Another Chautauqua Thaw

6:43

7:17

7:18

Up at 6:40, to a surprisingly bright sky, clear and blue, with a growing orange along the shoreline.  I shouldn't be surprised, however, as the sunrise is earlier each day, today's at 7:07 supposedly, but it pops up here at the lake usually six or seven minutes later, at 7:17.

Yesterday is momentarily a blank, a result I think of the sameness of most of our days.  How, for example, does yesterday differ from the previous four or five.  Not much I guess as I look back.  The day started with a 9:00 basic yoga class, with four of us, one a novice.  A good class, then coffee at Ryder's Cup and a aloha to all the regulars, the parents, etc. To add spice to my morning, however, I stopped at Reverie Creamery to pick up a couple of frozen baguettes, some St. Ivy cheddar, and tried a Buffalo Milk soft cheese from Italy.  It's nice having this gourmet cheese store a few minutes from our house and the owner, Rico, now greets me by name.  I arrived home to a busy wife, who was working with the biga (sponge like starter which spent 3 days in the refrigerator), added the rest of ingredients, let it rise twice before shaping into a couple of loaves of bread.  And she had put together our dinner, a recipe that I picked out from a blog that I thought would  be interesting, a cabbage, Italian sausage, and white bean stew.  It was interesting but not very good!  Mea culpa.

Around 12:30, Evie hustled off to the gym, happy to be in a groove, of looking forward to working out (partly because of the music she plays as she works out) and because of new Brooks shoes.  She was ready for bear.  For lunch, I defrosted some of Evie's vegetable soup and finished off the sub from the Lighthouse Grocery.  And I watched TREME, read and had a nice siesta, waking just in time to turn the oven on to 500º, so it would be ready for Evie when she got home so she could pop the bread in.  An hour later, we had two gorgeous, crusty loaves of Italian bread, the smell filling the kitchen, making me want to cut it immediately and spread it with butter.  No go...I had to let it rest.

Around 4:15, despite the melting snow, I decided to cross country ski, thinking I could find some decent snow if I went to the campground.  I was wrong as most of the snow on the roads had melted, so I was forced to ski much of the time on the four inch edge of the asphalt, where there was still some snow.  And I had to take off my skis and walk in a section that was completely melted.  Even so, I did work up a good sweat by the time I got home.  I quickly took a shower, felt great, as we both then sat down to some wine and great appetizers, cut up apples, St. Ivy cheddar, and homemade bread.  We were in heaven and neither of us really cared about dinner.  A good thing because the cabbage stew was mediocre at best even though I had a couple of helpings, to prove to Evie that I liked it (which I didn't much).  We watched the much ballyhooed movie THE MARTIAN and to be honest, we were both bored most of the film until the last 15 minutes, when there was some tension.  I suppose the visual effects of life on Mars pushed the film into one of the top ten of the year but the story line was predictable and there was little emotion, no relationships, little tension.  I think we both are becoming a couple of film and TV curmudgeons.

Warming Up For The Weekend (Snowmobile Hell)

7:30

It' 7:30 and I have been up for less than an hour; the gray skies have replaced the brilliant blue of yesterday morning, the temperature is about the same, 25º, but freezing rain and perhaps 40º temperatures are in the making.  The fishermen are out, as usual, as I count six guys enjoying the early morning on the lake.

Ready To Cross Country Ski On A Beautiful Morning But

Because yesterday was such a sunny day, blue skies, the bright whiteness of snow, we both decided to break up our routine and go cross  country skiing in the morning once it warmed up which means waiting for it to get above single digits.  So at 10:30, we drove off to Mayville, thinking that Webb's Trail, because it's flat and scenic would be good.  Wrong.

Coming

We should have realized it when we parked our car along with various snow mobile trailers.  We started out, were passed by a couple of snowmobiles but we thought that would about it.  About 50 drive by's later, we gave up and returned to our car.  Not only did they often not slow down, but the trail, at least for us, was filled with exhuast fumes.  This was the first time we have experienced such traffic and will be sure to make sure it's the last.  We then parked at Mayville's Park, hoping to ski on the lake as there were lots of fishermen out there.  Well, not only was the snow deep, so we had to literally trudge through the snow but it was also wet beneath the snow, icing up our skies.   And despite the cold tempertures, we both worked up a sweat because of the deep snow.  Rats.   So, we packed up or skis, decided it was not our day, and stopped at the Lighthouse Grocery to pick up a sub sandwich for lunch, the only good part of the morning.

