Early Morning Jet Streams (Kayak Morning, Hiking Afternoon, Audubon Nature Center)

Kayaking Among The Fallen Leaves

7:36

7:52

8:09

8:20

One of my favorite poems, as relevant and frightening today as when it was written in 1919

 “The Second Coming” - William Butler Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
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.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Well,  I did it, slept in as we lose an hour, so I was up at 6:30 which 24 hours ago, would have been 7:30.  This morning's sky was bizarre, different even for a morning sky.  Light blue with streaks of white in the sky, a light fog below hovering over the lake.  It's 43º and will get into the 50's later in the day.

On The Water

Magnolia Duck Blind

We woke up yesterday, excited to have a beautiful day ahead of us.  After our coffee and breakfast, we got out our life jackets, put on our boots, and stepped carefully into our kayaks.  It was a lovely morning to be on the lake, as we paddled down to Whitney Bay, often passing through patches of leaves, having fallen off the trees.  Once again, we seemed to be the only ones on the lake, in fact, we saw few residents along the lake shore.  We were out for a good hour, taking our time, in no hurry to get back because it was so pleasant, little wind, warm sun.

 A Renoir?

Grasses, Pond, Trees

When we got back, Evie mentioned the trash and I had completely forgotten that I had to take our trash to the Transfer Center.  So we gathered it up,  plastics, cans, bottles and off I went to get rid of it, my only weekly responsibility, one I almost forgot.  I then had a quick lunch, soup and Evie made me a fattoush salad, with toasted pita bread.  We then got ready for a half hour drive to the Audubon Community Nature Center on Riverside Road, south of Jamestown.  We were surprised at the almost empty parking lot on a sunny but pleasantly cool afternoon.

Following A Narrow  Path

Rusty Browns Of Late Fall

Aesthetics of Verticals

We have hiked the grounds before, knew what to expect but because we both brought our cameras, we always see something different along the trail, whether woods, ponds, grasses, or landscape. Looking for the perfect photograph makes us pay attention to our walk, avoid daydreaming, and we usually end up with a great photograph.  And it's fun, being present, in the moment, mindful.  We were out for little over an hour, which we expected.  We then went into the center and I joined up, wanting to support the center which is really treasure in the area.  I just wish more people took advantage of it. We hope to be back in the winter and cross country ski the grounds because it's relatively flat.

Cage Of Trees

Into The Woods

We then drove to Wegman's, our second of three planned stops for Saturday and left with a full cart though we started with a small list, compliments of my wife, who never saw a goodie she didn't want. Just kidding.  We then made the mistake of stopping at Art Sample's Trees And Nursery.  We bought a couple of trees from him last year and Evie just wanted to look...right.  We left we almost a hundred bucks worth of plants and a tree, all a deal of  course, at least half price if not more.  We did get a Pee Gee Hydrangea for 12  bucks, a real deal.  So both Evie and I  have our work planned for today, Evie figuring out where to put the plants, me digging the holes.

We were home just before 5:00, in time for Evie to get our dinner ready, pulling our leftovers from Friday night's dinner out of the refrigerator, ready to zap in our microwave.  And we settled down on our couch, with a glass of wine, some St. Andre cheese and crackers and enjoyed our last sunset of Daylight Saving Time.  Tonight it will start getting dark around 5:00 rather than 6:00, as winter nears. When we got hungry, Evie microwaved the rigatoni and perch, and we had a pretty good dinner, with a salad and we treated ourselves to lots of laughs but also fear as we watched Bill Maher's Real Time. He finally got an interview President Obama which was interesting.  Obama is so thoughtful, intelligent, and reasonable, a perfect foil for you know who.  We did not go to bed until late, knowing we had an extra hour to sleep in.

This morning I have been listening to a debate on CSPAN about the role of church in politics, what the Constitution means by the separation of church and state.   And since it is the Sunday before the election, we need to be reminded of the Founder's separation between church and state.  Churches are to stay out of politics, are to avoid any 'explicit electioneering' (endorsing a candidate).  Morality is the churches purview, not politics.   And as conservative Republican Barry Goldwater reminds us, "Mark my words, if and when these preachers get control of the party, and they are sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem...frankly, these people frighten me."

Another Clear Morning Sky

8:00

8:14

I am sitting here, as the sky begins to lighten and turn light blue.  And I have stopped reading the NYTimes on my computer because I have been listening to a podcast, Marc Maron's WTF and he is interviewing the comedian/actress Kristin Wiig.  For some reason, I got into listening to her describe the arc of her life, beginning in Rochester, NY, with no idea that she might become famous, that she might act.  There was no real direction to her life, just a series of zigs and zags, until she finally realizes she is most comfortable with stand up comedy (even though she has always been shy, the kid who hated standing up and talking in a class).  Interesting.

