And The Sun Also Rises On A Kayak Morning

7:45

Kayak Morning

I thought I would start the day with a fun poem from yesterday's Writer's Almanac...for anyone who, like me, has taken a yoga class!

First Yoga Lesson

from Mary Oliver's new book Blue Horses

"Be a lotus in the pond," she said, "opening
slowly, no single energy tugging
against another but peacefully,
all together."

I couldn't even touch my toes.
"Feel your quadriceps stretching?" she asked.
Well, something was certainly stretching.

Standing impressively upright, she
raised one leg and placed it against
the other, then lifted her arms and
shook her hands like leaves. "Be a tree," she said.

I lay on the floor, exhausted.
But to be a lotus in the pond
opening slowly, and very slowly rising--
that I could do.

Up at 6:15, a cloudless sky, a few ripples on the lake, an occasional raft of ducks, a single muskrat paddling by our bank, leaving a small wake, like a miniature speed boat.  The sun finally peaked over the horizon at 6:27, ten minutes later then weather channel's actual time for this area.  I assume if we were at sea level, it would rise at 6:17 but here, at 1306 feet above sea level, we don't observe the rise until ten minutes later, at least that's my assumption.  It's 36º out, warmer today, a high of 58º, and it will be partly cloudy.

Bald Eagle

Yesterday was like too many days lately, a good start with yoga, lots of ladies, then home for lunch, but then another trip to the dentist, something that has seemingly become routine for us.  This time for a cleaning, but soon I will be back, as they always find something wrong, more drilling, more money.  Why didn't I pay more attention to my dentist's warnings when I was young. After the dentist, I did what most of us do when depressed...go shopping, this time at Sam's, where I picked up a pot roast because I have been hankering for pot roast tacos for some reason.  I resisted the urge to shop around, buying just what was on Evie's list but I did find a bargain, butter at $1.71 a pound. Then, I stopped at Wegmans to pick up the things that I could not get at Sam's.

Photo From A Rocky Kayak

When I got home, around 4:00, the kitchen was a mess.  Evie had spent the afternoon making cookies for our grandchildren and Dot, her step mother.  Lots of great shapes, hearts, feet, ice cream cones and they are now ready to be decorated.  When I told her about the butter from Sam's, she was ecstatic because so much is used when making cookies.  I helped clean up the kitchen,  then she prepped dinner, pounding out the pork tenderloin, then dipping it in egg and bread crumbs, ready for frying after we had a relaxing hour, sipping wine, enjoying some crackers and blue cheese.  It was not a very attractive dusk, mostly gray on gray, but it felt good to relax and enjoy the later afternoon.

The Estate, Early Morning

Dinner then was schnitzel, with potatoes and a salad and we watched Sunday night's episode of Mad Men.  Neither one of us are much taken with this season though it seems to get good reviews from the critics.  To us, it seems silly, like a final curtain call, bringing back various characters from the past episodes, none of which have much to do with the story line.  We also watched another Real Time with Bill Mather because there is not much on TV on Monday's unless you like Dancing with the Stars.  I don't!  We were both tired so we went to bed around 10:30, to read and then sleep, hopefully.

Sea Gull Island (Woodlawn Creek)

It's now 7:37 and I am finished writing my blog.  Evie is still asleep and I sit here bored, waiting to drive to yoga in an hour and a half.  I don't feel much like reading my book in the morning, so I guess I will peruse both the Washington Post and The New York Times, to see what will depress me, like the riots going on in Baltimore, reminding me of the 1960's Hough riots in Cleveland.  But, hey, racism is over according to the Supreme Court's decision to gut The Voters Rights Act.  I guess they don't read the newspapers.  

