EARLY RISING ON CHAUTAUQUA LAKE: Some Sun, Clouds, And 41º

A daily journal of our lives (begun in October 2010), in photos (many taken by my wife, Evie) and words, mostly from our home on Chautauqua Lake, in Western New York, where my wife Evie and I live, after my having retired from teaching English for forty-five years in Hawaii, Turkey, and Ohio. We have three children, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandson, as you will notice if you follow my blog since we often travel to visit them. Photo from our porch taken on 11/03/2024 at 7:07 AM

Saturday, April 20, 2024

Some Sun, Clouds, And 41º

7:25

9:01

It's a beautiful morning despite the sun hiding behind the cloud banks. The lake is smooth and gray, a muskrat paddled by and its colder than I hoped. I was up at 6:45 and hoped to be out on the lake by 7:45. It's now 9:00 and I paddled for forty minutes and as usual, the wind picked up once I was out there and heading back. I had to fight 20-30 mile an hour gusts.

Into The Sun

Northern Sky

Yesterday was not the best of days because we discovered a leak in the kitchen, under the sink so we will be having the plumber come by on Monday or Tuesday, always something. The day began well, although it was too wet and windy to kayak. I did get in a yoga session at 10:00, with four others which was great for our new teacher. I did stop briefly at Aldis to pick up a couple of things Evie needed then came home to a mess in the kitchen, as Evie had cleared our the cleaning products from under the sink to mop up some of the water. Before lunch, I scrambled in our crawl space to see if there was much-standing water and make sure the sump pump was working. Lunch was scrambled eggs and toast and I watched my show.

The afternoon went quickly because after reading some and napping and showering, it was already 3:15 and Linda and Ron were picking us up at 3:45 for a 4:15 showing of the film Civil War. It's worth watching although none came out of the theater excited about it. The US is in complete chaos with one group of patriots fighting another and nowhere is safe in the country. The President has supposedly assumed dictatorial powers, gotten rid of the FBI and various states have seceded. There's lots of violence, much like a video game so be prepared. Scenes of pastoral beauty and song contrast with the violence and death. It suggests this could happen if we continue down the road of division, polarity, and extremity in politics.

After the film, we drove to Jamestown for dinner at La Cucina Della Nonna. Fortunately, the bar was free so we grabbed four seats and were happy. Evie ordered eggplant parm and I had chicken parm and both servings were big enough that we will have enough for tonight's dinner. It's a fun place and this is the third time we have been there. Their Italian food is the best around since Rocco's in Fredonia closed.