"Deep Summer Is When Laziness Finds Respectability"

7:22

A Morning Visitor

Jamestown Barb

The 'deep summer' quotation (posted on Facebook by our neighbor, Buffalo Joe), characterizes precisely my feelings toward this part of our summer here at the lake.  We luxuriate in our laziness and find no guilt in it.  It's just the way this time of the summer is meant to be. Nat King Cole also got it right with the lyrics to one of his great songs: 'Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer/ Those days of soda and pretzels and beer." We get busy next week when our kids arrive but for now, pure laziness claims the day (at least for me).

As for this morning, there's a cloud cover off to the east, so that the sun has just risen above it, at 7:30.  I have been up since 6:20, and just finished a long article on why people seem to dislike Hillary: the thesis...she's a listener, not a talker and politics, crafted by males, values talkers, not the feminine quality of listening.  Simplistic but interesting.  It looks like another warm day, highs near 90's but right now, it's only 67º with a nice breeze, so I am comfortably lazy on my porch.

Yesterday, like many days recently when we have no guests, blends in to the rest.  Because of the lack of rain, our days are filled with sun and warm weather.  We were both up and getting things done early, as both Evie and I washed windows before I drove into Mayville, stopped at the drug store, hardware store, Chautauqua Ironworks,  and Lighthouse Grocery, to pick up a chicken salad sub before heading home.  John, a friend from the Viking Club,  at Chautauqua Ironworks gave me a dock piece which he thought might make my end dock piece safer.  I waded into the water, forced it under the stringer and I think it might just work. Voila.  I then did some lake weeding before settling down with my chicken salad sub and watching another episode of Ray Donovan.  What a dude, a fixer.  And while I was out doing errands Evie was busy doing one of her favorite things -- mowing the lawn.

Happy Boaters

Almost 51 Years

The rest of early afternoon was dock time until our good friend from Hudson, Barb, arrived to spend the night.  She grew up in Jamestown and loves coming home, connecting with friends and relatives. We have been great friends since the 80's so it was fun to have her visit.  We lounged in the sun until it got too hot so we jumped in the lake to cool off.  By the time we were through sunning and swimming, it was 6:00.  We were taking the boat to the Viking Club for dinner, so we hustled, got dressed and were sitting in the Viking bar by 7:00.  It was Rueben and Cuban sandwich night, so Evie and I split a Cuban and Barb ordered a Rachel, a Rueben with cole slaw.  Both were great, too much for just one person which is why Evie and I split it.  For Barb, it was a trip down memory lane, as a couple of Vikings recognized her from their Jamestown High School days and they ended up talking about the good old days and common friends.

8:11

We took a long cruise home, looking at homes, as the sun slowly set off in the West.  Dusk is the perfect time for a boat ride and I wonder why we don't do it more often.  We stayed up till 10:30 talking before going to bed.

A Fine Start To The Week

5:48

6:10

Up at 5:45, again, to a pink sky, a chilly 54º morning; time to get out the fleece.  It's a typical Monday on the lake, few if any boats, the only activity, the martins swooping from martin house to martin house.  We love the week days!  Sorry weekenders.

6:11

Yesterday was a 'swell day' to do nothing, so we did nothing.  That's not quite accurate, as I fixed one of our kitchen drawers that was broken (a miracle), and Evie sheared my hair and beard, making me look like a young boy again.  And I cut more weeds as it has become an obsession, to get that last weed!

6:28

But the rest of the day we or more accurately Evie, spent the day out on the dock.  The weather was almost fall like, sunny and warm but not cool, with a slight breeze to keep us comfortable, not hot, not cold.  We loved it.  We took a time out around 12:30 for our Sunday breakfast and some CBS Sunday Morning before getting back outside.  I watched 15 minutes of tennis, but it was too tempting to enjoy the dock.  I did come in around 3:30 to watch the finals of the European soccer match between Portugal and France.  It was not a particularly exciting game, ended 0-0, with Portugal winning, finally, in overtime.  Around 5:30, I cleared the weeds off our dock, took them up the hill and then jumped in the lake, to cool off and wash up as we were going to dinner with Linda and Ron at Guppys.