Well, I got bored with the papers, looked outside, saw the lake was inviting, so I put on my life jacket, grabbed my paddle, jumped in my kayak, and went out for a half hour paddle, down to Sandy Bottom and back, hoping to see a heron nest or bald eagle.  And, amazingly, I saw the bald eagle, perched up above the reeds at Victoria, on the tree top.  Although my kayaking was not steady because of the waves, I managed to get a couple of photographs.  What a great morning.  Now, it's time to head off to yoga.

Frosty and Sunny Sunday Morning

A Huge Ball of Orange at 7:14

7:14

Kayak Afternoon

Long Point 

Cauliflower Pizza at McClures

A bright and shiny morning, the sun filling the living room with light, forcing me to move to another chair.  It rose over Wells Bay, a huge ball at the horizon, moving towards the winter solstice.  Frost covers the ground and car's windshield and it's 25 degrees outside, a high of fifty five later in the day.

We spent much of yesterday getting ready for our trip to Kansas City and Scottsdale.  I worked outside, finishing the garage, so we can park our Accord in it, turning the compost, getting the yard ready for its winter sleep.  Evie did the same inside, and we both spent time trying to figure out what to bring for our trip.  During the afternoon, Evie took one more trip to Lakewood, to shop for our trip and I could not pass up a kayak paddle on the lake.  I have never seen the lake so calm, peaceful, and empty, so smooth and wave less, especially fori a mid afternoon in November.  It's as if the day stopped.  I slid along the water, effortlessly, to Long Point, along its coast and back to the reeds just south of Victoria.  As I was paddling across the lake, a large square fronted boat appeared out of the shadows, a boat of four hunters, having been settled in the reeds waiting for ducks.  They were camouflaged, as they headed  back to the Marina.  The rest of the afternoon I read and watched some football(what else does a red blooded American male do on Saturday afternoons?), and I still like to watch Ohio State play (they defeated Wisconsin and are now 11-0).

For dinner, we went to the Mc Clures about 6:15, a nice way to spend a Saturday night.  We had turkey meatballs for appetizers and pizzas Evie loved, with a crust made from cauliflower.  The toppings were typical for the pizza, just the crust was different.  They are off to Annapolis for Thanksgiving, staying downtown, and meeting Linda's sister and cousins for dinner. Sounds nice and easy and fun.  We stayed till about 10:15, went home to read and go to bed.  A great evening.

Docks In, Bring on Winter But Not Yet!

8:18

Kayak Morning

The Final Day of the Dock

Evie and I are both up at 6:00, pure darkness outside, the spin on last night's debate on the radio, as we sit hear on the couch, Evie playing Word With Friends most likely with her sisters, me surfing the Net for something interesting to read and starting my blog.  It looks like a warm but wet day, a good day to stay inside, pack, get organized, for our trip east, to visit our daughter Jill and her family.

By the way, Good Morning Barb and Jim Fox.  Thanks again for a great clambake and I hope you both have a good day.

Yesterday may have been the last day of late summer, as we were able to sit out on the dock, read, and even get a suntan if we wanted.  There was a light breeze, the water blue and inviting, and we could have sat out there all day.  But we couldn't because we had things to do.  Evie made cookies, for the granddaughter's to decorate when we go to VA on Wednesday, and I went off to Lakewood, to return bottles and cans, to drop detritus off at Salvation Army, and stop at Wegman's to pick up a few groceries.  Around 4:00, we powered up Leonards and our lawn mowers, and the two of us cut both yards, chopping the leaves, creating briefly, a green, leaf less lawn.  I have not looked yet this morning but I am sure it will be gone.

Billy and Chris, both in their late twenties,  arrived around 5:00 and in their usual three stooges sort of way (no method), they brought in our dock, with minimum destruction.  They don't seem to have a method of bringing in the horse and then dock piece as inevitably, a few float down the lake.  And stacking the dock pieces seems confusing, no order, making it difficult next year when they peal them off  put the pieces back in.  But they manage to do it, are nice kids (guys I suppose) and are fun to talk with.  Chris seems to be pulling his life together, working in the Marina and a Car shop, saving money,  but also hoping to qualify for Unemployment if the Marina no longer needs him.  I am uncomfortable with this, of how easy it seems to be to get unemployment even if you lose a part time job.  Somehow I think it should be different for families, for a wage earner with a wife and kids, from that of a single person.  But I cannot explain to my self why.  Billy, of  course, works three or four different jobs, always has and just got back from a motorcycle ride to Charlotte, something he did last year as well.  They are both nice guys.

