Steam Rising on a Chautauqua Lake Morning

It's 7:15, I've been up since 6:00 and the sun has just risen over Tom' Point, blinding me as I sit writing.  The morning is clear, with the exception of steam/fog rising from the warm lake. It rises maybe 20 feet above the lake and appears to be moving slowly, from right to left, then disappearing as it slides towards Long Point.  I ought to kayak now, but I'm to comfortable here, with NPR, my coffee and my MacAir.  Today is supposed to be another beautiful day, the kind I expected in October, sunny and warm, almost like summer.  High's will be in the 50's, so we will be spending the day outside. The lake is so blinding at the moment that I have to move to another chair...the entire surface towards Tom's point looks like an enormous light bulb when you look at it closely.  Never have I seen the lake so blinding., a result perhaps of a brilliant clear sky, a placid lake surface, and rising sun.  Today, I hope to organize the garage, so I can park my car in it for the winter.  Lots of stuff will have to be thrown out or put up in the attic.  Why is it so difficult to throw out something or give it away.  We have  a push mower in the garage that we have never used but I am sure Evie won't let me throw it away because she might want to use it sometime next summer.  That's the story we tell ourselves, that keeps us from getting rid of stuff.  I have an entire closet full of sport coats and dress shirts that I should get rid of but...I might need them some day! Simplifying one's life is more difficult then it seems.  We just have to get over the idea of our desire to  have 'things,' whatever they are.  We don't need much but life (advertising) tells us we need everything...like a MacAir.  What we need, individually and as a nation is a new meme (mind set), one of simplicity, happiness with what we have, an aversion to want or accumulation.  It might not be good for the economy, but it will be good for the world, the environment, the diversity of life.

Today has been a spectacular day, just a hint of cool in the air, a great day for working in the yard (Evie did cut Leonard's grass), and getting everything organized in the garage for winter.  It took me most of the day, taking everything out, sweeping it out, deciding what could  be thrown away, what could be put in the attic, what could  be left outside under a tarp, and then putting everything back.  In the late afternoon, as the sun was beginning to set, the lake was a slight pink, tinged with blue, absolutely calm, hardly a ripple, as it had been all day.  It's very unusual to have little if any wind, especially the entire day, but today was one of those rare days  When it got dark, we came in, organized dinner, and I cooked lamb chops outside, to go with roasted potatoes and cauliflower, a great dinner.  We watched a couple shows of  The Good Life, then back to Jack Reacher, in my Lee Childs novel.  A great day.

Warm (40 degrees) and Overcast

Well, I have been up since 7:00 and it's now 9:30 and I have accomplished very little, other than sitting here at my new MacBook Air, perusing various websites, like checking on the reviews of the movie Inception, which I hope to convince Evie and the Mc Clure's to go see this weekend at the Reg Lenna theater in downtown Jamestown, the old, refurbished theater in the city.  The movie is very difficult to follow, one of those where you are not sure what is happening, whether it's real or a dream, or both.  Clearly, we will all have to read a review ahead of time if we hope to follow it.  Other than that, I have caught up on email, read the NYtimes, the local Jamestown paper, some of my Inspector Lynnley mystery, checked Facebook, and begun my blog for the day.

Although it's been a lazy morning and Evie feels as if she has a lot of organizing to do(when doesn't she), we are going kayaking since it has become such a  beautiful morning, a brilliant blue lake, slight ripples, with Canada geese (unfortunately) dotting the surface. Once again, it looks as though we may be the only boats on the lake...wonderful as it feels like it's our lake.

A funny story---NBA star Allen Iverson just signed with my old team. Besiktas, in the Turkish League for 2 million dollars.  When I read this story, I put it on my Facebook page, suggesting, ironically, that this is 'Besiktas's greatest coup since signing Tom Davis in 1970 for 1600 liras(about a thousand dollars).  About an hour later, I got a reply from the Editor of Turkey's NBA magazine, wondering if I would write an article about my experiences playing in Turkey back in the 70's.  It's amazing how quick communication is, how things travel around the world, something I put on my Facebook elicits a response within and hour and I reply, saying I would enjoy writing something.  A different world from our family growing up in Turkey with no television, no radio, no internet, no cell phones, no phone calls literally except on campus.  It was a good life!