We got there around 6:30 and we ran into a friend from Hudson, Bill Purves and his family.  They have been renting in Mayville for the past year or two and love the lake, coming up most weekends, like we used to do before retirement.  We got caught up with Linda and Ron and enjoyed the evening. Evie and I ordered the burger with mushrooms, and they were really quite good, cooked to perfection. We left about 8:30, tired but pleasantly full.  We watched the rest of CBS Sunday morning, then a short documentary on the life of Roadies before going up to bed.

A Fall Like Morning, Windy, Cool, And Cloudy

5:49

6:51

7:45

A surprisingly cool morning, fall looking clouds, a ruffled lake and just 60º.  I am not complaining. I woke at 5:45 and came downstairs and the walk was still wet so it must have rained briefly overnight. We got 3/4's of an inch yesterday and are grateful for it.  Many areas are parched from lack of rain.

Yesterday I was up early and out kayaking before anyone was up.  Our guests, Pat and Courtney, were up by 8:30 when I returned and we sat out on the front porch, drinking coffee.  Pat walked out on the dock and one of the dock's end pieces slipped off the horse.  Fortunately, he did not get hurt. We then struggled to get the dock piece back on the horse and eventually succeeded.  This has never happened before but I am going to get some braces to hold the end pieces together so this does not happen again.  After fixing the dock, we went in and Evie made a Turkish omelet, of tomatoes, feta cheese, eggs, and Turkish spices.  We sat out on the porch again, munching on our bagels and devouring the eggs.  Both Pat and Courtney took a final swim, to cool off and were on their way by 11:00.

It was a good day for reclining on the dock, soaking up the sun, so Evie was out there much of the afternoon.  I joined her briefly, after watching some of the Wimbledon final won by Serena Williams, her 22nd major, an amazing run for a little black girl from LA, coached by her father.  I soon got bored on the dock and since Evie was out cutting weeds, I decided to drive to Mayville, to return the gate passes I borrowed from two of my friends.  One was not home, the other, Jack, was out watering his hops, rows of 20 feet tall vines, which need lots of water.

Saturday Afternoon Blue

When I got home, Evie was still on the dock.  Around 5:30, she came in and we had appetizers and a couple of glasses of wine on the porch, enjoying the view, especially a trimaran attempting to sail up the lake, against the wind.  Because of the wind, chilling when out on the dock, the colors of the lake and shoreline, were more vivid than usual and a brief rainbow filled the sky, as a shower hit the Long Point Park area.

A Brief Rainbow

Rainbow On A Sunny Afternoon

For dinner, we had, what else, leftover pork tenderloin, vegetable pancakes, and rice.  And we watched another two episodes of Dicte before going up to be early, around 10:00.  We were both tired from Friday night's concert I assume and a full day.

A quotation from Anna Quindlen, on turning 50 years old.

"After all those years as a woman hearing 'not thin enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not this enough, not that enough,' almost overnight I woke up one morning and thought, 'I'm enough,'" 

Post Avett Brothers Concert Blues

Blue Heron On A Rock

Taking Flight This Morning

6:06

6:36

7:30

Early morning at the lake, the sun popping in and out, on a muggy Saturday morning.  It's strangely silent for a Saturday, few boats out, not even a bass boat.  I have been up since 6:00, listening to the birds, mostly happy purple martins, feeding their broods I assume.

Yesterday was a Friday that seemed like a Saturday.  My nephew Pat and his wife Courtney were coming for a visit mid afternoon and all four of us were going to an Avett Brothers concert at the Chautauqua Institution Friday night.  So we spent part of the morning getting things ready for them. And Evie, who likes to have dinners prepped early, marinaded a couple of pork tenderloins for our dinner.  No trips to the store, however, I did drive to the CI to pick up free tickets for the concert, compliments of two the the breakfast guys.