We watched the debate last night casually, spending time on our computers, as much as watching the debate.  I got tired of hearing the same old lines, the complaints and if you followed the elections at all, nothing new was said.  Obama had two good lines, one about Romeny's complaints that the Navy lacked ships, the other Romney's taking of donors to Israel.  But he made no mistakes 'appeared presidential' and it's all about image, not substance.  Romney was best when he did not talk about foreign affairs and veered off topic to talk about the economy, Obama's Achilles heel.  Right now I am listening to Fox and it's amazing how differently they see the debate from Morning Joe, the same debate, two diametrically opposed opinions.  We see through our mental models, coloring our opinions.      They are like glasses we see the world through, but we don't realize we have them on.

Monday Morning Sun and the Docks Come In

7:44

Paddling in the Fall

An Amazing Autumn Sky

Kinney's Arroyo

Hayden and Jill at the Finish

Mary, the Moll, Tom, in his Wife Beater

It's 7:40, a cloudless sky, orange glow off to the east as the sun rises, steam rising off of the warm lake. We may have had a freeze last night as it's 33 degrees right now, colder than I expected.  It's  supposed to start warming up some over the next few days.  It looks like our last beach day on the dock as Billy and Cris will be by late afternoon to haul the dock in.  Sad but we are the last house on Woodlawn to have our dock brought in.  I have included two great pictures, one of my daughter Jill and her daughter, Hayden, as they just finished the Paint Ball Run in Washington, D.C., great fun.  The other of my son Tom, and his wife Mary, at a Halloween Dress party, I hope.

Yesterday was a busy morning in the kitchen for Evie, getting dinner ready for our neighbors, David and Pat Jones.  She put together a cabbage, onion, tomato,and sauerkraut saute, smothered the ribs with it, then slow cooked them in the oven for three or four hours.  And our favorite pumpkin rolls, from the Chillingsworth Restaurant on Cape Cod were left to rise as we kayaked  late morning down to Whitney Bay, as it alternated between a sunny and cloudy day.  We started out with it sunny, but as we kayaked it clouded up, and when we returned it cleared again.  An omen, perhaps but that kind of day, often with white, puffy clouds off to the north and south.  Our neighbors, the Fox's, then dropped off a quart of clam broth, so Evie froze most of it, leaving out enough for lunch today.  Bacon, eggs, and toast for breakfast, as we watched our favorite CBS Sunday Morning, a perfect end to the morning.  I also got a short walk in, the Woodlawn/Victoria loop, a nice easy way to enjoy the morning.  We were able to relax much of the afternoon, watching some football, and enjoying the outdoors.

Pat and Dave Jones came over around 6:00 and we had a good time with them.  They raved over Evie's ribs and pumpkin rolls and the salad, of course.  David had just arrived on Friday, in time to basically close up their cottage till New Year's.  They drive to Houston, their home, leaving on Tuesday, so we may  likely not see them again till next June.  David is on a Board at RIT and it was fun listening to him talk about how they are trying to anticipate the new world of education with so any courses being offered free on line.  In fact, the web and computers have changed our youth culture to such an extent that RIT has a required freshmen course on socialization skills because so many kids come in as loners having spent much of their young lives inside, I suppose, on their computers and playing games, rather than socializing with other people.  Interesting.  They went home around 9:45, so we stayed up and watched The Good Wife, a bit silly we thought.  I did notice Ted Humphrey's name, as Executive Producer, a former student of mine at Reserve.

