Fog In The Morning

7:26

7:27

Well, no sunrise, no blinding sun, as the fog is so heavy that I cannot see beyond our dock.  Dare I kayak?  Once this fog burns off, it should be another warm and muggy day, the high in the 80's once again.

Yesterday was another day that started with yoga at 10:00, again crowded but I got there early enough so I did not have to be in the front row.  Of course, just about everyone in the class feels this way.  Today, should be no problem because class is always smaller.  Anyways, we had another long savasana,   a chest opening as well as relaxation.  When I got home, Evie had hit the road, to do some shopping for sheets for our king size bed at T. J. Maxx, then on to Wegman's to do shopping for the rest of the week and weekend.  It was strange to be alone in the house.  I made a quick lunch of a leftover schnitzel sandwich and soup and watched some of the Olympics on TV.  I did not have much time because I had a teeth cleaning in Jamestown at 2:00.  I always bring along a book because I often have a wait but I got into the chair right away, had no cavities, and left happy for another few months that I do not have any big dental bills.  They will come!

When I got home, Evie was out on the dock with our neighbor, Joyce, so I adjourned to the TV room to watch the US women's volleyball team play Serbia.  I watched the first four games, as the US came back after an injury to their best player.  And I kept the deciding game for later because I was afraid to watch it.  I then took a beer out to Evie and we sat on the dock to end the afternoon.

Moon Over Tom's Point at 8:46

Around 6:00, we went in after a swim, and Evie put together our dinner, salmon, cauliflower, rice and a salad although she forgot the garlic spinach.  The salmon was great and we did not really miss the spinach. After checking out the full moon, an amazing sight, we watched the US lose the final volleyball game, 15-13, heart breaking for them and started a new Netflix series called Marcella, another police show, with a  troubled female detective, at odds were her chief, chasing a serial killer.  Sound familiar?  Anyways,  it's worth watching (Evie may not agree) even though it does not measure up to some of our other favorites.  I finally finished NOBODY'S FOOL, a much longer read than I thought and started a new book THE LITTLE FRIEND,  by Donna Tartt who won the National Book Award for THE GOLDFINCH.  So far, so good.

Overcast And Drizzle

6:43

7:20

I woke in time to see the risen sun just before it hid behind the clouds next to Long Point.  It's' now a gray morning and lake, with some rain possible later.  It's humid, muggy is a better word, and 68º. According to Buffalo's NPR, Stockton and Cassadaga, about 15 miles from us have flood warnings because they received 3 inches of rain this morning.

Yesterday was a third day of yoga, a good class with Jen, quite a different group from the previous two days, as people obviously have their favorite classes or teachers. We had a long savasana which I always like.  When I got home, Evie was out helping clear our next door neighbor's lake front of weeds.  I got busy, too, and decided to take down and clean my purple martin house, a fairly easy house unless the pole gets stuck in its base, which it did.  The houses had three or four nests, both sparrow and martin, and I washed the individual sections down with the hose and put the house away until next April 15th.

By 12:30, both Evie and I were through with work, so she went out to enjoy the dock, and I had lunch, yep, pizza and soup, and watched some Olympics.  I taped the US men's volleyball game with Poland, took a nap and went outside to enjoy the dock and read with Evie.  We both got tired of doing nothing, so Evie decided to cut the lawn, her way of doing something, and I watched the US defeat Poland, my way of doing something.  It was a great game, US winning in three, and I am getting to know the players on both the men and women's teams which makes it more fun.

Around 5:00, we took a nice boat ride over to Bemus Point, checked out the Casino which seemed busy, then cruised home along Lakeside Drive, our usual ride, enjoying the late afternoon sun.  When we got home, I put the cover on the boat, Evie made a salad, and I cooked a couple of Bubba burgers outside, following the directions but they ended up being hockey pucks.  We did not have anything we wanted to watch, were not ready to start a series, so we watched bits and pieces of The Nightly Show (last show tonight), and Chopped.  I am getting to the end of NOBODY'S FOOL, so I was happy to go up to bed early and read.

