Cooling It In Bristow, VA

After Dinner

Roses In The Neighborhood

I was awake at 5:45, the sun filling the bedroom because I forgot to close the curtains.  My trusty dog Coco next to me, sleeping under a pillow, lost to the world.  I did not get up till 6:15, made my coffee, let the dog out, grabbed my computer and I have been sitting here for close to an hour, Coco snuggled up against my leg.  Evie's up and Hayden as well; she's got about a half hour to have breakfast and get ready for school.  I remember those days, of getting up late, rushing around, afraid you might be late.  No more.

Yesterday was the last of the mid summer Bristow days for awhile as its cooled off considerably overnight.  Because of the heat and humidity, we once again stayed indoors for much of the day.  I took Coco for an early morning walk, of course, and he was a reluctant camper much of the way, not sure why.  He was parched when we returned, but did not seem to want water or food.  He wanted to just lay outside in the sun which was worrying to Evie, afraid he might have heat stroke and die on us.  So she brought him inside, got him fresh water and food and he finally drank and ate.  Catastrophe avoided.

After School Snack

My computer has been really slow  lately, not sure why, whether it was the computer or wifi, so I drove off to Starbucks, had a coffee, and worked on my computer arranging pictures for about an hour.  It was the wifi because I had no trouble at Starbucks.  I have the same trouble at the lake, so I might have to get the high speed Internet from Time Warner for an extra ten bucks a month.  Starbucks was filled with mom's with kids, guys on computers, with headphones, conducting business, a cheap office I suppose.  I wonder how many are regulars, and if Starbucks has a policy about overstaying.

We did not do much the rest of the day, had lunch of leftover tacos and watched a rerun of The Daily Show.  Basically, we waited for the  girls to come home by reading, watching some TV, and surfing the Internet.  Hayden got home around 3:30 and I  took her to an appointment at 4:00, about 15 minutes away.  The appointment was for an hour so I stopped at a local shopping center, wasted a half hour at Foster's Grille, a local characterless bar with a beer, bought a few things for dinner at Harris Teeter, then picked up Hayden and I was back by 5:15.

Needs Tidying Up

When I got home, Halle had just returned from a workout with the Bristow Run Running Club after school, and had friend over, helping with her math homework at the kitchen table.  Hayden, the good girl that she is, did not relax but put on her workout clothes and went downstairs for forty five minutes to do the Insanity workout.  She came up drenched in sweat and went up to take a shower.

Yogurt With Fresh Fruit, A Granny Snack

For dinner, we had tilapia, green beans, fries and salad and Hayden was famished, finishing up both Halle and my fries. Even though she can really eat, she's like a stick.  After dinner, Hayden got down to work,  stayed at it until about 9:45, working on a Spanish project.  She has one of those big statewide tests today in math, but she does not  seem to worried about it.  Halle had her work done so she was happy to have one of the last Nutty Buddy ice cream cones.  I watched the first half of the Warriors/Rockets game before going up to bed to read.

Another Hot Day In Virginia

Casual Tuesday

Halle Ready

Coco and I are up at 6:30, to a warm and partly cloudy morning.  It's 68º out, the high will be near 90º again then start to cool over the next couple of days, a more enjoyable 70's.  I was just thinking how I hardly paid attention to the weather until five years ago when I retired.  Perhaps I was too busy teaching or living on a lake makes you much more cognizant of weather, with its broad vistas and lake surface.  Or there's nothing else to do in the morning but talk about weather because I am retired. Maybe all three.

Rhododendrons

Yesterday was a good day to stay in the air conditioned house because of the heat and humidity so we did not venture out unless need be.  The girls are off to school each morning at 7:35 and 8:40 respectively.  Hayden takes a bus and Halle is driven, this week, by a friend of Jill's so I don't have to get up off my couch.  Around 9:00, however, I put on my walking shoes and took Coco out in the morning heat for a walk.  It was longer than I intended because I walked down the wrong street, thinking it led back to Jill's but it didn't, so I had to backtrack.  By the time I got home, forty five minutes later, I was sweaty and Coco was parched, racing to his water bowl.  At least he doesn't have anything to do the rest of the day except sleep on the couch, occasionally get up to eat or drink or chase a squirrel, the good dog life I suppose.  I am becoming more and more like him.

Evie spent the day working on the girls rooms, making some kitchen curtains for Jill.  Halle loves having Evie help her with reorganizing her room, and together they have made a collage of photographs from the past five or six years and they are now on a wall in her room.  She is really excited about it and when she got home from school, she hardly said hi but went straight up to her room to check it out.