The leaves on our trees have mostly fallen, though Leonards are always late, so it's still in full leaf.  I am going to chop up their leaves today and Evie will chop ours, getting the lawn ready for the docks, for our trip to Bristow, VA, on Wednesday.  

A Dismal Saturday, Cloudy and Rainy

7:58

Paddling at Dusk

A Lake of Reflections

Enjoying the calm

Woods at Chautauqua Institute

Up at my new usual, 6:00 to utter blackness, a few lights flickering off toward Maple Springs.  I am listening to Click and Clack, waiting for Only A Game, my favorite sports program.  I am not sure what today will bring because of the weather.  We are excited, however, about later afternoon because our neighbors are having a clambake.  Like my family, they grew up in the Cleveland area having clambakes every fall.  We have missed it the past two years because we were out east visiting friends but this year we are able to make it.  They, Jim and Barb Fox, drove in yesterday afternoon from Cleveland, with the clams on ice from Euclid Fish.  What memories I have of going to Euclid Fish with my Dad as a kid, picking up the clams, the boiler, bringing them home, spending hours in the basement cleaning the clams because they were sandy, my Mom cutting up the chickens and vegetables, in a bag,  shucking the corn and, of course, the pouring of the beer in the bake by a pregnant women. I can only remember my sister Ellen doing this back in the early 1980's.

We were lucky because yesterday because it was a beautiful day to be on the lake, warm enough to sit outside, to walk or kayak, all of which we did.  We straightened things around the house early morning, then went to Mayville, to get our flu shots, and shop some at Topps.  We then stopped at the CI and took a walk around the still leafy streets.  Lots of building going on and it  seems every week we see a new house going up, or an old house being torn down.  Construction always seems to be booming in the CI.

In the afternoon, Evie went out on the dock to read and I joined her briefly before going off to pick up my boat, to take it up to be stored.  Unfortunately, I had quite a bill as the steering cables had to be replaced again, something which was done three years ago.  I dropped the boat off at my neighbor's garage, up on Carpenter Pringle, so that's done.  Now all we need is for the dock to be taken in and summer/fall is officially over, alas.  About 5:45, we realized the lake was smooth, like oil, as the sky was a threatening gray.  We jumped in our kayaks, went straight across to Long Point, then back along Victoria and Woodlawn, and it was lovely to be out on the water at dusk, as the sun was setting, the storm clouds coming in to the area.

For dinner, Evie made a shrimp pasta, with lemon, garlic, and wine, and with salad and garlic bread, we were happy.  We watched a quirky Norwegian movie, Turn Me On, Dammit.  I won't go into great detail other than to say it's about a seemingly over sexed teen age girl, who ends up being ostracized by her high school friends for something she said.  She runs away for a weekend, to a college friend in Oslo, where she is accepted as normal and treated as an adult for the first time. She comes home changed, the boy she likes shows interest in her, and all is well in this boring little town.  One detail I did like---every time the school bus passed the sign announcing her village, she and her friends would give it the finger.  Neither Evie nor I was crazy about the movie, nor did we like the teenager much until the end when her boy friend announces he cares for her to the entire school.  Not your Pretty in Pink teenager flick.

Another Monday, with High Winds and Rain

7:29

Fall kayaking

Kayaks at Ready

The Ugliest New House on the Lake (Booteys)

Attempting a final swim

The

The Excitement of a sinking sailboat at the Viking Club

It's too early to be up, about 6:00, pitch black outside, only a few lights off in the distance towards Bemus.  It's still warm, 53 degrees, and very windy, gusts up to forty five miles an hour later in the day.  I thought I heard rain last night but when I walked outside, it was still dry...not sure what I heard.

