A 50º July Morning

5:52

6:58

9:07

It's 7:15, and I was up at 5:45, on the lake for 50 minutes by 6:01, on a sunny but cool morning. I listened to a podcast where Scott Galloway interviews Derek Thompson, who discusses why the 21st century is called an "anti-social century." Because of the internet and our iPhones, we tend to enjoy being alone more. We don't join clubs or go to church or party as much as our parents did. We even work at home, which also contributes to this anti-social bit. One fact discussed was that exercising for a minute increases your lifespan by five minutes. One drink a day decreases your lifespan by five minutes. In other words, the more you exercise, the more you can drink. I wonder how much I can drink tonight after kayaking or exercising for 50 minutes? It's now just after 9:00, and I just returned from breakfast in Bemus. Evie's up, and once we finish the blog and post it.  I have a long list of things to do today, and first is getting my tires rotated in Lakewood at 10:00, first on my to do list. 

Paddling Along Long Point

Kayak Morning

North

Great Blue Heron

Another Heron, Also Along West Shore Of Long Point

Wednesday began with an early paddle, so that I had time to write the blog and have breakfast before driving off for a podiatrist appointment at 9:00. Basically, I got my nails trimmed and bought a cream for fungus on my toes. I was there for maybe 10 minutes, then left to get an oil change, which took a half hour. Because it was a new business, I got 50% off my oil change but needed a new filter, so I still paid a hundred bucks. I then drove to the bank, took out some cash for our trip, then to Dunn Tire for a free tire rotation. Unfortunately, they had no opening, so I'll go today at 10:00. On my way home, I stopped at Ryders for a coffee and ended up talking for a half hour with Neal, a friend I haven't seen in a couple of months — basically because he retired and doesn't come to Ryders as much as before.

When I returned home, Evie was busy making cookies and packing for our trip. We started moving things from the attic that we were taking downstairs: toys, blankets, blowup mattresses, and fold-up cribs for our great-grandsons. As things piled up, I wondered if we had enough room in our car for all this stuff. I had lunch at 1:00 — the leftover chicken, mushrooms, and rice — and watched another episode of my series. I then took a good nap, having not slept well the night before, and woke around 2:30. I read for a bit but got antsy and decided to clean the inside of our car and get it ready for our trip. Once that was done, I trimmed our privet, and both jobs together took a good forty-five minutes. By the time I was done, it was 6:00, so I relaxed with a beer until 6:30, when Evie had dinner ready: baked potatoes, breaded haddock, and a salad.

We started a new series I happened upon while looking for something to watch, called Berlin ER. Well, it's ER on steroids — so different from the popular ER or The Pitt. We like it enough so far to stick with it despite it being so chaotic and crazy. After Evie went to bed, I watched a few minutes of the Fever game, and 11 minutes into the first quarter, Caitlin Clark already had 17 points. After the first quarter ended, I decided to watch the last episode of my series, City of Shadows, before going to bed.