ARCHANGEL: ROBERT HARRIS

This  thriller is set in Moscow, during the 1990's. It involves a dissipated, has been Russian scholar, aptly named Fluke Kelso.  He, along with other scholars, are invited to a conference in Moscow.  The conference supposedly will focus on the recently released Soviet archives.  Before the conference, Fluke is accosted by an elderly Russian, who seems to know him, probably because of his one famous early work.. The man pulls him aside;  they go up to Fluke's hotel room,  and he tells him a bizarre story about his past. In 1953, he was one  of the guards when Josef Stalin died at his Dachau. Shortly after his death, he and Beria,  Head of the KGB drove to Stalin's office, broke in and took a notebook of Stalin's. Two months later, Beria was dead and the old man, the guard, was sent to Siberia for 30 years.

He has known for years where the notebook was hidden by Beria and wants Fluke to help him make them public.  This begins the novel, as one of Stalin's old guard, Marmantov, also is aware of and wants the notebook.  He sets up Fluke, by sending him off to Siberia to find Stalin's remaining son who may know the whereabouts of the notebook.  Improbable yes, but there it is. Supposedly, according to the old man's story, Stalin chose a young girl from this Siberian town to be his helper, with the idea  that she would eventually bear him a son, continue his blood and name and rule Russia.

Fluke's skeptical but believes the story enough to takes a a train to Siberia to find him  An American journalist seems to appear out of nowhere, knows something about the story and accompanies Fluke on his journey, seemingly interested only in finding a good story for his paper. They eventually find a wild man who seems to be Stalin's son, half wolf man, for having lived on his own in Siberia for 30 plus years.  His education, after the death of his foster parents, seems to consist of having  read all of Stalin's speeches over and over, which he can recall verbatim.

Fluke decides this whole escapade, the notebooks, Stalin's son, is crazy, a way for the old guard, led by Marmantov,  to regain the power from the new guys, Yeltsin and Gorbachev.  Fluke almost succeeds before being confronted by Marmantov, who has set up this entire wild goose chase and hopes to use the son to gain power for himself  He comes close to achieving his goal until the daughter of the old man,  Stalin's former guard, alerted by Fluke to the fact that Marmantov killed her father, shoots him and the novel ends.  I am not sure that all's well that ends well works here.

The book was most interesting in its description of life in Russia under Stalin.  The plot was silly, the information around it, interesting, a result of much research by Harris.

Clouding Up

6:36

7:00

I have woken the past week almost at 6:00 on the dot every morning, like I have an alarm clock.  I would prefer to sleep in but I sense the sky starting to lighten, know it's around 6:00 and don't want to miss the sunrise.  Each morning until June 21st, the sun rises a few minutes earlier.  This morning it was supposed to rise at 6:26 according to Weather Underground but does not rise here, above the lake's eastern coastline, until six minutes later.  And now, at 7:00, the clouds have taken over, obscuring the sun, turning the blue lake to gun metal gray.  It's 52º and the next few days will see early morning temperatures dropping into the 30's.  

 Merganser

As I mentioned yesterday, I got a good kayak paddle in before leaving for yoga at 9:40.  When I get up at 6:00, have my coffee and write my blog, I still have a good hour or more to get something done or, like yesterday, go kayaking.  This morning, I just remembered, is breakfast with the guys at the Bemus  Point Inn.  Back to yesterday.  I went to yoga despite feeling crummy and the class did not help much.  I am suffering from lack of energy, the blahs, perhaps the spring blues, a result of the change of seasons.  But I marshaled on, like a good soldier, complaining only to my wife.  After class, I stopped at Aldi's, a store which is becoming increasingly popular around here and picked up, of all things, some items for my bike, one of their sale items this week.  

When I got home, Evie had been busy outside, enjoying the day, seeding the last bare spot in our yard, watching Mahlon's crew grind the stump next  door.  It's amazing how quickly the stump is gone, the hole is leveled, and they are on their way.  I was ready for lunch, so I heated up the two remaining cabbage rolls with sauerkraut for lunch and watched another episode of Game of Thrones.  Because of my ennui, I spent much of the afternoon on the couch, either dozing or reading or feeling guilty for wasting the day.  Evie was out, busy as the proverbial beaver, cutting the lawn, cleaning the garden by chopping all the remaining dead wood.  I finally decided to rise, went out and did some watering from the lake, but the afternoon was too nice to avoid lounging on the end of the dock in the warm sun.  So that's what I did for a good half hour, luxuriating in the warm spring sun, on the end of our dock, la dolce vita. 