Going

Lunch, then was easy, a sub and the last of the cauliflower soup.  I watched some Sports Center and took a brief nap before heading off to Jamestown to pick up my new glasses despite the fact that one lens was not quite right.  When I left, Evie went out again to get in some cross country skiing but unfortuantely, she faced the same problem, deep snow and her skies icing up.  My eye appointment, however, went well and they let me take my new glasses home and will call me when the new right lens comes in.  Afterwards, because I had read about a cabbage and sausage recipe, I stopped at a local grocery store Brigiotta's and picked up some of their homemade sausage and a head of cabbage. Then on to Wegman's to pick up a few more things before I stopped at the self car wash and bank.  Finally, after five stops, I drove home with an almost clean car.  It won't last long around here.

Woodlawn Blue And White And Brown

Evie was busy getting our dinner ready, salmon, garlic spinach and rice.  The shadows had already begun to fall on the lake but I was determined to get in some skiing so I started on the lake but soon realized it was too soggy to go far.  So I skied up into the Victoria/Woodlawn woods and worked up quite a sweat because the snow was deep and much of my trail was uphill.  I even fell for the first time this year as I was struggling up a steep hill when my poles slipped and my skis went backwards. The hard part of cross country skiing is trying to get up after falling but I did it without having to take off my skies, the only triumph of my afternoon.  I was home after 5:00, happy to get off my sweaty clothes, put on sweats and sit down on the couch with Evie and have a glass of fine wine....two buck chuck of course.

It Takes A Village

Dinner was great, one we come back to almost every other week, salmon glazed with orange marmalade/mustard/balsamic vinegar/hot sauce, garlic spinach, huge salad and rice.  We watched two quite good mini series, American Crime Story, wrenching and well acted, then the O.J. story which is surprisingly good.  We finished the night with American Idol, thinking it would be terrible because we did not much like any of the contestants but we were surprised how good they all were in the duets with past Idol stars.  Wrong again.

A Crystal Clear Morning Sky

6:32

6:34

7:34

I have been up since 6:30, listening to Morning Joe tout the virtues of Donald Trump, or rather his ability to not answer a question, to fudge an answer to the extent that you go onto something else.  It's a great morning sky, in contrast, clear for the most part, with some clouds hanging out over the Bemus Point shoreline.  It's a chilly 5º, a  result of the clear sky and will get up to the 20's later in the day, a perfect combination for cross country skiing.  And instead of a disc rising, rays of sunshine straight up in the air, as if there's a fire.  Strange.  I do not remember seeing this until this winter.  Climate change?  Coincidence?  It's now 7:18 and the sun has risen, filling the living room with his light, turning the lake orange,

Fog Rising Over Long Point At 9:20 In The Morning

Yesterday was another day of light snow on and off during the day, an accumulation of perhaps three or four inches, enough, however, to get me out with my shovel to clear the parking area once again. This is getting tiresome!  I drove to Lakewood to yoga, walked into the studio and it was empty...class was at 10:00, not 9:30 idiot!  So I went to Ryder's Cup, had a cup of java, reread the Post Journal, then meandered back to class at 10:00, with Jen.  It's always a good class, most of the same people, who seem to come only on Wednesdays.  Afterwards, I drove straight home since I already had my coffee.  Evie was ready to head off to do some shopping, for groceries as well as the Y.  I wished her good luck, happy to be home, with a lunch of leftover pot roast and a bagel.  I did not have time to stick with my routine of TREME, reading and a nap because I had a dentist appointment at 2:00.  An hour later, I was on my way home after an uncomfortably long filling of a cavity.  Not much fun.  When I got home, I did some more shoveling and as I was finishing, Evie drove in, around 3:30, with a car loaded with groceries. I helped her cart the groceries in, finished the shoveling and came in to relax for a while before going out to dinner.

Hello

A Well Fed Male Cardinal

At 6:00, we drove in a light snow to Ron and Linda's, enjoyed a beer and some cheese and crackers with them before driving to the VFW, a couple miles up the road from them.  We have been there a number of times over the years for wings on Wednesday night.  There were about ten people sitting around the bar, another couple eating wings, and us.  We got our usual, wings and sweet potato fries. They were cooked well, nice and meaty and the Yuengling drafts were fine.  We were home by 8:45, in time to watch some tv before going upstairs to read.