Today we were supposed to have breakfast at one of my breakfast club friend's home, a few miles north of Mayville.  He just called to say they got 4 inches of rain this morning, lost power, so we will have to reschedule it.  He has bemoaned the fact that his hop farm has gotten practically no rain this summer, so of course, he got it all at once.

It's now 7:40, the sun has peaked out from above the clouds, the lake still gray, misty, the air filled with humidity.

Clouds Early But A Sunny Afternoon

6:41

7:00

It's a cool morning, 63º, though the humidity remains in the 90's.  I was up just after the sun appeared albeit behind clouds, so I did not miss much.  It's now 8:00 and the sky is still cloudy, the sun hidden, a few slices of blue off to the south.

Yesterday began with an early kayak paddle, as I mentioned, always a fine way to start my day.  In fact, I should be out there now but don't feel like it, the lake not as inviting because of the ripples and gray.  I drove to Lakewood for class at 9:30, a smaller class, a beginners yoga class which is not as popular as the Yin class.  It was, however, good to see our teacher, Julie, again as she grew up in our neighborhood.  Class was good although I am awfully rusty when trying to manage some of the yoga positions.  But, as always, I left class feeling better than when I arrived.  I stopped only to put some air in my Accord's tires, which seem to need some once every ten days or so, aggravating.

When I got home, Evie was out pulling weeds (from the lake), filling up the dock with them and it was time for my lunch, the same as the day before, as today, pizza and homemade vegetable soup. Before I left for yoga, I saved much of the Rio Games on TV but the match I wanted to see, the US women vs Japan, was not on till after lunch.  So I had some lunch, watched some Olympics, badminton actually, which was fun, unlike any badminton I have seen before.  The rest of the afternoon for both of us was relaxing, either on the dock or in the house, as our modus operandi does not change, yoga and getting work done in the morning, mostly relaxing in the afternoon, with brief spurts of work.  For Evie, it was weeding some in her garden, getting rid of the overgrowth, for me it was bringing in the weeds from the dock, just before it rained around 5:00.

Since we were going out for dinner, Evie had an easy late afternoon, just getting ready to go out to our favorite Irish Pub (the only one around), Steeners in Greenhurst.  We had not been there in quite awhile because its mostly a fall or winter place.  In August, however, they are having a two for one Tuesday night, so we, along with lots of others, took advantage of it.  It was busy but Evie got us two seats at the bar so she was happy.  We sipped our beers, talked with some of the locals before ordering two 10 oz. strip steaks and fries for fourteen bucks, a deal, right.  Everyone likes a deal, find it hard to pass up.  The steak was average, the fries, hand cut, great, so we enjoyed ourselves and left full and ready to relax in front of the boob tube for the rest of the evening.  We watched the fifth episode of The Night Of, and wonder how all the loose ends can be tied up in three more episodes.And we finally caught up with Bill Maher's Real Time.  Bed sounded so good we went up early.

Clouding And Warming Up

6:21

6:40

7:30

It's a overcast morning, though cream colored skies fill the skies off to the south.  A vast storm seems to be coming our way but it may pass to the north, hitting Buffalo.  It's 70º out, rain is predicted for later in the day,  Trumps numbers are falling and all seems right in the world, for now.

Looking South At 7:40

Merganser Love

Yesterday, I resumed yoga at Eight Limbs and intend on sticking with it for a month, going at least three times a week.  The studio was crowded, surprisingly, with lots of regulars, many newcomers and I was one of two guys.  It felt good to be back in class, holding various poses for two or three minutes, working on those connective tissues.  And, it's good for practicing mindfulness, for emptying your mind of any worry or anxiety and concentrating on breathing, on holding a position.
So it was good to be back, class was great and I left feeling good, mind empty, body exercised, ready for shopping.  So, I had coffee at Ryders, picked up some eggs, then washed my car in the self car wash and ended up at Wegman's, doing a quick shopping for the week.  Monday's are not the best of days but they had everything I needed.

When I got home, Evie seemed extraordinarily happy, most likely because I was out of the house for a couple of hours, and not bugging her.  I am exaggerating but there is something pleasurable about having the house to yourself, with no one to please except yourself.  The trick to happy retirement, I think, is making sure each partner has space and time for themselves.