Just got back from a bike ride at the CI and a visit to the Smith Library, picking up an other Lee Childs thriller, Gawande's The Checklist Manifesto, and Skippy Dies, a new well reviewed prep school novel set in Dublin.  It was another great day for a ride, especially through the CI at this time of year, little traffic, only construction workers.  It's 5:00 now, the sun is beginning to set behind us, turning the sky over Bemus Bay a soft pink.  The lake is still calm, as there has been little noticeable wind, a relief.  We are off to Ron and Linda's for a beer, then wings at the American Legion, a Wednesday tradition when they are up here.  Evie got home from the doctor and has a sinus infection...what else...more antibiotics and steroids.  She has had this on and off for a year, so it's strange that he suggests it's an infection, not just sinuses.

Foggy and Tired

Awake at 4:00, up by 5:15, it's going to be a long day. We had a great time last night, going to Jamestown Community College to watch the sectional finals in girls' volleyball. It's a areal experience in small town Western New York. Both teams and all the fans were white, so different from most of the US (perhaps not Darien). It seemed as if the entire town had turned out, with lots of grandparents watching. Both teams had one really good player, the one who was set every ball if possible, and could really put it away. It made me want to go find volleyball teams for Hayden, Halle, Marisa, and Marlena. It's so much more exciting than soccer, I am sorry to say. Randolph won in four, rushed the floor, jumped on each other, and will move on. We then went to the Seezurh House for dinner, burgers and fries for me, Evie a chicken sandwich.

 This morning I finally was able to download all my entries from my Istanbul journal on to my Blog. So now I have that saved and I an begin editing it and adding pictures, something that should keep me busy the rest of the year. It's still too foggy to kayak, so we will probably head off to the store, then come home and work in the yard and clean out the garage, getting it ready for winter and storing the Honda.

For whatever reason, we got nothing done during the afternoon; Evie actually went upstairs to take a nap(no luck) and I spent close to 45 minutes on the phone with Apple Help, setting up my printer, figuring out how to export pictures from Iphoto to my Picasa website.  I also ordered an external hard drive so we can burn dvd's or cd's, or play a dvd on the computer, what of the functions missing from the new MacBook Air, alas.  I was impressed by the help; I will no doubt use it more often when I get stuck on something, rather than spending hours trying to figure it out.

Frost in the Morning

An amazingly beautiful day, with frost on the ground and car windows when I arose, about 7:00 to a partially lit sky, compliments of the change back to Greenwich time.  Then, the southeastern sky began to turn pink, the sun rose bright orange over Tom's Point, and it became to bright in the living room to read the paper or work on my computer, unless I moved to another chair.  We had planned on going for a walk to the Audubon Society, about 45 minutes from here this morning.  But the lake was like glass, so we went out kayaking for about an hour, on a lake like a piece of  glass.  No a soul on the lake but us, we kayaked over the Long Point, then along the shore north, then headed back to just beyond the campground, to Magnolia, then home.  It was glorious being out on the lake, slight shimmers of wind, the lake marked by sight ripples, or off in the distance, patches of absolute calm, smooth, as I mentioned, like a pane of glass.  We are off to the Audubon for a walk as it's beginning to warm up a bit, in the low forties as i write.

We drove about 35 minutes to the Audubon, south of Jamestown.  It's an interesting place, a modern building, with exhibits, shops, meeting rooms, and 160 acres of woods and ponds, with three or four groomed walks, for hiking for cross country skiing in the winter.  We decided to become members, then went for our walk.  Much of the trail is grass in sunny areas, leave covered paths in the woods, and in wet areas, they have put wood chips, so you are not walking through water.  I love walking through pine forests the most, dark, with light playing on the vertical spines of the trees, paths covered with pine needles, and sunlight, bright and inviting, as you near the end of the forest.  The ponds seemed quite shallow, with lots of dead wood, reeds, and Canadian geese, honking and causing a commotion.  About half way through our walk, we sat on a bench, in the sun, overlooking the largest pond, ate pbj sandwiches, apples, and Swiss cheese, and basked in the sun for about 20 minutes before continuing.  The walk, if you don't stop, would take about an hour, as it's just over 2 miles.  On the way home, we stopped at Ecklof Bakery, which has been in Jamestown for at least 50 years.  I thought I might be able to get some sour dough starter, but they don't make sour dough bread there any longer.  They had amazing looking pastries, very northern European, but  the breads with mediocre, at least the loaf I bought was.  It was soft like Wonder bread, tasteless, which is hard to believe for a bakery that's got such a good reputation.  We got home about 2:30, had some of Evie's soup for lunch, and took a nap, as we were both tired from the morning.  At 5:30, we are going off to Jamestown Community College's gym to watch a local girl's volleyball team play for the state championship.  It should be fun to be part of the hysteria of the school and town, as they are always supported by everyone in the town.  Back to Jack Reacher!