The only major occurrence yesterday was our sitting down to watch the last episode of Mad Men, anxiously awaited by millions of viewers.  It tied to together the lives of various characters, most ending up happy at the moment, Peggy and Rodger with a spouse, Pete back with his wife, Joan starting a company on her own,  with the exception of Don's ex wife Betty, dying of lung cancer but still smoking, and Don, himself, who has struggled for six years with how to live his life, with finding meaning, despite the fact that he's been a successful ad man, making millions.  He ends up at a Californian retreat, probably the Esalen Institute, listening to a yogi mantra, 'a new day, new ideas, a new you', and chanting OM, seemingly 'empty and marvelous,' a smile on his face. Dan Draper is Moi!

And then the iconic 1971 Coke commercial plays, complicating the ending.

Does Don Have A Hippie Revelation Or Advertising Brainstorm

Summer Arrives In Virginia, A High Of 88º

Hayden, Our Tres Chic Eighth Grader

Halle and Coco

I was the first one up, of course, at 6:20, just me and the dog, who spent the might with me on his owner's bed.  It's already warm, 69º and we expect thundershowers later in the day to complement the heat, a typical summer  day in the DC area.  Evie, then Hayden were the next up, with Halle the last at 7:30.  So far, the morning has been fairly calm, with only Evie and me worrying about the girls getting off on time.

Yesterday was summer like, a shock for those of us who live in Chautauqua.  It's so green and warm here, whereas Chautauqua is still waiting for the trees to complete their blossoming and it's fairly cool, especially during the nights.   Jill and Drew were off for the airport around 8:10, their flight not leaving till 11:00 for Tampa, giving them lots of time.  The girls slept in because it was a weekend, so Evie and I relaxed with coffee waiting for them to arise.  Halle is usually the first up whereas Hayden like most teens, sleeps in till 10:00 or 11:00.  It's now 7:40 and Hayden just went out the door, to catch the bus.

Halle's Kondo Organized Drawers

We did not do much during the morning, just get organized with our things, wait for the girls to wake up.  I did get a walk in with Coco and plan on taking him out twice a day to get myself back into the habit of walking.  It was already warm and humid at 10:30, so I worked up a sweat walking for twenty minutes.  Late morning,  Evie and Halle went upstairs and started tidying up her room, the way we tidied up Hayden's yesterday, using the Kondo method of course.  The girls love doing it, mostly because their Granny is helping them clean out their drawers and closets, getting rid of things they don't wear, than organizing both.  I have to say both rooms look great but there are still nooks, crannies and drawers to "attack."  Evie and Halle also relocated Halle's hamster, Cinnamon, moving her out of Halle's closet to the basement, a good move, as she now has a room with a view and noone can hear her methodical treadmill during the night.

Cinnamon Exploring Her Just Washed Home

Hamster Love

We took a trip to the shopping center at 1:30, to Target, to pick up some odds and ends for the girls and dinner stuff.  It was a painful experience, not knowing for sure what we wanted and having no idea where it was in the store.  And when we finally found the area where, for example, posters were for Hayden, they were out.  A salesperson said she would go and get more and a half hour later she still had not reappeared.  So, we went to the grocery section, picked up Pringles and Nutty Buddies, Granny's influence along with the makings for tacos.  We also stopped at Petsmart, to pick up guinea pig food, then Walgreens, for a poster board for Hayden.  Needless to say, I was impatient most of the trip and happy as heck to get home.

The Girl Gang

Cookie Decorating

While I watched the NBA playoffs, the neighborhood girls descended upon the house, knowing Granny was in town.  Within minutes, they were all around the kitchen table, decorating the cookies Evie had brought from Chautauqua, just in case the gang wanted to decorate.  They had a great time before it was time to go home.  It was a fun way to spend the afternoon.

A Dog And His Best Friend

Around 6:30, Evie put together the makings for tacos and we all devoured them.  Nothing like a good taco with all the fixings, head lettuce, sauce, and sour cream.  For Halle, however, it was just a prelude to her Nutty Buddy.  Like her Granny, she is not good at 'delayed gratification,' and could hardly wait for her ice cream treat.  We then watched some of the Billboard Awards show with both girls, though Hayden was also doing her homework as she has a busy week.  Halle went up to bed around 9:00, Hayden around 9:30, to get a good start on their week.  Evie and I were both tired but stayed up to watch Nurse Jackie before going to bed.  Evie downstairs to the guest bedroom, me upstairs with the dog, an interesting arrangement.