For lunch, I had pizza and soup, watched some Olympics, then napped while Evie went out to enjoy the dock despite the cloudy skies.  I joined her for awhile, read, but soon got bored so I started putting summer things back in the garage attic, organizing my garage, and picked up some weeds, an almost daily task.  Around 5:00, we decided to enjoy the late afternoon on our porch with appetizers and wine, so we took a swim to energize and wake us up, got dinner ready, then relaxed on the porch for an hour, listening to news and music.  Around 7:00, Evie pulled the baked potatoes out of the oven, sauteed pork schnitzel cutlets, made a salad, and we had a quick and easy dinner.  We watched some of the Olympics, some old Bill Maher shows, and more Olympics, not wanting to start a new series.

Kayak Morning

It's now 7:30 and I have to admit I don't feel much like going to yoga.  What happened to my good intentions from yesterday?  Well, I stuck it out, forced myself to go kayaking and now I feel righteous at 8:30, eating my granola, getting ready to head to yoga in a half hour.  And Evie's up, too, looking forward to the morning.

Overcast And A Bit Of A Chill

6:21

7:21

I was up just before 6:00, the sky still dark, and the sky remains overcast, hiding any semblance of a sun rise.  A quiet, gray lake, with fog rising over the eastern skyline.  Today's high should be around 77º, with scattered thundershowers later in the day.

Yesterday started out well, with a great early morning kayak, even though it rained.  I was the only one seemingly on the lake that early which is always neat.  Afterwards, we had our typical lazy Sunday morning, broken up by a swim or two, some dock time, a gentle half hour rain as we made up a shopping list for the week. We intended on shopping at Wegman's because of the weather but as the day progressed and got nicer, we put it off until today.

The Chautauqua Belle On A Rainy Sunday Morning

We did not take our usual walk at the CI, preferring to enjoy our dock but around 12:30 , we got back in routine with a 'big breakfast' so to speak of eggs, bagels and bacon.  We watched some old episodes of CBS Sunday Morning as they were not on because of the Olympics.  Evie decided to bring in our flotilla of floats, four in all, so she waded them in and I gathered them up, let the air out, and spread them out over chairs and tables to dry.  It's always a little sad making when we do this, as it is another sign that the summer is coming to an end.  And that was mostly it for the rest of the afternoon, as Evie stayed on the dock, reading and swimming and I watched some Olympics, read some on the dock with her, occasionally packed up a float when it was dry enough, to avoid the rain and waited patiently for the women's volleyball match against China at 4:00.  And, surprisingly, it started at 4:00 and I watched the first two games, split by the US, saving the rest of the match for dinner.

Jerusalem Artichokes Bloom

Around 6:00, Evie ordered our new favorite pizza, the 'mushroom man pizza' with three types of mushrooms, cheese, sauce and spinach, from Ashville General Store.  It's about a 15 minute drive to pick it up but worth it and many seemed to have the same idea as the parking lot was full and a couple of families were sitting outside on the porch having Sunday dinner.  When I got home, Evie made a salad and we had pizza, salad and watched the US defeat China in the next two volleyball games.  We then watched the modest, unassuming Usain Bolt win the 100 meter dash for the third time, record setting and that was enough Olympics for the night.  We finished the evening with another episode of THE NIGHT OF although Evie has basically been turned off by its story and violence.  Michael Smerconish and I, however, like it.

Both of us decided yesterday we needed some structure to our lives, that we were wasting away physically (not really), so I signed up for yoga for the month and Evie plans on working out at the Y a couple times a week.  Let's see if we keep our good intentions.

THE SYMPATHIZER: VIET THANH NGUYEN

A Pulitzer prize winning novel from first time writer, Nguyen, set during the closing days of the Vietnam war and its aftermath, both in the United States and Vietnam.  The nameless narrator, caught between the East and West gives rise to the voices of the Vietnamese, unlike most of the novels and films about the Vietnam War.  This, alone, makes the book worth reading besides the fact it's a compelling read, as the narrator, an aide to the General, watches as Saigon falls, and he along with the General, must flee their country and both end up living in California.  The novel is a form of confession to the 'commandant,' the Communist leader to whom the narrator supposedly holds his allegiance.