It was one of those days that threatened and predicted rain but it never came during the day, just false alarms.  For lunch, I finished off my sub from Wegman's and watched some soccer and tennis to fill the lazy afternoon.  Neither of us got in any dock time, as we spent a good part of the afternoon waiting for the company.  They arrived around 3:30, and we sat on the front porch, as the afternoon sun had come out and the only cool place seemed to be on our front porch with the fan.  Both Pat and Courtney have been up here before, so we talked a lot about the good old days and caught up on their lives.

Cruising With Courtney and Pat

Around 5:00, it got to be so nice out that I took the cover off the boat and we went for a booze cruise for an hour, over to Bemus and back, a good idea because it was pleasant to be out on the lake and beat the heat.  When we got back, Pat and I went for a dip and Evie seared the pork tenderloins and fried up a batch of Japanese vegetable pancakes.  It was nice enough to have dinner outside, so were were able to enjoy the great dinner but also the waning afternoon.  We wanted to make sure we got decent seats at the concert, so we just left the dishes.

Late Afternoon Dinner

I dropped them off at the gate and parked the car in parking reserved for Institution people which was nice.  I showed my friend's pass and the gate opened up.  It's nice to be special.  The grounds were packed with concert goers as well as those who were staying on the grounds.

Pre Concert Buskers

We got pretty good seats, halfway down the aisle and to the left.  The Avett Brothers charged out around 8:10 and for the next two hours, they blew us away from their energy, their songs, their musical skills, and the harmony of the two brothers voices. They are truly a tight band, love playing their blue grass as well as their slow ballads.

Standing Room Only

The crowd loved them, many obviously knowing many of their songs, singing along, shouting out and clapping at the right times.  Towards the end, the two brothers came off stage and walked the aisles, touching hands with the audience in thanks.  They came out for a two song encore to much applause and when we then walked back to the car lightning filled the sky.  We were fortunate to get out of the parking lot and onto #394 quickly, so we were home by 11:00.

Avett Brothers Live

We sat on the front porch, drinking beer, watching the lightning show in the eastern sky until the rain drove us inside until around midnight, when we decided it was time to go up to bed, the end to a full day.  It's now just after 7:00 and everyone is still sleeping as I finish my blog.  The lake is now dark, as the sky is overcast, perhaps a kayak morning for me.

Well, it was a kayak morning and I was able to get two amazing photos of a blue heron.  It's almost 9:00 as I finish this and all of us are up, sitting on the porch, drinking coffee and listening to NPR.

Pure Energy

A Sad Day For The United States

A Gift For Evie, A Topper Of Our Woodlawn Neighborhood, Hand Made By The Leonard Family

6:06

6:26

I went to sleep last night as snipers were killing police in Dallas, during a peaceful protest of the seemingly senseless shooting of black men in Minnesota and Baton Rouge.  Today's world reminds me of William Butler Yeats  'The Second Coming.'  Written in 1919, here are a few prescient lines:

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.


Don't those lines sum up today's world, of police shootings of black men, terrorist attacks all over the world, of distrust between cultures, races, religions and even political parties?  Can the center hold, tolerance reign, compromise and common sense triumph?  I hope so.

And here I sit, fat and not so happy this morning, as the rain pelts the roof, peppers the gray lake on another warm July morning. I have yet to turn on the TV or radio, preferring the quiet of the morning rain to the no doubt tragic news and the bombastic coverage by the media.

Yesterday was about as warm and humid a day as I can remember here at the lake, the high near 88º, the humidity right up there around 96%.   From the moment we got up, it seemed like there was a mist of warmth surrounding us, taking away whatever energy we had.  Fortunately, both of us toughed it out if you could call it that.  Evie made up a grocery list for the weekend, and I was off to make five different stops, bank, can man, coffee shop, Wegman's and wine store.  While I was gone, our carpenters, Jerry and Scott, moved the external panel three inches, making it look normal, so that we can fit in our new refrigerator which arrives next Wednesday.  We were lucky enough to have a wall that could be moved without having to cut a counter or cupboard.  And now not only are they going to make new pantry doors (which we need), but they are going to remove our dishwasher, which we never use as it never worked well, and put in pull out shelves, so the space will be useful.  I told the guys the next time Evie asks if something can be done, they should say no, it's impossible.

