Morning Gray

6:48

8:51

It's an overcast morning with a light southerly breeze. When I woke, the sun was out but since then it's clouded up. Yesterday's highs in the mid 80's have gone and today it may get up only to the mid 70's, more like it. It's 9:15 and I was out kayaking for 40 minutes, wondering where have all the water fowl gone. No herons, ospreys, or eagles, just a few mallards and turkey vultures.

Kayak Morning

8:51

Yesterday was a typical morning for both of us. I got in a paddle before breakfast and Evie was up at 7:00, getting ready for her day with her kindergarteners. I left just after 9:00 and Evie left at 9:30, just like a typical school work day for forty-five years. Class for some reason was either more rigorous or I was just tired because I struggled with most poses and even thought of just leaving early but I hung in there. Just as I was leaving, a good college friend called, a teammate from our OU basketball team and we talked mostly about his visit with another teammate who is suffering from Alzheimer's. What a terrible disease and an awful burden on the caretaker, in this case, his wife. Both of us feel so fortunate to be in good health with great children and grandchildren

I was home by 11:30 and still tired out, enough so that I thought I might be getting sick. I had the leftover chicken curry for lunch, watched the last episode of my show, False Flag, and decided to see if a nap would help my lack of mojo. It didn't but I decided to forge on and get something done, thinking maybe I would feel better. So I put on my bathing suit, jumped in the water and worked on securing the ladder to the end dock. It involved, tying a cement block onto the last step on the ladder and holding my breath and tying it to the metal stanchion to keep it secure. I have to admit that the cold water perked me up and I felt better. In fact, I decided to harvest some weeds, so I got out my weed rake, cut the weeds around our dock, and put them in a basket. It looks like a bad year for weeds because they are already surfacing around most of the docks along Woodlawn, a result some say of the lack of a frozen lake.

When I was done, I showered and felt better, knowing perhaps I was tired and not getting sick. Evie had a Zoom call with her sisters at 5:00 and I sat out on the dock reading, enjoying a glass of wine and some cashews. It was surprisingly warm, with little breeze, and the temperature was easily in the 80s. After the Zoom call, we enjoyed another glass of wine on the porch before dinner, roast beef sandwiches from Wegman's on Kimmelwick buns, and a salad. We decided to watch CBS Sunday Morning. One of its sections had Ted Koppel interviewing Maga supporters at a Trump Rally in Allentown. How scary. Most of them wore maga hats and were probably from rural areas, blue-collar workers, passionate about Trump, especially his having the election stolen. After a couple of years of listening to Fox TV embellish the lie that he was cheated, they are true believers, ready to fight violently if he loses. One individual wore a "Condition 1" sweatshirt, meaning he's cocked and ready like a gun, to take matters into his own hands. I fear a violent insurrection, even a Civil War if Trump loses and am at the point where maybe his winning might be better for our country. What a thought! After that downer, we could not find anything to watch so we watched three more Cheers episodes before bed.

Finally, last night we had the sad news that a neighbor and good friend died two days ago at his home in Pittsburgh. We had much in common, an athlete in college, a teacher, principal, and superintendent, always upbeat, always enthusiastic. We just had dinner with him a few days ago so it's hard to process that he's gone. He will be sorely missed.