroni salad, we were happy. And I found another film we liked, To Leslie, on Netflix about a woman who wins the lottery but is forced to return home after blowing it all on alcohol and various schemes. It's depressing, watching her fight her alcoholism and estrangement from family and friends, especially a son she abandoned when he was eight years old.