SIDETRACKED: HENNING MANKELL

Kurt Wallender is at it again, tracking down a serial killer, this time a psycho who disposes of his victims with a hatchet, scalps them, then buries the scalps outside a hospital window.  Wallender is first summoned to an open field, where a farmer has observed a young black girl walking in circles.  When he approaches her, she pours gasoline over herself and immolates her body, to Wallander's horror.  This is the beginning, a clue to the later murders, however obscure at this point.  The next two victims are a magistrate and a wealthy though seedy entrepreneur.  Both are hatcheted and scalped and Wallender sees little if any connection, especially when the third victim, Bjorn Fredman, a small time crook, with a long record of abuse, familial and otherwise.  Wallender visits the family, sees they are obviously victims of abuse, and one of the daughters has been in a mental hospital for three years, though Wallender cannot find out why.  Slowly, the death of the young girl by immolation, the Fredman daughter in the mental hospital connect to the tastes of the first two victims for young girls.  It becomes clearer that there is a white slave operation in Sweden, two of the victims, abusers of those girls.  Through one clue after another and his intuition, Wallender realizes, with the help of a psychiatrist, that these murders are a type of revenge for what was done to these girls, to the Fredman girl in particular.  But why was her father killed as well.  Ah, realizes Wallender, he's abused not only his own daughter, but son as well, which leads Wallender to the realization that it's Fredman's 14 year old son who is the serial killer, avenging what has been done to his sister, thinking by doing it, he will free her of her demons. Too late, however, as Stefan or Hoover as he calls himself, fleeing from the police on his moped, with sister on his back, slams into a tree killing her.  Thus ends Wallender's long journey, just in time to go on a planned vacation with Biiba, the lady friend he met in his first novel, from Latvia.  The novel ends with him going off to Italy with his father, suffering from Alzheimers, his last request.  Family often intrudes into the life of policing, creating another strand to the world of Kurt Wallender.

Full Albarrans!

10:45

Sunset

Up about 6:30 and Ramiro was already up planning his bike ride.  We sat and had coffee and he showed me this cool website for biking called MAPMYRIDE.  You can map out the ride you wish to take.  Today he was riding the north half of the lake.  He mapped it out, starting at Bemus, through Long Point, to Mayville via #426, past the CI and home.  It also shows you the elevation if you wish, so you can tell how steep the hills are.  It also keeps track of your rides and if you have an IPhone and heart monitor, which he does, it keeps track of the amount of energy you use, your heart rate, the force going up and down hills, as well as time.  And he mounts it on his bike, so he can check how he is doing as he rides. Finally, I could sit at home, go to the website, and because he I joined the site and friended him, I can watch his progress as he rides on a map on my computer.  Technology!  I rode with him from Bemus, through the park, to the end of Warner Bay and said aloha when he regained Rt. 426.  It took him about an hour and twenty minutes to round the lake, about 18 miles I think.

Picking Flowers for the Vases

So far, today's been a beautiful day, though warm even when I got up.  After my ride, I went for a swim and all the gang were making crispy creme donuts when we were gone.  They are about ready to start frying as I write.

Squeegeeing Windows

Albarrans Have Arrived

Yesterday, Mitch and I washed windows, to get ready for our guests and Evie cut the lawn, making our yard look great.  We put in one raft, the Leonards, who are letting us borrow it for the next week.  The Albarrans arrived about 2:30, an easy ride of seven hours.  We unpacked quickly and everyone seemed to fall into place, as if they had never left, Tyler playing the guitar, Rami on a computer, Beth talking with me, Evie and Marisa jumping in the lake.  Rami and I then watched Adam Scott lose the British Open to Ernie Els, a depressing event.  It is not fun to see someone lose a tournament on the last four holes.  We all went swimming, then, played on the rafts, did some swimming.  For dinner, I grilled Turkish koftes (meatballs) and we had them on pita squares, with tomato sauce, then yogurt, a Turkish specialty.  We also had sweet corn, ice cream cones, with sprinkles,  for dessert, and we played a game of SPUD to end a great day.  We stayed up talking, playing word games on our Ipads or  MacBooks and went to be around 10:30, as everyone seemed tired after a long day.

