Green Shore With Gray Sky And Lake

6:18

It's early, 7:13, and I have been awake since 5:00 but didn't get up until 6:00. A cloudy day beckons with the possibility of rain. It's 46º and both of us are up now, with our coffee, getting ready for the day. It's 8:50 and I was out paddling for forty-five minutes, on a dull morning and nothing much to see but a gray lake and sky.

Kayak Morning

Common Merganser

Practicing Yoga

Yesterday was a busy day for both of us. Mine started with a quick paddle, then breakfast in Bemus, home to finish the blog before driving off to Lakewood for yoga class. Evie was up early, too, and had a day off from kindergarten. As usual, I was the only guy in yoga which is no big deal. I know most of the women by now. I didn't tarry but came right home to Evie mowing the lawn, and getting her daily exercise. By 1:00, the yard looked like a golf course green. 

Lunch was the leftover hoagie and I watched my show, Ridley, read some, then because I had a bad night, I took an hour-and-a-half nap. Wow. Fortunately, I woke refreshed because we were going to Erie to shop and eat out. We left at 4:00, stopped at a maga Walmart, looking for dahlia tubers, then went on to Stan's Nursery, a favorite, and left with some knockout roses and Russian sage. A few weeks ago I had read about a Middle Eastern Restaurant called the Casablanca Cafe which is fairly close to Presque Isle State Park. It's a tiny place, with maybe six tables but it was cozy. 

The Cook And Her Grandaughter, Liberty

Once we sat down, we realized they did not serve alcohol so I went across the street and picked up a six-pack of Bud Light. Next time we will remember. The menu is extensive but we ordered our favorites, lentil soup for me, and a fattoush salad for Evie as an appetizer. Then, for a main course, I had koftes in a tomato, onion, and green pepper sauce over rice, fairly soupy and Evie had a Lebanese dish with ground meat, olives, and eggplant over rice. Both were quite good. We enjoyed the family who owned the restaurant, the cook aka the grandmother, her son, and her granddaughter named Liberty. Their roots are in Syria and they came to Erie in the 1990s.

Greening Of Spring

On the way home, we stopped at a Middle Eastern store called Almadina and picked up some goodies, one was a dense slightly sweet cake, a specialty from Afghanistan. We were home by 8:30 and watched our shows before going up to bed. I watched the Cavs fourth quarter as they routed Boston and went to bed happy.