Enjoying Brazil's

Around 5:00, I cleaned up the yard, put away the tools and took another couple of trash cans of leaves and trash up the hill to the wood pile.  Both of us then took showers, put on our finest, as the Ron and Linda were picking us up at 6:00.  We drove to Jamestown, to have a beer at Brazil's Craft Beer And Wine Lounge, on 4th street, across from the YMCA.  They were having a benefit for the YMCA, where 25% of their profits that night went to the Y.  It was fun, with lots of people, a few raffles and bowling down the alley with water balloons.  Evie won both second and third place with her balloons, as the balloons that went the farthest, were winners.  She won two tickets to the Reg Lenna Movie theater.  We were also able to garner four seats at at the bar, enjoyed a couple of wheat beers and Evie and Linda struck up conversations with some of the women who work at the Y. 

Alley Bowling With Balloons

The Winners With Their Prizes

We left about 7:15, walked to Taco Hut, where it was a fairly slow night.  We all know what we like, so we were happy with our meals.  Evie loves their portabello veggie pizza on a crisp tortilla.  I got shrimp tacos, which could have used more shrimp but they were stuffed with mango salsa.  It was a nice way to end a surprisingly fun Wednesday evening in Jamestown.  We were home by 9:00 in time to watch the first episode of The Night Manager, a series based on  the John Carre novel.  It looks kind of cheesy so far but I will give it one more week.  

Let's Make America Great Again (Purple Martins Are Back)

6:36

6:37

Pop And Mom Martin

Home Again

A morning that leaves me at a loss for words...the striking contrast between the beauty of the morning, of a sunrise on Chautauqua Lake and the world of politics and the Donald's resounding victory in New York State. What a dichotomy.  It does look like one more amazing day on the lake before some clouds and rain return Thursday, much needed I might add.

Well, its 9:00 and it's copacetic.  I just returned from a great morning kayak paddle, over to Long Point and back, cruising by the martin houses, listening to their song, and watching a black lab retrieve sticks off of Long Point.  All's right in the world of Chautauqua Lake.

Kayaking Long Point

Labs Love The Water

Well, we are getting used to these marvelous spring days, of sun, clear skies and mild temperatures although neither of us feel as though we are fully taking advantage of them.  I did go to yoga despite the beckoning lake, an interesting class because it provoked a letter of apology from the studio's owner, apologizing for the class.  I guess some of the participants complained about the teacher who is admittedly, a rookie but give me a break.  Let it go.  I then hit the coffee shop again, stopped at Home Depot to pick up a sump pump, so that we can use water from the lake to water our grass, bushes and plants.  Got a deal...saved 13 bucks!  On the way home, I stopped at the fire station to vote.  I was the first or second person to vote.  The polls were open from noon to nine which surprised me as I thought they usually opened at 8:00.  This may make it easier for working folks to vote.

When I arrived home, Evie was talking with our neighbor, Debi, who stayed at the lake for an extra two days.  And Evie had been busy outside, raking and readying some of the brown spots for grass seed, then watering them.  So we have our yard mostly seeded and now watered, as I spent a good half hour in late afternoon, watering the bare spots with water from the lake.  It reminds me of a few summers ago when we had a new septic tank put in and I had to water the lawn each morning and evening for 20-30 minutes for two or three weeks.  I got good at it.

I had another piece of pizza for lunch, some soup, and watched another confusing episode of Game of Thrones.  I need to pay more attention and not leave two or three days between episodes as I forget what's been going on.  Around 2:00, Evie drove off to Wegman's to do some major shopping.  She stopped to vote, then zipped through Wegman's before being stuck for a good 30 minutes in traffic, as a truck was painting the lines on RT. 394.  When she got home, she was not a happy camper.