Mid Week Blues

Snow Babe

7:32

Another morning at the lake, a light, wet snow at the moment, little accumulation overnight, as winter continues here at the lake, with an early morning temperature of 26º.  The temperatures will be dropping during the day to single digits tonight.  That's the good news, the bad, it will be in 40's on Friday and Saturday.  I wish the weather gods would let continuous winter weather hang around for a while.

Yesterday for the first time, we both felt snowed in, not that we were, just that we had quite a bit of accumulation overnight, close to a foot I would estimate.  Our parking area was covered, plus the plow created huge piles along the road, making it difficult to clear our parking area.  So, I went out early to get a start but the snow was wet and heavy, so I took it extremely easy, biting off junks of this snow fall elephant a bit at at time.

Among The Giants

Wind and Squalls On Long Point

We determined earlier we did not want to venture into Lakewood but the snow was so good that we decided to drive to Long Point, on icy, snow roads by the way, to cross country ski and snow shoe at Long Point State Park.  We took our time driving over, sliding a bit where the plows had left piles of snow.  And we started in the park in deep snow, so deep that I could hardly slide on my skies.  Eventually, I let Evie go ahead and make a trail for part of the way until we got to areas with less snowfall, so I was able to glide, not plod along like I was on snow shoes.  It snowed much of the time, a biting, icy snow, hitting our faces and we loved it until we got down close to the lake, with no bushes or trees to protect us.  As we made our way out to Long Point's tip, we both feared for frost bite because of the wind,  In fact, the wind was so strong that it made literal waves of snow along the path, covering the tracks of skiers from the other day.  It was cool.  It was an exhausting, physically demanding morning exercise, and it took us two hours to finish our loop of 3 1/2 miles.  We felt elated when we finished, happy to have done it,  glad it was over, like most workouts.  We did not get home until 1:30, so Evie went inside to make lunch and I stayed outside, taking another bite out of our snow elephant.

Winter Cathedral

Heavy Winter Frosting

Lunch was soup and tuna melts, another TREME, some reading, then a great nap.  Evie took it easy as well though she was not as sore as me.  She did put together a biga, a starter for bread, which she will make either today or tomorrow after it has risen and developed a taste.  Around 4:00, we both went out for at least a half hour to finish the shoveling of our parking area and road.  If the snowplow had not created such a mess, we could have been done much earlier.  Anyways, we got it done by 5:00, in time to come in and have some wine time before Evie went into the kitchen to make dinner. We decided to make use of the leftover ham, so Evie fried it up, with eggs, asparagus and home fries, and we had what reminded us of an Easter brunch.  Yum.

We watched the first episode of the second season of BETTER CALL SAUL, which we liked though we are a bit confused of the chronology of this particular show.  We then channel surfed, watched a James Corden but ended up watching the always delightful Westminster Dog Show.  It's always fun to speculate which dog we would want if we wanted a dog!  All of them are fun to watch but we both like the Otterhound the best, flouncy, long haired, and curious.  We will watch the second day of the show later in the week.  I am back in Berlin, during WW II, in my 7th Bernie Gunther novel, by British writer Phillip Kerr.  What a contrast to be back in the dark world of Nazi Germany after Bruno The Police Chief's small town in France.  

Otterhound

BLACK DIAMOND: MARTIN WALKER

This, the second Bruno the Police Chief novel, is set like all his novels in Southern France.  And in this  case, truffles are the black diamonds in Bruno's small town of St. Denis, their main livelihood along with wine.  As a result, the residents are skeptical of strangers, especially those who promise tourist developments and jobs and  have lots of money, even if they were once from St. Denis. As the novel begins, the local saw mill is closing down, supposedly because it refused to make changes that would satisfy the Green party.  The owner has moved the mill to another town, received a tax break, and many think this was his plan all along. Interestingly, leading the group that wanted the saw mill closed is the saw miller owner's son, a Green enthusiast, thus we have a father/son feud.