Winter's Bone: A movie

We watched this highly recommended movie last night and loved it.  Set in a depressed, rural part of Missouri, it follows the difficulties of 17 year old Ree Dolly, her attempts to find her missing father, Jessup, a meth dealer, and is helped by her Uncle, Tear Drop.  The photography is stunning, a picture of what life must really be like in poor, white rural America, depressing indeed, like something out of Walker Evans depression photos.  The movie almost, at this distance, seems like it's been filmed in black and white.  The young actress who plays Ree steals the film, so real is she, along with her younger brother and sister.  The setting seems so perfectly white trashy that I wonder if it's real or made up, from the trash, junk cars, abandoned metal parts, outside the homes and trailers, to the inside, a mess with dishes still to be washed, clothes to be picked up, windows to be fixed, beds to be made, littered with kids or the elderly, passive and emotionless.  Even the out doors is later fall, early winter, stark, treeless, and gray.  Ree must find her father to save the follow homestead, put up as bond by her Daddy.  We soon realize he's mostly likely dead, a result of his being a snitch, and Ree must some how prove he's dead to save the family and her land.  The most terrifying scene revolves around her finding her Daddy's body, along with three other mountain women, in a swamp.  Needless to say, though the setting and story is depressing, the acting, the tenderness of Ree towards her siblings, the final integrity of her uncle and the mountain people, saves the movie and keeps it from just being another depressing movie.  When it was over, Evie and I both felt drained but also content, knowing that there are still great movies out there, that it's depiction of the underclass is about as close to reality as you can get with out actually living the life.  All Americans ought to see this movie, see how people struggle to survive, and many if all have a part worth admiring.

Day Light Savings Time Sunday

Today used to be Evie's favorite weekend because it gave us an extra hour at the lake; now, since we are retired, living here full time, it's just another day.  For me, it's a morning of dim light rather than darkness, as the clock has moved back an hour.  When I got up, a bit before seven, the sky over the Power Boat Club had a brilliant slash of bright pink/orange just over the hills.  A few minutes later, a beautiful mass of puffy pink clouds, gray clouds, just above that area.  Now, an hour later, the sky is just a boring gray, no pink, little if any contrast, between the sky and lake, like a black and white photograph.  It does amaze me how little we pay attention to the natural world when we are busy working.  We get up, rush through the day, planning for work, getting to work, working, coming home, always in a rush, a hurry, with things to do.  Now, that I have very little I 'must do," I pay attention to the world around me.  For example, it's shocking how far south the sun rises at this time of year.  It's being doing it since the beginning of time, but I have just noticed it in the last month, how extreme it is.  And yet it has done this outside my lake house window since when we bought our house in 1981.  And since we have a bird feeder, we have paid great attention to the wildlife at various seasons, how it changes, depending on the season.  The same for the lake, as soon the bufflehead ducks will appear on the lake, rather than the mallards.  They are black and a brilliant white, a sharp contrast to the drab mallard females.  I feel lucky to have such a view out my window, as I am able to see for many unobstructed miles, across the lake, then the hillsides on the other side of the lake.  In most suburban homes, you look out your front window at the street, the other three sides at your neighbors house, unless you are lucky enough to live in the woods, like the Albarrans, but their isolation from neighbors only holds true in the summer.  Come fall and winter, neighbors' home sudden loom through the skeletons of trees, surprising us with their appearance, especially the first time it happens.

We went walking at the Institute about 11:00, a beautiful day, crisp and clear with very little wind.  The CI seems really quiet, as we hardly saw a person as we walked, though the Hurlburt Church was crowded, or so it seemed from all the cars.  Later, around 2:00, I went for a bike ride over at Bemus, starting around the bridge, riding down the lake road to Long Point Park's beginning, then back, a bit shorter than usual because it was windier than I thought.  I am now home, it's warm and cosy in the house, and I'm ready to make some Turkish tea, perhaps read or watch a  bit of football.  Evie has been organizing, trying to decide where to put what, what to throw out, which is a never ending battle, especially since we have so little storage.

