What An Amazing Morning

6:47

It's 7:05 and I have been up for half an hour, enjoying a coffee, waiting for the sun to rise so I can kayak. How lucky we are to see the sun rise each morning, watch it move back and forth, depending on the season. Not a boat on the lake, a light wind, and it should be a perfect morning for me to get back out on the lake. It's just about 9:00, and Evie and I are sitting here as I finish up the blog. I was out on the water kayaking just as the sun rose at 7:15. It was a gorgeous morning, sun, clear skies, empty lake, and moi. I paddled for an hour down to Sandy Bottom, then back along Woodlawn, spotting a couple of herons and a fake owl. 

Kayaking As The Sun Rises

Autumn Colors

Northern Cloudless Sky

Into The Sun

Yesterday turned out to be an expensive but busy day. We were both up early because Evie was starting kindergarten and usually arrives at 10:00. I was also taking my car in to get the battery checked or to see why it loses its charge. So, after coffee and Evie showered and got dressed, I went out to jump-start my Outback. But, just for the heck of it, I thought I would try to start it, and it started —a miracle. I tried it twice on Monday and nothing happened. I told Evie the good or bad news and drove off to a new garage, Swansons, since my usual garage was closed for the week. The guys were great, checked my battery, said I needed a new one, and best of all, they could do it immediately, so Evie did not have to pick me up. The best part of my experience was their dog, a huge, black, Newfoundland dog, let free to roam, and he immediately came to me to be petted, rubbed, then lay on his back for more affection. 

Heron Among The Mallards

Fake Owl

Heron In Woodlawn Trees

After they put in my new battery (300 bucks), I needed a coffee, so I stopped at Ryder's Cup and talked with Bob, one of the regulars. I didn't feel like shopping, so I came home to an empty house. I soon was bored and decided to get to work, so I put on my bathing suit, took the kayak, and pulled seven buoys, attached to a cement block, out of the water, and brought them to shore. It took me maybe half an hour at the most, and it's something I have to do each fall. By the time I was done, I was ready for lunch and heated up the leftover stir-fry and watched my show, Spooks. It was 1:30 by the time I was finishing, so I went upstairs hoping to take a nap, but I slept for only a few minutes. I had finished my book, The Nickel Boys, about black kids living in a reform school in Florida, and it was hard to read, the way they were treated by the white, racist trustees. I started a new novel, the much-recommended Erasure by Percival Everett, and I like it. 

Around 3:00, I went back outside and cut the rope holding the cement blocks to the buoys and hid the blocks in the bushes. I then filled a wheelbarrow up with water, added some bleach, and spent a half an hour scrubbing the mold off of the buoys, then let them dry on a bench. Evie was relaxing on the front porch so I joined her, read some until she had her Zoom call with her sisters. By then, I was ready to do something else, so I fired up our Honda and raked and mulched leaves around our garage and road. By 5:45, I was sitting on the front porch with Evie and a glass of wine as the day began to ebb. Around 6:30, Evie made a salad and heated up the leftover Salisbury steak and potatoes for dinner. Like Sunday, we both loved it and watched a couple of episodes of All Saints, the last episode bringing us both to tears. Evie went up to bed at 8:30, and I watched some news, depressing, as it was all about Trump's talk to the military, so I switched to Spooks, then went up to bed to read and sleep.

Evie was home around 2:00 and regaled me with her first day, being welcomed back by her teacher as well as other teachers from last year. The kids are all new, although she did get hugs from her students from last year. It was a good start to the year. 

I don't much like to talk about politics on the blog, but Trump scared me. If anyone who voted for Trump watched his speech to the military yesterday and would still vote for him, they ought to ask why they support him. Not only does he ramble, often incoherently, but he also seems possibly insane, and certainly vindictive, but he basically called the Democrats the 'enemy within' and considered sending military troops into liberal cities to control them.  We should all be afraid.