It's now 8:30, about time to drop Halle off at school because it's too hot to walk with Coco, maybe later in the week when it cools off.

Hot And Humid In Virginia

Tampa Bound

A Spring Green Morning In Virginia

It's 7:20 and I have been up for an hour, a gray, overcast morning here in Bristow.  So different from Chautauqua because everything is in bloom, the trees full, now enclosing the Bissell's home in a wall of green, so different from winter time. It's 68º at the moment, the high will be in the mid 80's, with thunderstorms predicted for the next three days.

We left the lake as we hoped by 7:30 yesterday morning and had an easy, uneventful drive of seven hours.  It was overcast when we left, having rained overnight and our drive was through mostly cloudy skies, an occasional ray of sun would highlight a distant hill.  We know the drive by heart, so no need for maps or GPS though I did take a wrong turn once I got to Bristow...only god is perfect!
Lots of yards sales in the various towns we passed through, as well as flea markets where locals could bring their stuff to sell.  It was tempting to stop but more tschotske is the last thing we need.

Hayden, The Good Student

We hit Bristow at 2:40, stepped outside and almost wilted in the 85º heat, but Halle came charging out to give us a welcoming hug.  Nothing like granddaughters.  Drew was working in the yard, of course,  and Jill was off grocery shopping.  Hayden was up working on homework, but rushed downstairs when she realized we had arrived.  Both girls are great, happy and busy with school and their lives.

Making Salad With Halle And Jill

Jill was home soon after we arrived, so we all sat and relaxed in the living room, as it was too warm to sit outside despite the neat, new umbrella they just got, which hangs over all their porch furnitue, shielding it from the sun.  Jill had just read an article on 'tidying up,' not realizing that I had read and started implementing Marie Kondo's book.  Hayden and Halle got interested in Kondo's idea, so within an hour, Evie and Hayden had completely redone Hayden's drawers in the Kondo method and Hayden was really excited about it.  I guess there is 'life changing magic in tidying up.'

Grilling In Smoke And Rain

We were having burgers and a salad for dinner and as luck would have it, it began to pour just as Drew went outside to grill the burgers, a hard, pelting rain.  Fortunately, he had an umbrella and within ten minutes, we had our burgers and dinner.  After dinner, the girls wanted to watch a movie and we had been talking about Bill Murray, so we were able to find one of his older classics, WHAT ABOUT BOB.  All of the adults had seen it but not the girls.  It is a funny movie, worth seeing again I might add.  By 10:00, Drew was yawning as he gets up very early, and the rest of us were tired as well, so were in bed by 10:30

It's now 7:40 and Jill and Drew will be driving off to the airport in a half hour.  Drew is at huge Special Operations Conference in Tampa and Jill is tagging along for the fun of it.  And we get to take care of the girls until late Thursday when they return. And, Coco, the dog who I get to sleep with!

Leaving The Lake For A Couple of Weeks

5:40

6:00

6:-05

6:06 

We are both up early,  Evie at 5:30, me at 5:55, and we hope to be off for Bristow, VA, by 7:30, to visit our daughter Jill an her family, babysit when Jill and Drew take a business/pleasure trip to Tampa for five days.  We are looking forward to seeing Hayden and Halle since we have not seen them since Christmas.

Yesterday went quickly, even though we did not have too much to do.  No trips to Lakewood, to Wegmans, as we just hung out here at the house, slowly packed, worked some in the yard, occasionally went out to the dock to fish, to see if we could catch one more bass before we left.  No luck.

I did manage to kayak for a half hour but as luck would have it, it started to rain just as I got out there.  I stuck with it until the lake looked like it was being pelted with bullets and  I knew it was time to go in,  When I got in, it was time for my monthly hair cut, much easier this time of the year because we set the chair outside, so Evie can cut it in the breeze and I have a great view of the lake. And we have not clean up.  I may have mentioned this before but I have been to a tonsorial parlor only once in the past forty five years.  The rest of the time Evie has been my barber and I think she is beginning to wish she never started this.

For lunch, Evie made tuna/cheddar melt sandwiches, broiled them, and we watched the last episode of RITA, a Danish series.  It was sad to see it end because we both really liked it and wished it had another season.  The rest of the afternoon was given up to reading, taking a nap and watching more NBA on the tube.  This could go on for another three weeks, as the NBA season never seems to end.

Anyways, by 4:30, we were all packed, organized and ready for our trip, so we both grabbed a beer, a common occurrence recently, and went out on the dock to fish for a half hour before coming in to get dinner ready.