Evie settled down by 5:30 when it was wine time and we listened to the pundits predictions on the margins of the Trump and Hillary victories.  They were mostly wrong as both won resounding victories over their opponents.  Dinner was great, just what we both wanted.  Earlier in the day, Evie had sliced and pounded out a pork tenderloin, so we had a pork schnitzel dinner with hash browns, homemade applesauce pulled from the freezer, and a salad.   We watched the last episode of Better Call Saul, which surprised us with its ending.  We had hoped the two threads of the story would end one way but they ended the other.  Go figure.  I guess there will be a third season.  I have finished my Deon Meyer phase for the moment and am back in Berlin, in 1941, following Bernhard Gunther in Phillip Kerr's PRAGUE FATALE, my eighth Bernie Gunther novel.

A Fickle Morning Sky

6:28

6:38

6:44

Right now, it's 7:20, the clouds have arrived, darkening the morning sky, suggesting the possibility of rain.  Earlier, however, I was able to see the sunrise, above the tip of Long Point, the sky first orange, then pink, then the sun blasted above the horizon.  Now it's hidden, the gray clouds have taken over, as only a slash of light appears above the coastline.   It's a 45º morning, sun and clouds forecast for the day, no rain until later in the week.

7:16

What can I say about the weather that I haven't already said.  Yesterday was another splendid spring day at the lake.  I can get used to this, the blue skies and lake, the sun, the light breeze, the empty lake.  I was so energized early that I was out in the yard before yoga, doing some digging and turning dirt in a bare spot where we need to plant grass.  And I also renewed my morning ritual, in warm weather, of eating my breakfast of yogurt, blueberries and Evie's granola mix out on the dock, a great way to begin the day.  I was, however, worn out by 9:00 but I gathered up my mojo and made it to yoga with a couple of minutes to spare.  Another crowded class, I had to squeeze my mat in between a couple of fellow yoga students.  Danielle always makes class fun and interesting and she usually includes at least one new asana.  Afterwards, I stopped for coffee, said aloha to the regulars, then off to Home Depot to pick up  grass seed, a stop at the grocery for some lettuce, another stop at Mike's Nursery to pick up a box of Miracid, for acid loving plants like the hydrangeas and rhododendrons.

When I got home, Evie had raked and readied the bare spot for the grass seed and done the same where we keep our dock is stored.  It was too nice of a day to stay inside for Evie, so she decided to get some sun in the side yard and I had some lunch, more vegetable soup and pizza.  Neither one of us were very energetic in the afternoon, but around 3;00, I finally got up from my nap, put on my waders and waded out to fix the martin house, which seemed to be tipped.  It was a disaster; first I could not get the martin pole out with out pulling out the aluminum tube.  So I fussed with the house, then had to pound the tube into the sand and rock once again.  When I went to slip the martin pole back in the tube's hole, it was too small, as having pounded on its rim had collapsed the lip.  So I had to get out a file, and make the hole in the tube larger.  Finally, it was large enough and I was able to slip the martin pole in.  As I raised the house, I went a little too far and pulled the pole out of its brace and almost tipped the house into the water.  I finally raised it, tightened the bolts and nuts and went back to shore.  And it was still off center, all my struggles to no avail. And so it goes.

Next, I decided to seed the bare spot where our huge maple once stood.  I had bought Scott's EZ seed, which suggests all you need to do is ready the ground, then spread the seed, fertilizer, and straw mixture and water it.  So that's what I did.  It took about a half hour, carrying water cans from the lake to water until I decided to use the hose.

Around 5:30, the lake was settled, little wind, so we grabbed a beer and went out and enjoyed our dock for the first time this spring.  It was a bit chilly, so we wore fleeces, but it was nice to be able to enjoy the late afternoon on the lake.  Dinner was easy, as Evie had pulled the stuffed cabbage rolls out of the freezer earlier in the day.  All they needed was to be heated up and she also made some mashed potatoes, for me, as I love them with cabbage rolls, sauerkraut and tomato sauce.  My mouth is watering once again as I think about it.  We made about 40 or them last Februrary, toook some to Jill's for a dinner, and have had them two or three other times.  And they seemed better even though they have been frozen.  We finished the Anita Hill CONFIRMATION on HBO.  She comes off as a brave woman, someone who for the first time, brought sexual harassment before the American public. And we see politics at its worst, as the politicians did all they could to smear her name, making up stories, spreading rumors, whatever.  It was hard to watch at times.  And we had forgotten a lot of the details.  Joe Biden, in particular, comes off as weak, unwilling to stand up to the Republican's bullying and smearing of Hill.  And we watched a bit of the Donald in Buffalo, same crowds, same Trump lies and intolerance.  Western New York seems to love him.