Haze, Partly Cloudy, But Sunday Sunday

6:20

Taking a Break from reading UNBROKEN

Mitch and I are up at 6:20 for some reason, perhaps because of the sun in our windows, something that has not happened the past few cloudy days.  It's 61 degrees, going up to the 80's later.  Mitch has already redone a bracelet, now he's happy with it.  It must have bothered him all night to get up so early.

Mitchell's Woven Parachute bracelets

Yesterday was a typical Saturday, starting with a trip to the Transfer Station, then all three of us went off to stock up for the next week, as Beth and family arrive today for a couple of weeks.  Everyone else arrives next Friday.  Anyways, we shopped the usual, Sam's Club to buy mega items, then on to Wegman's for groceries.  On the way, we got caught in the Ashville Day traffic, basically a parade and lots of food and craft stalls.  We didn't stop, in fact, have never been; we are not very good Ashvillites.

I just got back from a quick kayak ride, over to Long Point, across to Wells Bay and back, with little lake traffic despite it being a Sunday morning.  Surprising.  It was overcast and hazy, so I didn't need my sunglasses.  I bought an inflatable life vest, one that weighs about two pounds, and inflates if you fall in the water.  So far, so good, as it' easy to put on, not bulky, doesn't get in the way when I paddle and because it's so light, I wear it rather than carry it.

We had planned on taking Mitch skate boarding at Allegheny Park, where they have a great three mile run, but because it had rained, we had to postpone it because a wet path is dangerous.  So, we hung out here, Mitch making bracelets, in between games of bocce, bean bag, and reading.  And of course, we jumped in the lake a couple of times, especially in the afternoon, when the sun came out.

New raft

For dinner, we made an old recipe from Hawaii, called Shoyu chicken.  At the local drive ins, you could get it as a plate lunch.  My favorite drive in was called The Jolly Rodger and besides plate lunches, it had sandwiches like a Cheesy Girl and a Porky Boy)  It was owned by Kenny Kaneshiro, a great guy who sponsored our basketball team in the Armed Forces League.  I was player coach and we won the league three times in three years.  After our third title, Kenny wanted to buy me a suit, as a  thank you.  I asked if I could have the money instead and buy my first good camera.  He said no problem, gave me a hundred and fifty bucks, and my friend Jon Stanley, who was in the Air Force, picked up an Asahi Pentax camera for me, in Japan.  A great camera, it served me well until about 1983 when it was accidentally dropped in Lake Chautauqua.  Basically, shoyu chicken is braised in a liquid of soy, ginger, garlic, and sugar, then thickened, just before serving with rice.  It only lacked the macaroni salad as a side to make it complete.  It took me back to the 1960's, and Mitch loved it enough to want it for lunch today.  We watched one more episode of Breaking Bad and it is emotionally draining.  Walt did make the deal before seeing his new child, but each episode ends with us sitting on the edge of the couch.  This time Jesse's girl friend seems to have died of an overdose as Mr. White, as Jesse calls him,  looks on, either letting it happen or powerless.  Each show seems to drain a few more ounces of humanity from Walter, a result of the survival instinct.

Hints of Fall, Cool, Overcast, Fleece Weather

6:15

Foccacia Pizza 

Mitch and Granny Gathering weeds

Up at 6:20 to gray, sky and lake, and cool, about 60 degrees.  No action on the lake though it's now 7:00, time for Only A Game on NPR. A ski boat just raced by, our neighbors no doubt.  The weather for the next week or so looks like the old Chautauqua, cool and cloudy, not the heat we have had for the past six weeks, some rain, perhaps sweat shirt or fleece weather.

I returned from a 45 minute kayak paddle, off towards Wells Bay, across to Long Point, then back across to Woodlawn and home.  When I started, I noticed an algae bloom around our docks but as I continued, the water cleared up.  I tossed my fishing line in, off of the reeds, and for the second time in three days, the line snapped.  I guess I will have to get new line as the one I am using was from my father, and could be thirty or forty years old.  It was different today on the lake, a deep gray, at times black, as I glided across the smooth, windless lake.  No sun, no heat, just deep shadows and little activity.  There's a quiet beauty to the lake on a day like this, almost meditative, as I paddle.