I did not get home till 1:00 and the guys were already gone and Evie was busy rearranging the pots and pans in the cupboards since they had to be removed briefly for the work.  I bought a Danny's sub from Wegman's, enough for two days of lunch for both Evie and me.  I watched some of the tennis before taking a too brief nap.  It was so warm in the house that I decided the only cool place would be wading in the water, cutting weeds.  So that's what I did for an hour and Evie joined me.  We relaxed some on the dock in between cuttings, until we were hot and jumped back in to cool off.  A good way to spend most of the afternoon.

Dinner With Our Neighbors

Our neighbors, the Leonards, were having us over for pizza and a salad around 6:00, so we came in from swimming, cleaned up and got dressed and Evie heated up some hanky pankies and endamame for appetizers. Two of their three daughters and their kids are here for a couple of weeks, but we have not had time to really talk with them, so it was fun to have a glass of wine, catch up and of course, play bean bag.  We have gotten to be good friends with all of the family over the past 35 years which is nice.  We are lucky to have such good neighbors, in fact, most of Woodlawn gets along quite well, a real summer neighborhood.

A Competitive Game Of Bean Bag

We had pizza and salad and corn on the cob and just as we were getting up, the girls made Evie sit back down.  They, then, went into the house and brought out a present for Evie, what they call a topper, a wood panel, with cut out replicas of the five house in our neighborhood, all painted with the neighbors painted in, doing their thing, Evie cutting the lawn, I'm swimming, our granddaughters playing on the lawn, Joyce watering her garden, Kathy practicing yoga on the dock, Elaine feeding the ducks, and Pat walking her Westies.  It brought Evie to tears as she has always admired their topper, hanging in their kitchen.  Joyce started it back in 2005. Bill cut out the pieces for the houses on his jig saw and Kathy, their daughter, finished it this past year.  It's an amazing piece of work, one we both will treasure. Now we have to find a perfect place to hang it.

Original And New Woodlawn Toppers

A Sultry, Silent Chautauqua Morning

5:32

6:32 

7:10

I was awake at 5:00, finally got up at 5:30, to a wet morning, as it rained about a quarter of an inch overnight.  It's a fine overcast morning, the sky gray, the gray a peaceful dark black/green, hardly a ripple mars its surface.  It's 67º and humid, getting into the 80's again with a chance of thundershowers later.

Kickin Back On A Kayak Morning

Yesterday was a hot one, so whatever we wanted to accomplish, we got done in the morning, which admittedly, was not much. I did get an early morning paddle in but was not energized by it for some reason, so I came back early.  Then, Jerry and Scott, our friends and carpenters stopped over, measured for a new panel for our new refrigerator and came up with a good idea for new doors on our pantry.  Scott is coming back this morning to tear down and rebuild the panel so our fridge will fit in its space.  When they left, we both got busy, with me cutting four buckets of lake weeds, about an hours worth, and Evie cut the browning lawn.  We were both in a sweat by the time we finished so we jumped in the lake to cool off, the first of many times yesterday.