Bruno, the congenial chief of police, with his basset hound Gigi, uncovers a truffle scam, orchestrated by the mill owner's son, substituting inferior Chinese truffles for the real thing.  It takes time for Bruno to unravel the scam and also his attention is focused on a local Vietnamese family that is being harassed  by the influx of Chinese who are attempting to take control of the Asian population.  Bruno knows the family well, and eventually with the help of his friend J. J., irons out the feud between clans.  His love interest in early novels, Isabelle, has been transferred to Paris though she seems to return at least once or twice in each novel, complicating Bruno's burgeoning relationship with Pamela, a British widow and ex patriot of whom he has much in common.

So juggling his relationships and solving the truffle scam as well as the Vietnamese gang problems takes up much of his time which otherwise, like Inspector Maigret, in George Simenon's many novels, is taken up with eating, making meals, and drinking wine, one of the many reasons Bruno refuses to follow Isabelle to Paris: he loves the area of St. Denis.  I don't blame him; it sounds delightful.  The joy of these novels is Bruno, of course, his close relationships with everyone, from the shop keepers, to the farmers, to the major and Baron.  All seem to get along, with only occasional squabbles.  Trouble occurs always when something or someone from the outside is introduced.  In this case, it's the return of the son to the area who causes the trouble.  A fun set of novels.

Snow Bound

7:47

It's 7:30 and I have been up only a half hour, having slept in a bit.  It's a beautiful morning of white as we got another 10+ inches last night, frosting whatever was bare before.  More is expected today so it look like a good day to be outside either skiing or snowshoeing.  And the Arctic temperatures are gone as it's a warm 25º this morning, the high getting to 29º.  And it has just started snowing again...better get out there and start shoveling, trying to keep up with the snow gods (did the Greeks have a snow god?)

After a busy weekend, we both returned to our routine, happy to be 'back in the saddle again' (thanks Gene Autry).   I drove to yoga yesterday at 9:00, a different teacher because our usual instructor is vacationing in Italy and Croatia.  For some reason, I have always liked the idea of vacationing in Venice in the winter when, I assume, there are few tourists.  Anyways, class was fine, with Julie, an instructor I am used to and it was good for some of the Monday regulars to have a new teacher and realize her classes are good.  I stopped only to get gas, below two bucks, on the way home because I knew Evie wanted to get to the gym early, before the snows began.  It seemed to be a washing Monday, as our beds were stripped, both washer and dryer going when I got home.  Nothing like clean sheets to slide into at night.   I made myself a quesadilla and heated up some split pea soup, then settled down to watch TREME and some Sports Center.

Verticals Of Woodlawn

I then read, took a brief siesta, waking just as Evie walked in the store with groceries, storing up for the next couple of days in case we get snowed in.  Once the groceries were put away, Evie got busy with our dinner, a pot roast.  She seared the good looking piece of beef, added carrots, potatoes, and pearl onions, popped it in the oven, and dinner was basically ready.  I love the smell of a pot roast, as it fills the kitchen with its aromas.  I got up off my couch and despite the fact that it was windy and cold, I ventured out onto the lake, to see if it was good for cross country skiing.  The surface was decent but the wind was a killer, so I headed on shore at Victoria and skied up into the Victoria/Woodlawn woods, where there was little wind.  It was a good choice as I spent close to an hour bushwhacking and making trails through the woods, the snow perfect for skiing.  I was the only out although someone, probably Jeff and Nancy, had been out earlier skiing.

Chautauqua Lake's Twilight Blues

I was home just after 5:00, as it was getting dark, in time for wine time.  Evie, however, was busy in the kitchen, having decided that some fluffy biscuits, would be the perfect accompaniment to our pot roast.  When I tasted them, I had to agree but it cut short her wine time though she did not seem to mind.  Around 6:30, Evie made a salad,  dished out the pot roast, piled the biscuits on a plate, and we were ready for another great dinner.  It feels so good to be in our house, cosy and warm and well fed, as it snows outside.  We watched a couple of saved TV shows, BILLIONS and THE GOOD WIFE, We then skipped quickly through the disappointing Grammy Awards, as none of the musical acts, with the exception of the first scene from HAMILTON, grabbed us although Lady Gaga's tribute to David Bowie was good, even spectacular.  She is one talented woman.

