One Fine Morning

6:58

9:25

It's 57º, a bit of a chill in the living room and overcast outside and hardly any wind. It may get up to 80º later in the day but this week should be nothing like last week's heat. In other words, we can enjoy working outside. It's 9:30 and I paddled for an hour. We live on the west side of the lake and I paddled over to Warner Bay on the eastside and was surprised by a new house going up in place of a modest ranch that used to be there. It must be nice to be able to afford to buy a house, tear it down and build something new. No interesting birds this morning, just lots of turkey vultures, on the Bathhouse beach, in the trees, and soaring above as I kayaked. 

New House

Kayak Morning

Yesterday was a busy day for both of us, especially outside for Evie. For me, I got in a brief paddle because of the heavy winds and waves. I then took my time with breakfast and the blog because I do not have yoga on Mondays. By 10:00, however, my bike was strapped to the car and I drove to a street, just south of the Chautauqua Institution. I then rode my bike to the CI gate, got a library pass for the morning and rode my bike to the Amphitheater, parked it and walked around to the garden just outside the fence, found a seat on a bench, and was ready to hear the first speaker of the year, Jon Meacham, biographer of George Bush, the 41st.  He spoke for an hour, mostly about presidents, past and present, their abilities, character, and lives and he never mentioned Trump. Still, in his discussion of what makes a great President, it was clear he sees Trump lacking in all the four qualities necessary for greatness: curiosity, candor or straight talk, empathy, and humility. He also suggested that we get a president that mirrors its voters which ought to scare all Trumpers. Do you embrace his character, ethics, and ego? I hope not.  Would you want your daughter to marry someone like Trump! Never. The venue was packed, over 5,000 people I would guess and they loved him. He answered questions for about 15 minutes, then would sign books later in the day. I rode my bike back to the car and drove home, happy with my morning. 

Enjoying The Lecture

Amphitheater

Meanwhile, Evie had been working in her garden and as I drove up she was starting to mow the lawn. She suggested I heat up a chicken pot pie for lunch so I was happy, finishing up my Shaq documentary. I then read some and tried to nap but was too hyped up from the lecture. Around 3:00, Evie started on mowing the lawn for the second time, so I felt guilty sitting inside doing nothing and went out and week-wacked around the bushes and flower beds, then weeded around our two trees, the red maple and tulip tree, and finished up by cleaning out the garage and putting a few things up in the attic to tidy up the garage. Once Evie was done with the lawn, we both watered the garden, filling up the watering cans with water from the lake. 

We were enjoying wine on our front porch by 5:30 and occasionally changed the hose as we watered a few brown spots in our front yard. Our grandson Nick Face Timed us and had his month-old son Rhys on his lap so we got to ooh and ahh and he got to see his great grandparents for the first time on Facetime and even seemed to smile at us. He is a cutie and Nick loves being a father, like his Dad, Tom. What a treat. 

Great Grandson, Rhys

We could not have planned dinner better because Evie was exhausted from mowing and gardening. We had shaved roast beef sandwiches from Wegmans and a salad, tasty and just enough. We watched the last three episodes of Seaside Hotel and loved all 10 seasons. I highly recommend it. Give it a chance and it will grow on you as you begin to enjoy the eccentricities of each of the characters over the 10 seasons. We went to bed happy, with our day, our dinner, and our PBS series.