Ducks In The Morning

I then had a lunch of Monday's leftover breakfast of Shakshuka and fried potatoes, a hearty, tasty lunch as I watched some of the Wimbledon, as Federer had an amazing comeback after going down two sets.  Evie, meanwhile, did some washing, in between stints out on the dock, enjoying the warm afternoon.  I joined her after doing some reading, napping, watching the soccer match between Wales and Portugal, and getting up the courage to venture out on the hot, humid dock.  I do not like humidity nor heat.  I brought out a couple of beers and some pretzels around 4:00, so we settled down to enjoy the late afternoon.  We soon got bored, the lake looked inviting, so off we went in our kayaks to Long Point, along the bay, in between the anchored boaters, sitting in the water in deck chairs drinking and smoking.  We then paddled home, warm from our paddle, so we cracked open our second and last beer of the day, and enjoyed it on the dock.  Evie, then, got a dinner of leftover July 4th food ready, and I pitch forked the drying weeds into garbage cans, then took a last swim of the day.  We had hot dogs, potato salad, beans and coleslaw for dinner, and watched two more episode of Dicte, as the second season begins.  We then watched Stephen Colbert, a show which seems to get worse rather than better, as he cannot seem to find his shtick.  It's sad because we loved his show on Comedy Central.

It's 6:30, I am finished with my blog, the lake's calm and boatless, and Evie, lucky girl, is still sleeping.  Today begins like most Thursdays with breakfast with the guys, a good way to start the day. The rest of the day is open to suggestion.

Quieting And Calming Down

Back to reality as I am up at 6:00 in time to see the sun break through the clouds, briefly, on the beginning to a warm morning, 64º, and day, a high of 87º.  It's not our favorite kind of Chautauqua Lake day.  At least the lake has settled down, the weekenders have gone home, and the lake is practically empty of any action at the moment.  What a contrast to 4th of July weekend.

6:01

6:21

It was a sad making Tuesday morning, as my sister, Ellen, and her family headed home.  We did, fortunately, have a nice, relaxing morning with them, however, as her daughter, Julia, and husband, Hampton, wanted to make all of us a special breakfast called Shakshuka.  It was great, as are any eggs that are baked in the oven with tomatoes, peppers and spices, or the way Evie makes it, with garlic spinach.  So we were able to enjoy one last breakfast al fresco before both families packed up and left around 11:00,  As usual, it was like letting air out of a balloon, as we walked back into an empty and quiet house.  And nothing had to be done right away, so we both took it easy for awhile but, like always, the leisure was killing us, so we got busy for a bit, cleaning up the kitchen, the bedrooms, but we were not crazy about straightening up.

A Final Kitchen Photo

Breakfast, A Tunisan Shakshuka

A Farewell Breakfast

I watched some tennis, did some reading, had a lunch of leftovers, before we decided (yes, we are crazy), we needed a new refrigerator.  What else do you do when you are bored...shop, spend money. It's something we have been putting off but there seemed like a great deal at Home Depot and I had already checked it out and thought it was perfect for our needs.  The problem is, however, the new refrigerator is 3 inches wider than our old one, which meant a two foot wide wood panel needs to be taken down and some minor carpentry done.  So we called our builder and friend Jerry, and he came over within 10 minutes, measured the wall, decided what kind of filler was needed, drove over to our cabinet guy at Chautauqua Brick and ordered what we needed.  Talk about great service!  So the new refrigerator search was on.  Around 3:00, after enjoying some sun time, we drove off to Home Depot.  We walked in, saw the refrigerator that was on sale, and Evie loved it, just what she wanted.  Within 15 minutes, we walked out with the papers for a new Samsung refrigerator, to be delivered to our home a week from this Friday.  We never have made a decision this quickly or easily, so we must have been on something, a family overload or rush from the weekend. We then stopped at Wegmans to pick up a few things for dessert, strawberries and buttermilk biscuits.

We were home in time to enjoy another hour of sunshine on the dock and go for a swim before coming in to enjoy a glass of wine on our empty, quiet porch.  Fortunately, it was another perfect evening on the lake, a clear blue sky and lake.  For dinner, we had pea meal bacon sandwiches, with eggplant and tomatoes which was a perfect combination, pork and eggplant.  And we had an Evie special for dessert, buttermilk biscuits, with marinated strawberries, and hand whipped  cream.  We watched another Real Time but both of us were really tired so we went up to bed earlier than usual.