And Summer Begins

5:58

5:59

A great morning sunrise to welcome the summer solstice.  Nary a cloud in the sky at the moment, an azure sky, calm lake, and the sound, alas, of a boat motor.  It's a pleasant 58º and will get up into the 70's later in the day, a perfect start to summer.

Yesterday was a busy day, for our roofers, as they are almost done with both the house and garage.  Some rain got in the way for an hour or so but the rest of the day they were busy, their sons out on our dock having a ball, catching perch and bluegills.  I started the day with a paddle over to Long Point's Pavillion and back to Wells Bay and home.  When I returned, the Amish were already busy on our roof.  I had a quick breakfast and was off to a small, just three of us, yoga class which was kind of nice, considering Monday's class of thirty-four.  I am not sure why one class draws so many, the other so few.  Both teachers are excellent, the best around.  After class, I stopped at Walmart, looking for something, not quite sure what and came home empty handed.  I guess I just felt like doing something, knowing that when I got home, Evie would be in Jamestown at the dentist having her teeth cleaned.

Time Out From Roofing

I had soup for lunch and a bagel with cream cheese and tomatoes and watched Babylon Berlin and some soccer, as the roofers sat on our front porch, eating lunch, away from the rain.  I took a nap, of course, at least tried, and continued with my book, AN UNFINISHED SEASON.  Evie was back around 3:00, having done some shopping after her appointment and then put together a dessert for tonight's dinner party with our neighbors, making today easier in her preparation.

Picnicking On Long Point

We enjoyed a glass of wine on our front porch around 5:30, the yard quiet as the Amish roofers usually leave around 3:30 or so.  It was a quiet afternoon on the lake, like most weekdays, the lake not very busy.  Dinner was easy, the best, the leftover and still tasty chicken and black bean enchiladas, with all the fixings.  Evie's made hers into a salad by chopping it up into pieces.  We finally found a series we are enjoying, GOLIATH, on Amazon Prime, with Billy Bob Thornton starring as a hard-drinking, reluctant lawyer.   It's the second season and we liked the first as well.

Wrapping And Packing (Winter Solstice)

Morning Scramble

9:11

At 7:26 there's not much of a morning sky, just grayness, with close to a hundred Canadian geese and Trumpeter swans strewn along the lakefront, splotches of black and white on the gray lake.  It's 28º with some wet snow predicted for this evening, perhaps tomorrow when we head off to Virginia.

Hooded Merganser

Tundra Swan

Yesterday was a long day for Evie, not having gotten a good night sleep the night before.  I was my chipper self, but I ended up not doing much, to be honest. Around 10:00,  I drove off to Lakewood, to the post office, to Wegman's, mostly to get out of the house and do something.  The gang at the coffee shop were talking about the snow storm supposedly coming this weekend, for Xmas so it looks like we may have a white Christmas here at the lake.   We are through mailing packages to our grandchildren.  When I got home, Evie had gotten some things done, as there was a pile of wrapped packages, ready for our trip tomorrow.

Evie had made me some matzo ball soup for lunch and grilled a couple of cheese sandwiches, so I was a happy boy.  I watched some boring Sports Center, not willing to start a series until I return after Christmas.  We both took it easy in the afternoon, although Evie is not very good at taking it easy.  So mid-afternoon, she got out the dough, beater, and made one of my favorite cookies (I have many) Russian tea cakes.  I read much of the afternoon, took a short walk and we both ended up taking mucho photos of the geese, ducks, and swans in our front yard, an amazing mass of waterfowl.

Mostly Ducks

A Happy Couple

A Symphony Of Ducks And Swans

Mallard And Swans

Dinner was another favorite from our days in Turkey, Wienerschnitzel, using a pork tenderloin that Evie had pounded out between wax paper and breaded.  We had baked red potatoes and a salad along with the Wienerschnitzel.  The pork tenderloin was done perfectly, topped with melted butter and lemon juice.  I was happy and we watched three more episodes of THE CROWN, the first two, about crises in Elizabeth's tenure were outstanding, the third less compelling about her sister Margaret's bohemian friends and marriage to Armstrong-Jones.  It's a series well worth watching.

The Republican Tax Cuts: Killing The Beast...the beast, in this case, is the government.  By cutting taxes on corporations and the wealthy, the money needed for entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid among many others programs, will not be there.  Thus, the Republicans will have to cut entitlements, their ultimate goal.  The poor, the struggling middle class and most likely our children and grandchildren, are on their own.  As an aside, I don't know anyone who wanted or expected a tax cut...just saying.

Miracles Do Happen -- Cavs Win NBA Championship (Solstice)

5:45

6:02

6:05

A partly cloudy morning, already warm, with rain predicted tonight.  I was up at 5:30, hoping to see the sunrise but it was hidden by some puffy clouds, popping out occasionally for a few minutes, then hiding behind them again.  Because it's Monday, the lake is quiet, hardly a boat in sight, quite a contrast to Saturday.

Yesterday was another unseasonably warm day, not what we expect in June here at the lake, but compared to Arizona, we are having a cold spell.  I heard this morning that two hikers in Phoenix died from the heat.  We have been on those mountains and cannot believe anyone would hike them in the heat of the day.  We did have our typical Sunday morning walk through the Chautauqua Institution and it was warm, making us look back at our walks through it in the winter, bundled up and happy.  Obviously, we are not good in heat.  When we got home, we did a few things in either the house or yard, not sure whether to stay inside or go out.  So, instead, Evie made a good breakfast of eggs, bacon, leftover noodles and toast.

Poppies At Chautauqua Institution

A Canvas Of Poppies

The rest of the day was a blur, not sure what we did till later in the  day when it cooled off some. Evie braved the heat, with the help of a breeze, and enjoyed the dock for an hour or two, jumping in the lake when it got too warm.  I did some reading, The Sympathizer, about the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the main character a mole of the Communists.  Around 4:30, I rose from my couch and washed my car, filthy from the sap falling from our trees.  We then decided it had cooled off some, so we took a boat ride over to Bemus Point and back along the bay, mostly pleasant, especially when we were cruising into the breeze.  There were a surprising number of boats still out on the lake for a Sunday evening, as the majority of boaters head home for the week.

For dinner, Evie had pulled out some scallops from the freezer, so she seared them, made a sauce with garlic, lemon, chicken broth and vermouth and served them over pasta, another one of our favorite dinners.  We watched another episode of the OJ series on ESPN, then watched the Cavs win an NBA championship. It's difficult to criticize Lebron since he had a triple double, finished with 26 points but he's not fun to watch when he holds the ball and dribbles for 15 to 20 seconds, slowing down the Cavs offense and the game.  That being said, it was fun to see the ecstatic Cleveland fans and the Cavs players, many in tears.  It was a tough road back from a 3-1 deficit and I think it was Kyrie who really saved them averaging over 40 points in games five and six, hitting the game winner last night in the last minute. As one of the announcers said, Kyrie's the best player in the NBA.  I agree.

We went to bed around 11:30, tired and happy.