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| John And Maryanne On Their Scull |
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| Kurt, Friend From Pine Hill |
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| 6:43 |
For some reason, I slept in until 6:30, came downstairs and relaxed, made my coffee, gathered my kayaking gear, and was out on an amazingly calm lake. I paddled down to the Power Boat Club and back and had luck photographing eagles and herons. It was also amazing because four kayaks and a scull were the only action on the lake for most of my paddle — no fishing boats!
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| 6:43 |
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| Cormorant |
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| Heron Fishing |
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| Regal Heron |
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| Bald Eagle In Our Tree |
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| Feasting |
Monday was typical: an early rise, then a paddle in drizzle for a good forty-five minutes. I returned around 7:30, wrote the blog, and waited for Evie to get up and pick out the photos. We talked and made a list for a trip to both the can man and Wegmans, giving me something to do since I wasn't ready to go for a bike ride. So I was off about 10:30, dropped my recyclable cans off at the can man, and made five bucks. I then stopped at Ryder's Cup, but the line was too long, so I left and went to Wegmans. Evie was still a bit off, so I picked up some chicken soup for her and Rice Krispies, which sounded good to her. I was home by noon and looked forward to spending a leisurely afternoon with Evie since we had nothing to do. I made a salami sandwich for lunch with the soup.
After lunch, I read for a while and napped as usual, then came downstairs refreshed and ready to do something. So I grabbed a saw and cut down some small trees that were growing among our red twigs and lilac tree, hoping it would help both grow. I had such a mess of branches that I packed them up in my Outback, left the liftgate open, and took them up to the wood pile. When I returned, I was still antsy and decided to ride my bike around the Chautauqua Institution. The gates are now open for the rest of the year, so I rode around the grounds for forty-five minutes. The gardens and front yards are at their peak, so it was fun to ride slowly and take them all in.
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| Thunder Bridge |
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| The Atheneum Hotel |
When I got home, Evie had a Zoom call with her sisters, so I read on the front porch, and she joined me after the call was over. I suggested an easy dinner — tomato and mayo sandwiches and corn — so that was my dinner; Evie enjoyed a bowl of Rice Krispies. We watched a show, but I noticed the lake was amazing, sunlit and calm, and I had to go for a half-hour paddle, stopping to talk with our neighbors Jim and Barb, who were sitting on their dock enjoying the view.
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| Barb, Jim, And Ripley |
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| 7:20 PM |
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| Setting Sun |
When I returned, Evie went up to bed, and I watched my show and feasted on a couple of nut horns, our neighbor Pat's gift to us since they're leaving in a day or two. I was in bed reading by 10:00.
Wendell Berry, an essayist, novelist, poet, and conservationist, died yesterday. This is one of my favorite poems, so relevant in today's world.
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
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