Anyways, yesterday was another Donald Trump kind of day, GREAT, for one reason.  We were listening to Lawrence O'Donnell show last night at 10:00 and he had a Princeton professor, Dr. Sam Wang, on  his show.  Wang called the 2012 election almost perfectly.  And his analysis of this year's election, using state polls, suggests that Hillary has a 99% chance of winning. Whew.  It made us both feel good, like we had just taken a Zanax.  Let's hope he has not lost his touch.  And it was a welcome antidote to the truck we saw parked outside our restaurant Friday evening.  It  gives you some idea why Chautauqua County is definitely Trump country and it's scary.

Passionate Trump Supporter?

Back to yesterday, which began with a yoga class with Julie, lots of people which was great.  Then home because I thought we might be driving to Erie to look at ovens.  Not so as Evie was outside raking the flower beds on a surprising cool morning.  I changed clothes, put on my work jeans and my  Carhartt work vest (makes me look like a yuppie outdoorsman), and helped Evie clean the beds, filling a couple of barrels with leaves and taking them up the hill.  It felt good to be outside working, getting something done, working up a sweat despite the cold.  Around 12:30, we both went inside and I had lunch and discovered that I had already watched the last episode of Longmire and was lost because I had no idea as to what  to watch next during my lunches.  So I watched the last Ray Donovan but I had not watched it for a month so I had little idea of what was happening.  I turned it off, opened my book, NUTSHELL and hoped to take a nap because I had gotten up so early.  I might have taken a cat nap but I was soon up and antsy, wanting to get outside and get working.  So I joined Evie who was busy chopping leaves, cutting our lawn a couple of times, and I filled up two more barrels with leaves.  By the time we were  both through with our leaf raking and mulching, our lawn was once again leaf free...for the moment.

A Leaf Raking Kind Of Day

Never Tire Of Photographing Long Point

We had plans to go to JCC to watch a high school volleyball final, so we showered and drove off to Jamestown by 5:20.  We got there in time to sit in the North Collins cheering section and watch the two teams warm up.  Our local team, Panama, was undefeated.  They started strong and won the first two games, and it looked like it wouldn't be much of a match.  But North Collins came back, upped their game and won the next two matches, taking it to fifth game which Panama finally won 25-20.  It was an exciting, fun way to spend a Friday night.

Volleyball Action At Jamestown Community College

We then drove through Falconer to have dinner at a restaurant we had eaten at a year ago and liked, Belview East.  We were a bit uncomfortable, however, when we saw the anti Clinton truck and assumed the psycho was probably inside eating dinner.  We walked in, sat at the empty bar after the bartender somewhat reluctantly said we could eat at the bar.  Not a good start.  We ordered our beers, got the menus, and soon things warmed up.  We ended up talking the rest of the night with Gary, the owner and bartender, and his manager, Kathy.  He grew up in Bemus, played both football and volleyball on their great teams back in the 1950's, was a UPS driver for 20 years before buying this restaurant 25 years ago.  It's definitely a place where locals eat with lots of regulars, all who seem to know Gary.  Our meals were really good, huge portions, as we both took home doggy bags.  Evie had pan fried perch and I had the meatball and sausage rigatoni.  As we were finishing, a couple walked in and sat at the bar, regulars obviously, who were there to have a drink and celebrate their 43rd anniversary.  We talked with them for a bit, learning about their lives as well.  We were reluctant to leave but it was getting late so we said our goodbyes, saying we would definitely be back.  It was a good night out.

We were home by 9:40, watched some of Beyonce's rally in Cleveland, as she was revving up the voters in Cleveland, imploring them to support Hillary.  And in one of her last songs, her entire group came out on stage in pants suits, in support of Hillary, the fashionista.   After listening to Dr. Wang's prognostication, we went to sleep more easily.

It Looks Like A Great Week Ahead

6:51

7:01

7:05

It's 6:50, the stars are still visible although I am beginning to make out the morning sky, a few dark clouds hanging over Bemus Bay.  It's 42º and the forecast for the next week is sunny, with highs in the 50's during the week, great walking/hiking weather.

We had a nice rainy Thursday though by the afternoon, the rain stopped but the cloudy, threatening sky remained.  It was a typical day for me, a busy day for Evie because we were having our neighbors, Jeff and Nancy, over for dinner.  We have been meaning to have them over for months but never got around to it until yesterday.  You know how that works.  Anyways, I went off to Yin Yoga with a long list from Wegman's.  Thursday yoga seems to be the most popular as we had over twenty people once again.  And there are more guys than usual, even some regulars like me are starting to come every Thursday.  Most people come once a week, three or four times, and I may be the only one who comes most week days.  I skipped coffee for once, saving money, and went straight to Wegman's, crowded as usual.  I zipped through the store, forgetting nothing for once and was home by noon.  Evie was in the kitchen getting things ready for our dinner, another Turkish dinner, with Iskender Kebab and lentil soup.  Because I grill the koftes outside, I checked my grill to make sure it was heating up properly.  It was and should be good for the rest of the year as the spiders that clog it up have gone into hiding.

