Smoke Dominates Chautauqua County

9:04

Tina And Jim

It's 8:45, and I've been up since 7:00. I wasn't sure whether to go kayaking because I woke up coughing during the night, probably from some irritation after working outside yesterday afternoon. My weather app said to stay in, and so did ChatGPT. The air quality was 258 on my weather app, but when I checked AirNow.gov, it was under 200. So I decided to go for a short paddle.

Kayak Morning

Into The Storm

Great Blue

Same Guy

Great Blue

Just as I cleared the dock, it started to pour. It lasted maybe three or four minutes, then let up, so I paddled down to the reeds and back even though I was soaked. I was able to photograph a heron perched on a neighbor's dock. I felt fine after my paddle, but I'll limit my time working outdoors today.

Friday morning was a bit of a bore because I was up early and had to be in Jamestown for an MRI at 8:30. That meant no kayaking, no coffee, nothing until after the MRI. My drive to Jamestown was through heavy fog and smoke, so I took it easy. Once I got to UPMC, everything moved quickly, and I was out by 9:20. MRIs aren't much fun—mostly just loud, with endless clanging and a radio station turned up too high.

The Labyrinth Press Coffee Shop 

Afterward, I decided to get breakfast, so I stopped at one of our favorite vegetarian restaurants and coffee shops, The Labyrinth Press Co. I enjoyed a coffee and a wrap, then relaxed until 10:00, when Lifted Dispensary opened, and I picked up some sleep gummies for Evie.

I was home by 11:00, helped out a bit in the kitchen, and read until lunchtime, when Evie made me a BLT while I watched Dark Winds. Since I'd been up since 5:30, I wanted to take a good nap, but as usual it was short, and I ended up reading most of the time instead.

Later, I came downstairs wanting to do something productive, so I cleaned the garage, taking everything out, sweeping it, and putting a few things away in the attic. While I worked, Evie mowed the garden area, and afterward we both relaxed on the front porch.

Around 5:00, Evie started putting dinner together, and I was still feeling antsy. I went out intending to mow just the side yard but ended up mowing the whole yard, which took about 45 minutes. By the time I finished, dinner was ready: a salad with sea trout and fried rice. We watched a couple more episodes of Department Q and have just one left. After Evie went upstairs to bed, I watched another episode of Sugar before calling it a night myself.

This morning I found out Caitlin Clark had the game of her life, scoring 45 points and adding 10 assists while setting a WNBA record. I didn't realize the Fever was playing, so I missed it.