We were able to kayak yesterday, as it was unseasonably warm, in the low 70's, quite a contrast to the twenty four degrees of the other morning.  We went off towards Long Point, then the wind picked up as we headed across to Bootey Bay.  Once we got there, it was calm and easy for some reason, as we must have been sheltered from the gusts.  We did stop to talk with a couple who seemed to live in one of the cottages on the property owned by hotel magnate, sort of, John Mc Graw.  The women identified herself as a member of the family that owns the property.  They are in the process of dividing the waterfront in to lots, so I assume she must be related.  Next to their somewhat run down cottage, a new home has gone up.  It's about as ugly a new house as I have seen on the lake, and I guess it's owned by the Bootey's, as they have kept a piece of the lakefront for themselves.  I am relieved to know that homes may be going up along the waterfront rather than a ten story hotel but I still do not trust the John Mc Graw.  Supposedly he has gone bankrupt, failed to pay his taxes, so I am not even sure if he still owns the land.  All I know for sure is that I new house has gone up.

It was a beautiful morning to be on the lake, sunny and warm, so that we did not even need fleeces.  We were the only ones on the lake, other than a couple of fishing boats and this time of the year, all the kayakers seem to have hibernated till next summer.

The afternoon was spent putting together and baking a couple of loaves of artisan bread from a new cookbook.  This one has you bake the bread in a dutch oven, similar to the no knead bread recipe. We both did some reading, watched some football, and Evie even sat outside as it was that warm. And the wind was so strong, that it knocked our benches in to the water, our Adirondack's over on the dock.  I was able to fish the benches out with a rake.  Evie attempted to take a final swim, as the water has cleared, but it was too cold.  We both swam about this time last year but not this year, I guess.

The Viking Club, over on the other side of the lake, was having an Octoberfest, so we decided to go, thinking it might be fun, with music, lots of people outside drinking beer, brats on the grills.  What a disappointment.  When we arrived, there were so few cars in the lot we thought we had the wrong day. We went inside and there were about 30 people around the bar and that was it.  The dining room was serving brats, cooked in beer, but it was empty.  I did order and brat and we sat in the bar, had a draft, and watched the big action of the day, a buoyed sail boat slowly taking on water and turning over on its side.  That was it for excitement.  We did feel like youngsters, as most of the revelers were older than us.  We stayed long enough to finish our beer and bemoaned the fact that clubs like this seem to be losing their vitality, as most of its members are retired and the younger people don't seem to be interested in being part of organizations like this.

We had tacos for dinner, tasty and easy and watched The Good Wife before going to bed.

Warmer and Overcast Morning

7:37

Long Point

Long Point

Merganser in Flight

Fall Maples

Victoria Woods

Kinney's Waterless Run

Up later than usual, around 7:30 to another gray morning. mists and fog on the lake, a warm 62 degrees though it's now 8:30 and the sun looks as though it's trying to break through the barrier of fog.

Yesterday was a Chautauqua gray day though it hardly rained, just 2/10ths of an inch over the past twenty four hours so you could be outside if you wanted; it just wasn't sunny.  Evie made more cookies for our trip to Darien, CT, tomorrow, for the grandchildren of course, as well as a baked ziti for dinner our first night.  Later, she went shopping in Lakewood and went to Master Cuts.  I  stayed home, a  bit bored, but found my way.  Though it was foggy, it reminded me of a Japanese painting, so I went kayaking on the smooth, windless lake, gray and black colors, mostly, and took photos as you can see, trying to get a picture which reminded me of a Japanese print.  It was fun.  Later,  I walked the Woodlawn/Victoria woods, still dripping from the rain, marking a path as best I could, getting ready for my winter walks.  I also got the urge to get more gravel for my driveway, drove to Tri James but they are closed, either for the year or just the afternoon.  Sad.  I then came home and gave the Pilot a good cleaning, both inside and out, perhaps because I have decided to spend money on the Accord, keep it for another three or four years, the Pilot as well.  I just don't want to have a monthly car payment and both cars are in decent if not good shape. I also read some, as I am finding Hitch 22 very interesting.  Christopher Hitchens has always been an iconoclast and he lead an amazingly interesting life, seduced by Marxism when he was younger, an atheist all his life, a screaming liberal,  he changed somewhat in later life, supporting Bush and the Iraq War.  Many of his attitudes, especially towards religion were formed in his fascistic prep schools in England, with daily forced religious services, compulsory games, and kowtowing to authority.