Yesterday was overcast in the morning, a bit of sun in the afternoon, then quite cool in early evening, as we all had to wear fleeces for dinner outside.  Since it was Friday, weed pick up day, Evie, Mitch and I spent about an hour scouring the lake bottom, pulling up weeds, getting our swimming area ready for the coming of our family.  The weed cutters did a pass by around noon, though they did not stay and picked up hardly a weed, what a waste of energy.  After the weeds gathering, Mitch and Evie put together a foccacia dough for dinner.  We are going to make pizzas with it for dinner, cooking them out on the grill.  Mitch had been waiting all day for a package from FED EX, six colors of parachute cord.  He had seen a YouTube video, where the cords were used to make cool bracelets.  Thus, the cords arrived around 5:00 and by 7:00, Evie and I both had our bracelets, quite cool, easy to put on and off.

For dinner, as I mentioned, we made margherita pizzas.  We used parchment paper for the pizzas, sliding the pizza and paper on to the stone in a 400 degree grill, baked them for about twenty minutes, and viola, great pizza.  We did eat outside, the lake quite active despite the coolness of the evening.  We had our neighbor, Pat Jones, cookies for dessert, chocolate chip and chocolate pretzel and watched a couple more episodes of Breaking Bad.  The most recent ended with Walt caught in a major dilemma: either meet the meth dealer, clearing over a million bucks, a one time deal, or rush to the hospital where his wife is having a baby.  It was pretty intense, left us hanging, and we cannot wait to watch what happens tonight.  I think he will make the deal, then head to the hospital.  We will see.

By the way, I found out what the name of the bird Mitch and I saw on our kayak ride two days ago.  As I was walking down to get the mail, I yelled aloha to my neighbor, Barb Fox, who just arrived at the lake,  Instead of saying hello, she yelled 'red wing black bird', quite amusing...to me.  Clearly, a few neighbors read my blog.

Cloudy, Cool, and Rain, Wonderful Rain

8:00

 Up later than usual, 7:00, to a drizzle, a gray sky and lake, a light southerly wind, 59 degrees, not a very inviting lake view, so I don't think  I will kayak.  It's been so long since we have had a morning like this, overcast, rainy,  windy, that I forgot what it was like.  We had an over an inch of rain over the past twenty four hours, more expected today.  Two days ago, sunshine was forecast for the weekend, now it's only clouds and rain.  How can the weatherman be so wrong, so often?  

Yesterday, Mitch and I took a long kayak ride after he  got up.  We left about 8:30, not returning until about 10:30, as we paddled straight down to Whitney Bay, up the mouth of Prenderfast Creek, to Snug Harbor Marina and beyond, all the way up to the bridge across Route 394.  Lots of birds as we paddled, kingfishers, ducks, and a black bird with an orange stripe on its wing that I have yet to identify.  I thought it might be a Baltimore Oriole but they seem to have much more orange than this bird, with a strip just on its wing.  Mitch tried taking underwater pictures with his camera but only got water, no fish.  We did see a few frogs, heard some fish jumping or so we thought, and avoided all the downed trees in the creek.  It would be fun to start a mile or two up at the other end and work our way back but I fear we would have to portage our kayaks much of the way, as the river was low.  It began to get warm as we headed back.  Along Whitney Bay, we stopped to watch a huge steam shovel cleaning out a canal, pulling the mud over to one side with a long plow like structure, then scooping it out with a shovel.  I wonder who is paying for this, where the mud goes?

Kayaking in Prendergast Creek

Dredging a Canal off of Whitney Bay

When we got back, Evie was ready for Mitch, for making Crispy Creme donuts.  They put together the dough easily, let it sit for an hour, cut and shaped it into donut shapes, let it sit for a half hour, then deep fried the dough on our back porch, then dipped them in the glaze.   All three of us ate a couple just as the glaze was applied, and they were about as good a donut  as we have ever had, so light.  Amazing.  Evie passed a couple out to the Leonard's and a kid who happened to be walking by, as they made over thirty.  They also put powered sugar and cinnamon on some when the glaze was gone.  By the evening, we had made quite a dent in the platter of donuts, after giving some to Ron Mc Clure.