The narrator's story is complicated by the vow he made with two high school buddies to take care of each other, one Bon, a sniper for the CIA, the other, Man, a leader with the Viet Min and anti US. Thus, the narrator is pulled in two directions even in his friendships.  Unfortunately, as the narrator suggests, loyalty to a cause, to a people,  to a friend is not that simple. Thus, the novel veers back and forth between East and West, Vietnam and the US and the narrator ends up at the end in a re-education camp, to be 'remade' but finds that the ideals that he fought for are betrayed by not only the US but the 'commandant' and those now in power in Communist Viet Nam.  Here he explains the dilemma of the novel, of any history, that there are always two sides, yet we often only see one.

“I am a spy, a sleeper, a spook, a man of two faces. Perhaps not surprisingly, I am also a man of two minds, . . . able to see any issue from both sides. Sometimes I flatter myself that this is a talent,” he continues, but “I wonder if what I have should even be called talent. After all, a talent is something you use, not something that uses you. The talent you cannot not use, the talent that possesses you — that is a hazard.”

Not Much Of A Sunrise

 Morning Comes To Victoria/Woodlawn

Bald Eagles Perched Above Chestnut Hill

Rain On A Kayak Morning

It's overcast, humid, but the temperature has dropped some to 72º, the high only 77º, quite a change from the past few weeks of 80º weather.  It's a strangely silent morning, at 7:20 now and I have been up since 6:00, enjoying coffee out on our front porch.  No fishing boats charging around Long Point, not even a boat in my view.  It feels like a weekday, not a Sunday.

King Fisher Looking For Breakfast

Yesterday was another exceedingly warm and humid day, so much so that I hardly ventured outside, but not Evie.  I did go for a kayak paddle with Evie around 9:15 and almost turned around because the sun, the heat, and humidity was disgustingly hot on the lake.  But I persevered and once we got to Long Point and turned around, we picked up a breeze and it got better.  Afterwards, we both went for a swim, to cool off and Evie stayed out on the dock while I went in and got all our trash ready for the Transfer Station.  We had a lot because Evie had been cleaning out the cupboards and pantry.  As always, I pick the wrong time, as cars and trucks are backed up but by the time I leave, it's empty.  Go figure.

By the time I was through, it was time for lunch, vegetable soup and tuna fish salad on crackers since we are out of bread.  And I watched some of the more boring events on the Olympics and spent much of the afternoon waiting for the men's volleyball, scheduled for 4:00 but it did not go on until 5:00 because of diving preliminaries.  Boring.  By the way, mid afternoon I checked the thermometer and it read 90º.  So what does my wife do?  Cut the lawn of course, in the stifling heat though she did take a couple of breaks to 'try to cool down,' and for some water.  There's not talking the lawn girl out of cutting her grass.

Thunderstorms A Coming

By 5:30, however, we were on our porch, enjoying some appetizers and a drink, checking the weather map to see when the thunderstorms would hit.  Well, they didn't though we did get about 10 minutes of hard rain.  We enjoyed our leisure on the porch, ending it by listening to the Avett Brothers before we went in to make another gourmet meal of hot dogs and beans.  We had grand intentions early in the day but by the end, all we wanted was something to eat that was easy although Evie did make a recipe of cookies made with leftover Cheerios, so we might have a  dessert.

15 Minutes Of Torrential Rain

We ate our wieners and beans and watched the volleyball match which I had DVRd and the Americans beat France in four, so they have a chance to continue into he semifinals.  They are fun to watch as are the women.  By the time the match was over,  it was after 9:00, so we watched some junk TV until we went up to bed to read and sleep.

Pink Sky At Night: 8:20

It's now 8:30, Evie's still sleeping and I just got back from being rained on during a kayak morning. Actually, I loved it, no thunder or lightning, just me, the empty lake, overcast sky, and rain pelting the lake's surface.  I would have stayed out longer except for fear that my camera might get wet.  From now on, I will bring along a baggy, just in case, to put my camera in if it rains.  Like a good boy scout, I will be prepared.  And I am back on my porch, sipping my coffee, listening to the gentle rain and finishing up my blog, waiting for Evie to rise.