Dinner, as we planned, was leftovers, the shoyu chicken and rice from Monday night.  We were excited to sit down, get the evening over with, so we could be on our way.  But we did look forward to seeing the last episode of American Crime, the best show on TV recently and not on a cable channel. The ending, as expected, was a combination of tragedy and commiseration.  The series creates sympathy as much for the perpetrators as for the victims, which is unusual.  We both highly recommend it.

THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH: RICHARD FLANAGAN

Flanagan won the Mann Booker Prize this past year for this novel, which took him 12 years to write. The title is taken from a famous Japanese poem by the poet Basho.  Flanagan is from Tasmania, perhaps the first great novelist from there.  It's a very difficult novel to describe because it takes on so many shapes, like Proteus.  The novel opens with a couple of childhood memories, pre WW II, from the main protagonist Dorrigo Evans.  We then jump to one of the many affairs he has had during his long life, and we get some information about his background, and a sense why he's been a life long philanderer, but because of his experiences during WW II and  being an eminent surgeon, he's become famous, much admired by his peers.  In his own mind, however, he considers himself a fraud, deserving of disdain rather than admiration. And the rest of the novel tries to tell us why he feels this way, why despite the accolades, he seems lost, unhappy, continually searching for some thing he's lost or cannot have.

The novel then surprisingly jumps back to his training to be a surgeon in the Australian army as war has broken out.  At this point, he is a typical roustabout, training hard during the day, playing at night and the weekends.  It ends  when he casually runs into Amy Mulvaney, whom he later discovers is married to his uncle.  It does the not matter; they have a passionate affair, the only genuine love of his life but because of the war, they part, wondering if they will ever meet again.

The novel then moves forward and the novel becomes a prisoner of war story.  This section reminds me of the the best seller UNBROKEN, which also was set in a Japanese prison camp.  In this section, Dorrigo and other prisoners, Australian and Asia, are forced into slave labor, building a railroad through Siam, now Thailand.  Dorrigo, because he is an officer, has become the leader of the prisoners, loved and admired, even revered for his willingness to confront the stern Japanese commanders.  Life is atrocious, a combination of mud, rain, diseases like malaria and cholera, as well as the violent treatment of the prisoners by the guards. Historians estimate that 100,000 slaves laborers died, building  'The Line.' It's hard to believe anyone could survive a week let alone a couple of years of this life, yet Dorrigo and a few men did.

As the war ends, and we see the aftermath, the prison camps effects not only on Dorrigo and his men, but also, strangely, the Japanese commander of the camps and one of the guards.  We see how they cope with being called animals, face war tribunals and hanging, despite the fact that they thought there were doing what was expected of a good soldier--- the will of the Emperor.  It's clear that Flanagan wants us to understand how/why the prisoners were so mistreated, that this violence and martial discipline was part of Japanese culture.  The Japanese, also, looked down on the prisoners for having been captured rather than dying to avoid dishonor.  And we see how complicated the world is, no easy answers, no good or evil, just a world that 'is.'  One of the guards, however, does have an epiphany when he understands that all he believed in, all he thought was true, was incorrect or just plain wrong.

And returning home, a wife and a family and career as an imminent surgeon bring Dorrigo no peace as this paragraph shows:

"And his life was now, he felt, one monumental  unreality, in which everything that did not matter---professional ambitions, the private pursuit of status, the color of wallpaper, the size of an office or the matter of a dedicated parking space---was vested with the greatest significance, and everything that did matter---pleasure, joy, friendship, love---was deemed somehow peripheral.  It made for dullness mostly and weirdness generally (340 Kindle)."

The novel ends with Dorrigo's attempts to make sense of this world, what it expected of him, how his past, his unfulfilled love for Amy and his war experiences, have made his later life a mockery.  He never does find peace in his domestic life, his wife, children or medical career, despite the fact that he's seemingly successful, admired, even famous.  All this makes him even more depressed and unhappy with life.

 In the end, however, he comes to some kind of an epiphany, yelling out just before he dies in a hospital bed: "Advance forward gentlemen.  Charge the windowsill," suggesting that life is to be met head on, regardless of circumstances, like a Don Quixote, charging at wind mills.  The ending reminds me of the closing paragraph of my favorite book, ZORBA THE GREEK.  Zorba, on his death bed, "brushed us aside, jumped out of bed and went to the window.  There he gripped the frame, looked out into the mountains, opened wide his eyes and began to laugh, then to whinny like a horse.  It was thus, standing, with his nails dug in the window frame, that death came to Zorba."