Today we get to vote, a couple of the few Democrats in Chautauqua County.

Sunny In Chautauqua

6:03

6:28

6:40

6:41

Up and at 'em, as my Mom used to say, to another clear morning sky, a brilliant sunrise, a quiet lake with an occasional screech of a loon.  It's a surprisingly chilly morning, 38º, but will warm up to the 70's later in the day.  The lake looks so inviting at the moment, silent, empty and calm, that I should get off my couch and kayak but I am too lazy this early in the morning, later too.

It's getting difficult to write about each day without repeating myself because of the sameness of the weather, sunny, blue skies, and warming up.  I cannot remember as many spectacular days in a row like the past week.  By saying this, I hope I am not angering the weather gods.  They tend to punish arrogance, too much good luck.  Anyways, we had our typical Sunday morning, with a great walk around the Chautauqua Institution, which has yet to change much, plant and tree wise, over the past three weeks.  Trees have yet to leaf, daffodils are just green shoots, reminding us that spring here at the lake is much later than other areas.  We could have a frost up to Memorial Day.  Still, there's a beauty in early spring, the budding trees, the deep blue of the lake.  Our Sunday constitutional takes just about an hour, depending on whether we linger or not.

When we returned home, it was too early for brunch, so we worked out in the yard for an hour, planting three privets that we bought last fall from Art Sample.  And I started getting chairs and tables out of storage, carrying them out on the dock, so now we can relax on it.  And I started digging up the area where we had a large tree removed last spring, getting it ready to plant some grass. Around 1:15, we had had enough, so Evie made breakfast and I finished up with the work outside. We watched CBS Sunday Morning, as we enjoyed our eggs, bacon, and bagel, as it was still too cool and windy to eat outside, alas.

We took the rest of the afternoon off, as it was a Sunday, a day of rest.  I read, napped, watched the Cavs first half, and Evie spent some of the afternoon in our side yard getting some sun.  We both felt like we had wasted a good day but on reflection, we did what we wanted, which is why retirement is so great.  If we don't want to do something, we don't have to do it.  It's just that a guilty conscience often rears its ugly head, suggesting that leisure is a bad thing, that we should be doing something.  I have to admit that I have less trouble with this than my dear wife.

By 5:30, we overcame our guilt and settled down for a late afternoon of wine time, with a wonderful cheese, St Andre, crackers and some endamame, so we could feel as if we were being healthy.  It was a quiet and slow sunset on the lake, no boats, few people, just Evie and me or so it seemed. We stretched it out as long as we could.

We had decided early that we did not want to fuss for dinner, so Evie pulled out the Mushroom Man pizza from the freezer, heated it up, and with a salad, we had a good dinner.  We watched some junk TV before figuring out we could get the Anita Hill story, CONFIRMATION, on HBO.  We watched half of it before deciding that bed sounded too good to stay up and finish it.

Wow! What A Morning - Rocco's in Fredonia

6:41 

6:42

7:34

Up at 6:30, to a rapidly lightening morning.  Clear skies, sunny, and bright. a calm lake, birds singing, and a crisp 43º.  What more could we ask for.  Perhaps some grandchildren?  I guess Evie and I will have to be satisfied with each other.  It's worked for 50+ years.

Yesterday was like the day before, which was like the day before, and so on.  Sunny, increasingly warm, a light wind, clear skies, a still quiet lake and neighborhood.  We love it.  I did get up early enough to get my blog done so that I could make a rigorous yoga class at 9:00, earlier than usual.  It was packed once again, lots of new people.  Where do they come from?  I came straight home because I wanted to enjoy the day.  I had two must do tasks, one to get take our trash to the Transfer Station (a euphemism for garbage truck), and get my third car, the Accord, out of storage on Carpenter Pringle Road.  After putting in the battery, it started up instantly like a champ.  It's nice to have that baby home again.

