Friday

10:27

It's 10:30, and I have not had a fun morning. We were up at 5:15, on our way to the hospital because I was having a biopsy of my prostate gland. We arrived at 6:00 and are now home, and I am enjoying my first food and coffee of the day.

Yesterday was, as I mentioned, a sad day. Rhys was awake around 5:00, along with the rest of us, and we had no trouble getting the car packed and on the road by 6:30. Tom drove, so I didn't have to drive both ways, which was great. It rained for much of the first half hour, and near Buffalo, rush hour slowed traffic and even stopped it a couple of times. Still, we made good time, arriving at 8:05. We said our goodbyes; I got a hug from Rhys, and I was on my way home by 8:15.

I stopped at Exit 58 because it's in Seneca Indian Country, and gas was only $3.99 a gallon compared to $4.49 around here. I got off at the Fredonia exit instead of driving another 20 miles on I-90 to Westfield, stopped for coffee and a sandwich, and was home by 10:00, tired from the early morning and the drive. I sat around for half an hour, sipping my coffee, then got busy: putting things away in the garage, pulling down the snow shovels, and finally sweeping and cleaning the back porch, which was dirty from our parking-area sand and mud.

I made a ham and cheese sandwich and watched another episode of a series I started a week ago, Berlin ER. I was tired, of course, so I went upstairs and read, then heard Evie return, went down to talk with her briefly, and went back up and fell asleep for an hour, waking groggy but happy I'd slept. The sun was out when I got up, and after doing a few things, I realized the lake was beckoning. It was a warm 75º, so I went out for a 50-minute paddle and actually worked up a sweat in the sun. It felt good to be out at a different time of day, since it wasn't an early-morning paddle.

Kayak Afternoon

Northern Blue

Around 5:00, we listened to CNN and had a glass of wine, happy to know Tom and family had landed safely in Kansas City. Dinner was breakfast, which sounded good: eggs, home fries, and sausage. TV-wise, we were back to ER and watched a couple of episodes. When Evie went to bed, I turned on the NFL game until 9:00, then switched to the WNBA game between Indiana and Las Vegas. I found I could watch the NFL game on my phone and the basketball game on TV. Crazy. I had enough of both by 10:15 and went to bed, happy to be back to my new book, "We Begin At The End."

A Sad Making Day

A Farewell To Our Golden Boy

Well, it's 6:00 in the morning, and we're leaving for the airport at 6:30. Tom's flight is at 9:40, so I'll be dropping them off, alas, and heading home without Rhys. Sad making.

Yesterday was a busy day, especially the morning. I was up kayaking at 7:00 and having breakfast in Bemus at 8:00. When Tom and I returned home, Rhys, Evie, and Mary were on the back porch, watching Rhys play in the dirt with his trucks. Evie even got him a blanket to sit on, but by the end of the morning it was filled with dirt. While Rhys played, Tom helped me download Muse, a new free AI app from Facebook. So now I have a new AI toy to play with, along with Claude and ChatGPT. Tommy has used it extensively, and it looks different from the other two in some ways. I'll see. By 10:00, we were out in the backyard, and Tom spent a good hour cutting down all the flowers and bushes in the garden with a hedge clipper. We filled four garbage pails with the detritus, and I took them up the hill to the wood pile. The whole time we worked, Rhys played in the dirt with his trucks, happy to be by himself. The garden looks naked now without any green, but it will be ready for next year. We did keep the zinnias, though, so along with the hydrangeas, we still have some fall color.

Before

And After

Zinnias

After our busy morning, Evie made us lunch: eggplant sandwiches for Tom and me, and eggs, toast, and lots of blueberries for Rhys, who went up to bed around 12:30. The rest of us were tired and sleepy, so Evie showered to get peppy, and the rest of us tried to nap. For some reason, I haven't been able to nap recently, so I read for forty-five minutes before coming downstairs, where Evie was organizing the little boy's toys. Rhys woke at 2:30, almost the same time each day, and Evie went up and brought him downstairs, already happy and talking up a storm, ready to play.

Do You Think Rhys Has Enough Toys? 

Bros

Around 3:15, Tom wanted to go for a walk, so we headed through the Victoria/Woodlawn woods, my usual trek, which took close to half an hour. After a quick shower, we left for the Viking Club around 4:15, planning to sit outside and let Rhys enjoy their neat playground before ordering dinner. We got there early so he could play, and he discovered a sandpit with loads of trucks and diggers, all for him. We sat in chairs watching him, with the lake and sky in the background. Eventually we took him to the playground, then into the bar, where we ordered lots of wings, fries, and chicken tenders, along with another beer. The wings were great, and Rhys devoured the tenders. We ran into our neighbors, Joe and Barb, and Jim, who were just back from a trip to the Thousand Islands.

Rhys Navigating The Playground

Kicking Back, Watching Rhys Play

What A Great View

Too Many Trucks To Choose

Father And Son

Trucking It 

We were home early, by 7:00, and Rhys was tired, so we put him down around 7:20, knowing he'd have to be up at 6:00 for our trip to the airport. We sat around on our devices, going over the past few days and wondering when we'd get together next, Thanksgiving or Christmas. We ended the night with peanut butter, chocolate, and cream pie, sinful but delicious. We were all in bed by 9:30 after a great day.

A Tired Boy