Monday Chills (Viking Polar Plunge)

6:57

7:48

Well, another early morning, up at 6:00, as I felt my way around the kitchen to turn on the light, the coffee, and look outside to see if anyone was out fishing yet.   Too dark to tell but now, at 7:00, I can see at least four different fishermen out on this cold, 12º, and windy morning. Yesterday began with Evie making pancakes and bacon for the Purcells, Jim and his daughter, Shea, before they headed off to ski for the day at Holimont.  They hoped to leave by 7:30, ended up sleeping in, however, and not leaving until 9:00.  It should not have been a problem because the early morning was too cold to be out on the slopes.  We then cleaned up the kitchen, spent time on our devices, reading and surfing for something interesting before I went out, despite the cold, to shovel the parking area, again, of about four more inches of snow from overnight.  It was cold so I only stayed out for a short time. Sunny But Cold Morning Of Cross Country Skiing By noon, however, it had warmed up to around 15º and most importantly, there was little wind so we decided to give the lake a try, to see what the conditions were like for cross country skiing.  We started out towards Wells Bay but soon turned around because our skis were beginning to freeze up, the snow turning to water and ice.  Fortunately, we discovered if we kept close to the shoreline, there was ice, not water beneath the snow, probably because the wind had blown much of the snow off the surface.  So we were able to ski down to just past the campground, to Whitney Bay and back.  It was surprisingly comfortable because of the blue skies, bright sun and lack of wind.  On the way back, we realized that they were having the Polar Bear Swim at the Viking Club and Evie did not want to miss it, so we headed in around 1:15, to get dressed and drive over to the Viking Club. Intrepid Vikings Here He Goes Playful , Puppy Like, Vikings We got there just before the swim, so we along with six intrepid swimmers and a crowd of fifty went out to watch them jump in the lake.  Usually, everyone can walk out on the ice, to the swimming hole, and watch the fun but because the ice was so thin, probably around 4 inches, only the firemen and swimmers were allowed on the ice, a  good decision.  The group quickly jumped in and out, usually one at a time, and one of  the crazies even rolled in the snow before jumping in, to acclimate himself to the water.  They had a nice bonfire going on shore for them to keep warm.  It lasted about twenty minutes before everyone adjourned to the bar, to get back to the serious  business of the day, drinking and eating.  They were having a steak special if any one wanted, as well as raffles to support their scholarship funds, so it was a busy place. Barb Johnson With Daughter and Granddaughter We ran into Barb and Dana Johnson, who we got to know last spring when Barb helped Evie paint our bedrooms, so we spent a good hour talking with them and her kids, who were up from Florida for the weekend, a lucky grandmother.  They left around 4:00, to get some wings and thing at the golf course, so we continued to relax at the bar and talk with Dawn and Doug, other friends we have gotten to know at the Viking.  We stayed longer than we should have, had more beer than we should have, so by the time we got home we were both regretting our fun and I literally passed out on the couch and took a nice nap.  We are not very good when we have some beers in the afternoon but hey, it was great fun while it lasted. Warming Fire Here She Goes Leap Frogging On The Ice Fortunately, dinner was made, leftover spaghetti and meatballs, or I might not have gotten any.  Evie was in no mood to make anything, so we collapsed on the couches, ate dinner, and tried to stay awake as we watched LOVE AND MERCY, the biopic of troubled Beach Boy Brian Wilson. We then watched some junk TV and waited until we felt it was late enough to go up to bed.  Evie was up by 10:00 and I followed around 11:00, tired from our day of partying at the Viking Club. A Pieter Bruegel Like Afternoon On The Lake I had hoped to sleep in, no way, as I was up before the crack of dawn. Here's A Poem From Yesterday's Writer's Almanac: a nice, simple love poem, no frills, avoids sentimentality, just is.  Love it. Windchime by Tony Hoagland She goes out to hang the windchime in her nightie and her work boots. It’s six-thirty in the morning and she’s standing on the plastic ice chest tiptoe to reach the cross beam of the porch, windchime in her left hand, hammer in her right, the nail gripped tight between her teeth but nothing happens next because she’s trying to figure out how to switch #1 with #3. She must have been standing in the kitchen, coffee in her hand, asleep, when she heard it—the wind blowing through the sound the windchime wasn’t making because it wasn’t there. No one, including me, especially anymore believes till death do us part, but I can see what I would miss in leaving— the way her ankles go into the work boots as she stands on the ice chest; the problem scrunched into her forehead; the little kissable mouth with the nail in it.