We had meatballs and bulgar for dinner, even better than the night before and watched the first episode of The Forsythe Saga, a mini series made about ten years ago, with Damian Lewis, from Homeland, as the major protagonist.  It's a bit dated but pretty good, a somewhat older version of Downton Abbey, as we watch one of the wealthy families in London begin to lose their way, culturally and financially.

Puffs of Fall Clouds on a Sunny Monday

7:21

Maples turning in Front of our House

Paddling along Long Point

Kayaks Beached at Long Point Pavilion

Bicyclists along the Leafy Arches of Long Point Park

7:29

Slept in a bit, 7:30, sunshine fills the living room, Morning Joe on Sirius, coffee, a full day ahead of sun and the high in the 60's.  How lucky are we here at the lake?  Not much action on the lake, as the fishing tournament from this weekend has ended.  The sun is so blinding right now I have to sit in another chair.

Yesterday was supposed to be a rainy day...it was"t and it didn't.  Anyways, it was a great morning so we hurriedly got ready to kayak and hike over at Long Point.  It was an easy paddle over to the Pavilion and back, and we had over an hour walk through the woods, as the leaves are just beginning to turn, just a few have fallen.  We met a couple of people walking their dogs but other than that, we had the park to ourselves.  There is something about walking in the woods, as opposed to a street, that I never get tired of, the quiet I suppose, the changing vista, now still green with leaves, our view obscured, the softness of the earth, the occasional scurry of an animal, usually a chipmunk, the flutter of a bird, all combine for a visceral experience.  And I remember walks from the past years, when it was snow filled, with the Albarrans four years ago, the Bissell's last winter, or the cross country skiing and snow shoeing through the woods two years ago.  Thus, I see the woods in the present and past as I walk, and they are never the same.  

During the afternoon, I watched the US lose in a dramatic style to the Europeans in the Ryder Cup, the Americans making mistake after mistake, the Europeans taking advantage of it, going crazy when they won.  There is nothing like winning a championship as a team, the thrill and excitement ephemeral, yet unforgettable.  I can still remember our excitement beating Kentucky in the NCAA regionals back in 1964, winning a couple of Service League Championships in Honolulu, and of course, winning the Turkish League championship in 1975.  For a moment, everything is forgotten, all our brothers, and this bond created by this winning is long lasting, holds true today, as some of my closest bonds remain with players from college and Istanbul.  When we get together,  even after forty years, the ties remain and we are comfortable with each other, remembering those days. 

For dinner, Evie made penne with garlic, chard and white beans, a really tasty vegetarian meal, one we will have to make more often.  We watched a wonderful French movie called THE HEDGEHOG, based on a French novel called THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG.  Like most foreign movies, it's slow moving, artsy, serious, and in the end, satisfying.  In this film, a precocious twelve year old decides she does not want to live 'like a fish in a fishbowl' and decides to commit suicide on June 16th, the day her school year ends.  Leading up to this, we see her family, through her eyes, detestable in their boredom and sameness, as she films them were her camera.  Things change when a Japanese man moves into her apartment  building and she becomes friends with the lonely and lowly concierge in her building.  She develops a touching relationship with her concierge, finds out she has a room full of books, is a real person, and the Japanese resident also develops a friendship with the concierge as well, changing her life and that of the young girl.  It's well worth watching.  

An Overcast Sunday of Leisure

7:12

Whitney Bay Start Up

7:36

Near Snug Harbor

Soffel Wedding Party

Up at 7:15, a mostly gray sky, clouds huddles off over Bemus, about 47 degrees, with rain forecast for the day, early and late.  We had better get our kayak and hike in before the rain comes.  Right now there's some light out towards the east, though the sky is mostly gray, the lake a slate gray and placid, a few fishing boats.