Late Afternoon At Ellery Farm

Although yesterday was wet out and cloudy, it was tempting to  go outside and mulch our leaves as in the past two days, our once leaf free lawn is more covered then ever, a result of winds and rain.  It makes you think the best strategy might be to wait until all the leaves have fallen and blown somewhere else before cutting and mulching.  With Evie around, however, the lawn mower gets powered up every two or three days and the leaves get mulched before they have time to enjoy their sojourn on our lawn.  

Leaf Strewn Lawn This Morning At 8:30

Evie prepped what was needed for dinner, getting the koftes ready to grill, making brownies and fortunately, she had made the lentil soup yesterday.  So she could have a relaxing afternoon like me, if listening to the constant chatter of politicss on the radio can be relaxing.  The thought of a Trump victory is giving me indigestion and I am continually popping Tums as I listen to the constantly changing political tide.  In fact, I just turned off MSNBC and turned on NPR because they talk about things other than the election.

A Fall Dinner

We had a nice evening with our neighbors, getting to know them better.  We have obviously talked with them on and off over the past few years but this is the first time we have really gotten to know each other.  Nancy's family has been on Woodlawn since the 1930's, when her grandfather purchased their house.  And Jeff grew up in Bemus, so both have long ties to the area.  Interestingly, they like us lived in Hudson before retiring to the lake and we found out another neighbor, also from Hudson, has just retired and is living part time in Woodlawn.  We enjoyed our wine and appetizers, soup and cheese and crackers before I went out and grilled the meat.  We settled down around our table at 7:30 to a Turkish feast.  Neither Jeff nor Nancy were familiar with Turkish food, and they seemed to enjoy the different spices, especially the cumin laced lentil soup and koftes.  It's also one of our favorite spices.  We had brownies and ice cream for dessert and sat in the living room talking until 9:30 when they went home.  Nancy is recovering from foot surgery, so she is on crutches but gets around pretty well.  She has another two months, however, of keeping her weight off her leg and elevated, so it is not much fun.

When they left, we got the dishes done quickly, wondering whether we should use our dish washer or get a new one and decided no and no.  We just don't use that many dishes to warrant using our dishwasher or get a new one.  We tend to like the old fashion way of washing dishes in a sink, letting them dry in a strainer.

We are not sure what today will bring until this evening.  We are going to the Jamestown Community College gym to watch a regional final girls volleyball game, something we try to do each year because it is so much fun to be part of an enthusiastic high school crowd.  The game is at 6:00 and we will go out to dinner after the game, probably in Falconer at the Belview East restaurant.

A Sad Day For Cleveland Fans

Kayaking Wednesday Morning

Kayak Afternoon

7:55 AM

It's dark and raining as I begin writing this and I feel guilty for admitting that I missed the end of the Indians game, giving up on them in the seventh when they were behind by a couple of runs.  O, ye, of little faith.  So I had to read about their comeback and eventual loss in the 10th after a rain delay, ending a great season for both teams.  At least now we can get back to politics non stop, without the interruption of baseball games!

Paddling Towards Long Point

Yesterday was another unseasonably warm fall day, making it perfect for getting outside and doing something.  So I began my day with a kayak paddle, heading off to Long Point around 8:00, to check out the placing of huge rocks around the point to stop erosion.  It's much more thorough than I thought, as they have worked up the shore on both sides for 20 or 30 yards.

Setting Rocks To Protect The Shoreline

The sky was amazing, as the sun was peaking in and out of the clouds, lighting up the Woodlawn shore.  What a great way to start the morning.

The Late Fall Colors Of Woodlawn

When I  got home, I had to hustle to make it to yoga at 10:00.  It was another good class as Jen always seems to come up with something different.  This time it was various stretches for our calves, not the usual hamstrings.  Afterwards, I picked up a coffee, dropped a package off at the UPS outlet and drove home, hoping it wasn't going to rain.  And it didn't although the weather app predicted rain in the afternoon.  When I got home, Evie had been busy making lentil soup and rewashing our windows, as yesterdays washing left streaks.  Because I thought it might rain, I decided to walk the Woodlawn/Victoria woods before lunch.