Frying Crispy Cremes

A Platter of Hot Crispy Cremes

Earlier, Mitch and I went to the Tri James yard, picked up four crates of #2 stones for my driveway and also picked up a book at the Ashville Library though we didn't get to see Libby, the cat.  We also stopped at a yard sale, though we didn't find anything worth buying,  It always amazes me what people try to sell and I suppose, what people end up buying.

Spreading Stones

After lunch, outside, a turkey and ham wrap and home made corn chowder, it began to rain.  We ran in and put on our suits and went out and swam and played in the rain for about twenty minutes.  No thunder or lightning, just a pelting of rain, refreshing and fun, after the heat of the past few days.  Later in the afternoon, Evie worked on weighing the bean bags, each one 13.3 ounces, then sewed them back up, so all were uniform, ready for the tournaments to come.

Weighing and Sewing Up Bean Bags

The Mc Clures came over at 5:30 and we went down town, to Jamestown, as a band we like Smackdab, was putting on a free concert in the Wintergarten Plaza, on Main Street, on Third Thursdays, an attempt to bring people downtown.  Unfortunately, it was rainy when we got there at 6:30 and no band yet, so we went to Taco Hut for dinner, figuring they would be playing after we ate.  We enjoyed our meals at the best Mexican restaurant in Jamestown (the only one, as Mitch reminded me) and walked back to the park, just in time for the band to start.  It was a very different crowd of people gathered, not exactly the CI crowd.  Most were what I would call the underclass, those who live in downtown Jamestown, along with their children, many of whom were enjoying the music by playing with hula hoops. The younger crowd were a mixture of rapper look, with a few hippies thrown in, none looking preppy or prosperous.  We stood in the rain, with our umbrellas, people watching, and enjoying the music.  We stayed almost an hour, and got a beer at the Wine Cellar(compliments of Ron), which abuts the brick park.  When Ron and I walked in the bar, we were hit by the smell of stale beer, smoke perhaps, bringing back memories of dives past , like the Lauhala Room in Honolulu, half bar, half laundry mat where we used to spend evenings bowling on their machine with the locals.  It was my get rich scheme to open a series of bar/laundromats across the country and become rich.  I became a teacher instead.

At Smackdab Concert

Kids Hula Hooping to Smackdab

A Hula Hoop Magician

We  got home about 9:30, just in time for more crispy cremes as we watched another episode of Breaking Bad, a really good one, as Walt and Jessie baked a batch of meth only to find out there car battery was dead.  Since they were in the dessert with little water, they had to figure a way out or die of thirst or heat.  After various attempts at starting the RV, Walt makes up a battery with some of the chemicals and they finally make it out.  Jesse continues to screw up just about everything he tries, which adds to the black humor of the series.  Mitch really enjoyed this one.  He's getting in to it.   His Mom is not happy!

A Deliciously Cool Morning on the Lake

6:06

Breakfast on the Porch

Granny and Mitch enjoying dinner

Our teenager grandson goofing around 

Cleaning Up 

Up at 5:40, to cool house, slightly lit sky over Long Point.  I got my coffee and went outside and sat on the front porch to watch the sun rise at 6:01, though it did not really appear until about 6:15, as it was hidden mostly be clouds and the horizon.   I have wondered what the time of sunrise means, where does it rise at 6:01 because it appears above the horizon here at the lake usually ten to fifteen minutes after the scheduled time.

Yesterday was our first full day with Mitch.  After I got back from kayaking, Evie took Mitch out in the kayaks to the campground, where they fed the animals and walked the grounds.  I went for a bike ride through the campground, stopped to feed the animals with them, then continued down 394 to Victoria Road and home.  We all then went swimming and worked on some of the floats, rigging up anchors, things like that.  We had wraps for lunch, and spent the afternoon reading, moving chairs so Evie could cut the lawn, swimming and relaxing around the house.