We finished the day, since it was still sunny and warm, with a kayak ride across to Long Point, along it's edge, then back to Wells Bay.  As we came back, a  gentlemen from a house we had always admired, came out of his house as we paddled his way, and yelled hi, have you come to visit.  We paddled in closer, introduced ourselves, and found out he lived there full time with his wife, their names were Rollie and Jane Kidder.  He's a life long resident, I think, a semi retired  business man, seemingly very involved in Jamestown, especially the Robert Jackson Center.  We had a fun talk, about grandchildren, living up here during the winter, and made a promise to get back in touch and get together.  It would be neat to make friends with another couple, as we branch out with our acquaintances.

Pasta and meatballs for dinner, a two episodes of "The Good Wife," who, I don't think will be good for long.

Dramatic Fall Sky

Off to the East, the sky looms over the hill, thick gray clouds, with slashes of light, as the sun tries to peak through these masses of gray.  The lake glimmers, with light flashing like static on the surface, various slicks of light and dark, with occasional birds flying by or passing by in the water.  I was surprised to awake to a darken lawn, expecting it to be covered by snow.  Probably because it was 34 when I got up at 6:00, the snow from last night melted over night.  Yet if I looked carefully, as the sky and opposite hills lightened, I could still snow on the farm to the East.

Last night, we drove to Fredonia, about 35 minutes, to experience our first Contra Dance.  We ate at the Ellicottville Brewery, literally next door to The Grange, where the dance was held.  The brewery was neat, very narrow, with an up and downstairs, a bar, an a bustling crowd of mostly students and local professors, or that's what it seemed to me.  About 8:00, we went next door to The Grange, a large restored building in the center of town.  It has a large room, with a stage, and a basement.  We were met by the leaders, who introduced themselves and assured us that we were not to worry about lacking experience.  Slowly, more dancers arrived, and we started.  Contra dancing seems to be a mix of square and folk dancing, though it did have some interesting variations, mainly that we were in lines much of the time, rather than small groups.  The caller would walk us through the dance before the music would begin, so we were fairly sure of our steps.  Most of the dance involved going in the right direction, either with your partner or neighbor, rather than elaborate steps or moves.  Mostly, we would do see do,  twirl our partner, of move in an out of groups of four, eight, then back to a line.  We started with maybe 16 people, but within a half hour, we had maybe 40 or 50 people, of all ages, from either high school or college, to 40-50 year olds, to a few our age.  We may have been the oldest, maybe not.  Many were new to the dance, like us, so we did not feel out of place, and because you were encouraged to dance with a partner who was experienced, it was easier to learn the right direction for your moves.  After we walked through the steps, the six piece band, from Erie, PA, would start and the caller would yell out directions, making it fairly easy to follow.  We danced for about 90 minutes, till 9:30, when I break was taken, basically half way through the night. In that time, we must have gone through about six different dances, some more complicated then others, but all involving at one time or another, the entire group,  You might start out in a group of three, then move to six, then to the entire group, as you would dance around the hall in a circle, or maybe a line of two or four.  By the end of the first half, we were tired and sweaty, ready to go home,  Since we had a long drive home, and it was snowing when we arrived, we decided to head back.  For those who stayed, there was food in the basement, then another hour of music.  We took our time driving home; it started out with rain till Westfield, but as we got closer to the lake, the snow increased and by the time we got to Mayville, we were driving through a blinding snow, though the roads were not slick, or so it seemed.  The roads were practically empty and as we drove though towns, they seemed like ghost towns, with nothing open, just occasional lights and signs.  We were relieved to get home...the first snowy drive is always a bit nerve wracking, especially for Evie.

About 11:00, after my weekly drop off of trash, we drove to Long Point Park and took an hour walk through the leave less woods, a very different feeling from the last time we walked, about three weeks ago.  Because of the snow/sleet from the previous night, the lanes were often wet or muddy, though we had patches of dry, even grassy areas.  In many places, we walked on blankets of dead leaves, recently fallen, a nice cushion as we walked.  It is eerie to look up, where leaves once were, and see only black tree branches against the blue sky.  The only green seems low lying, bushes about four or five feet tall, with black berries, ripe for the picking by birds.  And, of course, the bareness of the trees is often offset by the pines, tall and stately, squat and bushy.  There is a particular beauty in this late fall walk, brisk air, little breeze, silent, and stately, as you see the majesty of the trees, in all their leaf less splendor.  We shopped briefly in Bemus, came home for lunch, and watched The Girl with the Hair of Fire, or something like that, a first for us, as we often feel like watching a movie in the afternoon is sloth...o, well, bring it on,