A Black Capped Chickadee

Both were done by noon and then Evie and I worked in the yard for a couple of hours, trimming and raking around our front yard privets, cleaning up the area where our dock pieces had been.  We filled three trash cans with twigs, leaves, and zebra mussel shells, leftover from our dock horses.  And I accomplished my annual April chore of getting the martin house ready, putting on the owl guard, pounding a pole in the lake before setting the martin house pole inside the pole embedded in the lake's bottom.  In past years, once I had it set up, a martin would almost immediately arrive but this year things seem different.  Two of our neighbors already have their houses in and we have yet to see any martins. They are usually predictable, arriving at April 15th on the dot.  Not this year, alas.

We were done with our yard work by 1:30, and I was exhausted for some reason, so I had lunch, read, and waited for the Golden State basketball game to go on at 3:30.  It was worth the wait as Curry scored 24 points in the first half.  Boy is he fun to watch.  Evie, enjoying the dock, got out the chaise lounge, set it up out on the dock, and enjoyed sunny afternoon until the wind picked up and it got too chilly.  So she set it up in the side yard, where the house blocked the wind.

Around 5:00, we put away the yard stuff, the chairs and took showers, then got gussied up because we were going out to dinner at Rocco's Italian Restaurant with the McClures.  We picked them up at 6:00 and took the lovely late afternoon drive to Fredonia, a forty minute drive.  Luckily, Rocco had a table available so we were able to sit right down.  Lots of interesting specials but most of us got the usual except for Evie, who went with the special, a Tile fish, which ended up being a tiny, fairly bland fish unfortunately.  Nevertheless, it was a fun evening, as all of us drank a couple of Red Stripes, the national beer of Jamaica.  Why not, mon.  We took our time driving home although most of the traffic seemed to be in a hurry.  And it was scary as it was twilight and we passed two or three Amish carriages, barely lit on these back, often hilly roads.  They are often hard to see, as they blend right in with the night.  That's why I took my time.

We were home around 9:00, in time enough to watch some junk TV before stumbling up to bed, tired from our busy day.

Dock's In Early

6:29

6:44

A sparkling morning on an empty lake, the only sounds, various water fowl.  We have been hearing the screech of loons but have yet to see them but they are out there somewhere.  It's 40º already, will get up to the high 60's, another fabulous day on the lake.  I cannot wait to get out there and enjoy it, perhaps sit out on our dock for the first time in 2016.  Usually, our dock does not go in until mid May but the dock guys Chris and Austin, suggested putting it in early and some how braved the frigid water.

Long Point

Yesterday we decided to be wild and crazy, break out of our routine and do some hiking in the woods, some kayaking on the lake.  Radical, right.  So we stretched out our morning leisure, got a few things done in the house and drove over to Long Point State Park to walk.  We like the woods at this time of year even though there is little green.  But we can see through the woods, the brown, leaf strewn floor, the dead fall always at crazy angles, the verticals of the trees.  Every season has its virtues.  We took the long loop, up around the east end, then down to Long Point and its tip, then back to our car, parked at the end of Lakeside Drive.  We walked a little over four miles, were in the woods for an hour and a half. And just being in the woods is good for your health, improves your mood, as various recent articles suggest.

Woods Of Spring

A Curious Fawn

We were home around 12:30, and I warmed up the vegetable soup, had a leftover Cuban, and watched Game Of Thrones.  We did little the rest of the afternoon, certainly Evie did not workout.  Around 4:30, we thought the lake was settling down, so we launched our kayaks and paddled down to Wells Bay for the first time since we got back from our brief trip.  It was a beautiful day to be out on the lake, as blue as we have ever seen it.  And, of course, when we headed back, the wind picked up some, so the return was not a pleasant as the going.  Typical.  When we got back, the dock guys were already at work, putting in the iron horses, the wood stringers.  It was a good late afternoon to do it, lots of sun and not too cold.

Dock Going In

We sat around for the next couple of hours, sipping wine, munching on edamame, watching the guys struggle with the dock pieces, especially the end pieces as the water gets deep.  They did not finish until it was almost dark, around 7:45 and definitely earned their money.  They are good kids.  We then had dinner, barbecued ribs from Trader Joe's, baked potatoes and salad and watched a hilarious Real Time with Bill Maher.  He always makes us laugh, with his satire, his ability to see the craziness in our world.  At times, we don't know whether to life or cry at the world's absurdities.