One of the centerpieces of the novel, that which acts as Dorrigo's mantra is Tennyson's great poem included below:

Ulysses

BY ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON

It little profits that an idle king,

By this still hearth, among these barren crags,

Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole

Unequal laws unto a savage race,

That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.

I cannot rest from travel: I will drink

Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy'd

Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those

That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when

Thro' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades

Vext the dim sea: I am become a name;

For always roaming with a hungry heart

Much have I seen and known; cities of men

And manners, climates, councils, governments,

Myself not least, but honour'd of them all;

And drunk delight of battle with my peers,

Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.

I am a part of all that I have met;

Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'

Gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades

For ever and forever when I move.

How dull it is to pause, to make an end,

To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!

As tho' to breathe were life! Life piled on life

Were all too little, and of one to me

Little remains: but every hour is saved

From that eternal silence, something more,

A bringer of new things; and vile it were

For some three suns to store and hoard myself,

And this gray spirit yearning in desire

To follow knowledge like a sinking star,

Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

         This is my son, mine own Telemachus,

To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,—

Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil

This labour, by slow prudence to make mild

A rugged people, and thro' soft degrees

Subdue them to the useful and the good.

Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere

Of common duties, decent not to fail

In offices of tenderness, and pay

Meet adoration to my household gods,

When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.

         There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:

There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,

Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me—

That ever with a frolic welcome took

The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed

Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;

Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;

Death closes all: but something ere the end,

Some work of noble note, may yet be done,

Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.

The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:

The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep

Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,

'T is not too late to seek a newer world.

Push off, and sitting well in order smite

The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds

To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths

Of all the western stars, until I die.

It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:

It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,

And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

The Sun Just Popped Out

7:04

8:02

It's 8:00 and I have been up for just an hour, having slept in like a baby until 7:00.  It was cloudy when I got up, but the sun has just appeared, filling the lake with its shimmery reflection.  About 7:30 I was outside taking a photograph when a boat next store started its motor and revved it up.  I looked up at our open bedroom window and I knew Evie would be getting up soon.  Bass boats arising, signs of summer.

Yesterday, like many yesterdays, was a blur.  It started with breakfast with four of the boys.  Since I did not have yoga, I had the special, an omelet with cheese, mushrooms, and tomatoes, living it up. Jack was heading to Rochester for the day, as they have a week long lilac festival (over a 100 varieties) in Highland Park, a great arboretum like park.  We will have to remember this for next year.  We also talked to Rollie Kidder, one of the movers for a new sewer system around the lake.  It looks as if it may be a go if they can come up with state and federal funding.  The hope is that it will make Chautauqua Lake more healthy.  The only worry, how much it will cost taxpayers and whether they will vote for it in a referendum.  Chautauqua County is such a poor area that voting against a new system has to be a worry.

After breakfast, I came home and Evie was working around the house, organizing for our trip to Virginia.  I had some errands to run, so I drove to Ryder's Cup, bought a coffee and some fresh eggs, went to the bank, then drove downtown to Jamestown's AAA.  I picked up a few maps for our trip to Virginia and Connecticut but also maps of Texas, Dallas, and nearby states as our daughter Beth and her family will be moving to Dallas in mid June.  Even though Maps on my computer is great, I still like to have a physical map in hand.  I then stopped at Wegman's, picked up a salmon filet and spinach for dinner and was home time for lunch, a leftover sub and omelet from yesterday morning's breakfast.  And I watched some of the Golden State/Grizzlies game because I really like watching league MVP Stephen Curry play, an amazing 3 point shooter.

The Complete Angler

I then read some, tried to take a nap, then went out and cleaned the car, getting it ready for our trip.  It took about an hour.  Afterwards, Evie and I went on the dock to enjoy the sun though it was windy enough to need a fleece.  Evie fished some and believe it, she caught a two to three pound bass, just as big if not bigger than the one I caught a few days ago.  Around 4:30, Evie decided she needed some exercise.  Her kind of exercise is to cut the lawn so it looks amazing, rich and green.

Another Bass Beauty Caught on A
'Little Cleo' Lure

For dinner, we had salmon, garlic spinach, rice, salad and a nice cold glass or two of sauvignon blanc. We watched Rita, one episode left before turning to the last three quarters of the Cleveland Cavs blow out of the Chicago Bulls, a surprise because they lost their other great guard, Kyrie Irving in the first quarter.  I don't think they can win the title without him and for now, it's not clear how bad he's been hurt.