About 4:30, we went off to Reno Pottery, on the other side of the lake near Dewittville,  Mitchell has a real talent for throwing pots and has been at it for a couple of years.  We had a great visit with Jim and Pat Reno.  They have an amazing house, studio and garden and I cannot believe this was the first time we had been there.  Jim took Mitch, Evie and I though his studio, showing us all his ovens and clay or porcelain making machinery.  We then ended up talking with both he and his wife for at least a half an hour.  We also realized that he had made the chopstick bowls which Chelo had given us back in 1995 when she came to visit.  He bought this place forty years ago, a pig farm at the time, and along with his wife Pat, built the house, then the studio and the garden.  He says that both he and his wife were hippies back in the 60's, when they bought and built this house.  He didn't get the passion for throwing pots until his thirties when he realized he could make a living doing it.  For years, both of them would go around the states, setting up their pots at fairs, outdoor markets, any type of craft fair, mostly on the east coast.  They settled down four years ago in their house and most of his pottery is sold from his house or on line.  He's an interesting guy and we hit it off, probably because we started talking about Turkey and he had mentioned how much he loved his visits to Istanbul and other cities.  So we had that in common.  Outside, he has this amazing garden, with hundreds of pots of sedums, that he sells for $28.00 a piece.  You get the plant and a original pot.  He has them set on tables and in the winter, he sets them on the ground and they winter well and the pots, because they are porcelain, don't break.  He told me at this point in life, he wants for nothing, his tastes are simple, a good bottle of wine, some good food, and a bit of exercise to keep healthy.  We are going to have to have them over for dinner next fall.

We got home about 6:00 and all three of us made dinner, Mitchell was our sous chef, grating the potatoes for my famous hash browns (Mitch loved them), helping Evie with the breaded tilapia, and husking the sweet corn.  It was a lovely evening to eat out side, as it had cooled down, so we enjoyed our meal as the sun began to set.  Dinner was great, and all three of us were really hungry.  After dinner, Evie and Mitch played bean bag and I watered the garden and plants.  About 9:00, we came in for peach pie and another episode of Breaking Bad.  We all laughed quite a bit at this episode as Walt and Jesse have to get a lawyer, "Call Saul", to help spring one of their drug runners.  It's a very funny episode since they are such neophytes in the drug game.  Mitch is really beginning to like it as well.

THE MAN WHO SMILED: HENNING MANKELL

My third Kurt Wallander mystery is set in Ystad, a town in Sweden, not far from Oslo.  Wallander is recovering from his previous novel, where he actually kills a man.  As a result, he's on leave, distraught, walking beaches, trying to decide what to do with his life, whether to give up police work.  The son of a friend finds him on a beach and wants Wallander to help him, as he fears his father, a lawyer friend of Wallander's has been murdered.  Wallander hesitates until a few days later when he finds that the son had also been murdered.  This thrusts Wallander back into the thick of things, as he feels guilty for not having listened to the son.  He's welcomed back, and the search for the killer takes time, eventually leading to a rich and reclusive Swedish industrialist, Dr. Harderberg, living in Farnholm Castle, just outside of Ystaad.  He's one of Sweden's most respected rich, giving lavishly to  charities, so Wallander has to fight the higher ups who fear upsetting this great man.  Of course, Kurt, as he gets closer, has only distain for the man, even more so because he's convinced that he's a killer.  In the process, Wallander's car gets blown up by a bomb, an older lady, the lawyer's secretary narrowly escapes a mine planted in her garden.  As things unwind, Kurt finds that the two murdered lawyers, and a friend, also murdered though it's made to look like a suicide. have discovered that the industrialist has basically set up ponsi schemes and because of this, he must murder them.  He's also involved in secret organ transplants, often taking place in third world countries where the poor will sacrifice an organ, even kill, for a few thousand dollars.  My only beef is the end.  As usual, Wallander goes off alone, without a weapon, to confront the industrialist and his two lethal body guards, is captured, but at the last minute, he somehow disarms both guards, shoots them, and thwarts the industrialists plan to flee the country via his private jet.  And he does this all by himself without a gun, without telling anyone what he was doing though he could have easily called for help.  He reminds me of a Jason Bourne or Jack Reacher though he lacks their macho. The story itself, the characters, the psychological underpinnings, however, make the novel fun to read.  Mankell has also added a new detective, this time  a women, versed in the new ways of policing, challenging the old boys net work.  Her name is Ann-Britt Hoglund, and Wallander befriends her, becoming her mentor, as we was once taught.