I am getting tired of talking about a leisurely day lest you think we have nothing ever to do.  It's just that there's nothing we have to do; it can always, usually, be put off till tomorrow.  It was so nice yesterday morning that we jumped in our kayaks, and paddled down to Whitney Bay, passing fellow kayakers, one a woman, who lives down on Wells Bay, right next to Sandy Bottom, an avid kayaker like us.  It was an easy paddle down, a bit more challenging coming back.  There is a new house being built in Magnolia, next to the huge monstrosity of a house on Whitney, dwarfing everyone else, which was built a couple of years ago by some wealthy magnate.  It's the kind of house that never appears occupied or busy, where no one is ever on the dock or yard, yet the house could easily hold 15 to 20 people it's so large.  There are two or three other huge shells of a house that appear this way, never occupied or busy yet monstrous in size.

Because it was sunny, Evie read in the side yard, then when the wind waned, we both read out on the dock, hoping to take a boat ride.  Unfortunately, we missed our chance, the wind picked up, so we walked Bemus around 4:30, getting a glimpse of the Soffel (our neighbors) granddaughter's wedding, at their son's house on Lake Side Drive.  We walked by just as the  wedding pictures we were being taken.  Fortunately, it did not rain, though it may have been somewhat cool.  When we walked back, the wedding party and guests were all in the front yard of the Lenhart Hotel, with a chef from Forte grilling appetizers in the yard, as everyone mingled and enjoyed themselves.

We decided to have an easy dinner, our left over stir fry, just as good the next day, as Evie combined the rice with the stir fry, added an egg, and we had fried rice for dinner.  We finished up watching Damages, at last, and look forward to watching some thing else.

Time to kayak over to Long Point and go for a walk before the rains come.

Overcast with Light Rain

7:34

Up at 6:30 to a gray sky, the sound of rain on the roof, a darkened house, something I better get used to as the sun rises later and later and daylight savings has yet to come.  I thought it was supposed to be nice all weekend  but things have changed...surprise, the weather man was wrong.  It's 50 degrees outside, still gray, a few intrepid fisherman are on the lake.

Yesterday, at least until about 2:00 when it started to cloud up, we had the perfect day on the lake, warm enough to be outside in a tee shirt but not hot. The lake was like glass, clear sky, no wind, so we decided to take a kayak ride, over to Long Point, back to Wells Bay the usual.  Unfortunately, the water  still has an algae bloom, marring the surface with an oily green in various areas.  No swimming for us this fall it looks like.  We then took it easy the rest of the day, as we both were overly tired, I suppose from our 'strenuous' 36 Hours in Buffalo.  I did get a few things done, sprayed the moss on our roof with a 'safe chemical'.  Let's hope it works.  Evie cut the lawn, as the leaves have begun to fall.  And I took the Accord in for an oil change and came home with a major problem, the need to replace the front end frame assembly, which is beginning to rust through, a two thousand dollar repair.  So the eternal question, do I put money in to my old car, or think about getting a new one.  Common sense, the rider, always suggests keep the old one, save money but the emotions, the elephant, tug in the other direction.   I already looked at the Camry Hybrid, which gets great mileage, in the 40's, city and highway.  But knowing me, I will opt for the repair, as the car should last us another five years if we keep it in shape.

We went to the Leonards for dinner, as they had lots of food leftover from having guests the previous day, so they wanted to share it and get rid of it.  Pat Jones came as well, so the fearsome five some got together for the third or fourth time in the past few weeks.  We had a good time, talking about the good old days, especially those early in Bill and Joyce's life, when he was in the Navy and they were courting.   We got home around 9:00, tired for no reason, watched some TV and went to bed early, by 10:30.