Yellows And Browns

A Breath Taking Walk 

Again, it was a good choice as the sun came out for a bit, the woods were dry, and most of the trees still had their yellow leaves, striking when the sun came out,  It's an easy walk, just about a half hour, and when I got home, I felt righteous, having both walked, kayaked and done yoga.

An Angry Blue Jay

So What!

So it was time for lunch, a toasted cheese sandwich, homemade vegetable soup and another episode of Longmire.  That was it for me for much of the afternoon.  Evie, however, tried to keep busy but the continuous chatter about the changing political landscape on the radio was depressing her big time, draining her mojo.  So she ended up watching junk TV for part of the afternoon until we thought of something to cheer us both up, another kayak paddle.  The lake was too inviting to pass up, so we had a lazy paddle over to Bemus Bay and back, enjoying being out on the lake with a few fishing boats.  It was a good choice, picking up our spirits by getting us away from politics for an hour.

Sun Setting Over Amish Farms

Around 6:00, our good friends Linda and Ron came over because we were going to Pine Junction for dinner.  We wanted to go there because it might be the last time we could make this pleasant drive in daylight.  And as always, we ogled the farms, the forests, the vast Amish manicured pastures, hilly and still green.  Pine Junction was not very busy so we were able to find our favorite seats at the bar.

Fun Night At Pine Junction

We ordered Yuengling beers despite our better instincts (the Yuengling owner is an outspoken Trump supporter) and burgers, our usual at Pine Junction.  It was a good choice, to come to Pine Junction and though it was dark when we drove home, I took the Interstate, making night driving easier.  And we got home in time to see the beginning of the World Series for Ron who is a big baseball fan.  In fact, he quizzed me on the 1954 Cleveland Indians starting line up.  I missed one, Dave Phillips, the right fielder though I did think it was Dale Mitchell, a part time right fielder.  Pretty good for a 73 year olds memory.  And as I mentioned, I went upstairs to read the new Ian Me Ewan novel, NUTSHELL, abandoning the Tribe and their two run deficit, like a disloyal Cleveland fan.

Routine Is Good

7:42

7:57

7:59

7:07

Up at 6:20 thinking about what the mornings will be like starting Sunday when we turn our clocks back.  I have only a few more days of an hour of darkness before the sky begins to lighten and take shape, like now at 7:15.  A boat just went by, light on, no doubt an early morning fisherman.  Lots of boats were out yesterday because it was such a nice day.

Yesterday, I quickly fell back into routine, going off to yoga though I was not too excited about it.  But by the time class was over, I was glad I had gone because I felt better.  I stopped for coffee, then hit Save A Lot and picked up salad stuff, a pot roast and pork ribs.  When I got home, Evie decided to have the pork ribs for dinner, so she got out the slow cooker, browned the ribs, added some crushed tomatoes, cooked for six hours, adding sauerkraut during the last hour. Dinner prep was done by noon, nothing to worry about later in the day.

By the way, I forgot to mention that on our drive to Virginia and back this past weekend, through much of western Pennsylvania and New York, we saw hundreds of Trump signs, with nary a Clinton sign. And we were just listening to POTUS and a resident of Pennsylvania explained that the Democratic headquarters were not giving out signs because they were being ripped out of the lawns. Another caller said that a neighbor had painted their entire house red, white, and blue with a huge Trump sign.

I was just reading about something called 'cognitive closure' which defines most of today's voter's, whether Democratic or Republican.  It's defined as 'the moment that you make a decision or form a judgment. You literally close your mind to new information.' And, 'The more uncertain our world seems, the more we compensate by seeking out certainty.' That's where we are at, both sides certain they are right, unwilling to see the other side. Scary.  This 'uncompromising certainty' on both sides leads to nothing getting done. Sad making.

Our early afternoon was one of leisure, having lunch for me, watching Longmire, reading and taking a nap. For Evie, because she had a busy morning, washing windows, doing laundry, straightening things up, she took it easy until around 2:00 when she got to do her favorite thing, cut the lawn and mulch the leaves.  I joined her around 2:30 and we had dual lawn mowers going until just after 4:00.  It took that long to get both yards cut and mulched so that we could say the lawns were clear of leaves (for an evening).  We also did some raking and I filled up a pail with leaves and twigs and took it up the hill, one of my many trips during the fall.  

Because we both worked up quite a sweat from working in the yard, we took showers before cocktail time.  We settled down in our living room around 5:30, with Manhattans, edamame and another of our favorites cheeses, Saint Andre, and enjoyed the waning of daylight, ruined only by the occasional pundits dire predictions about the election on the radio.  We were looking forward to dinner, pork and sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, and it was as  good as we hoped.  We also were looking forward to the Indians game but that was quickly quashed in the first inning when the Tribe fell behind by three runs.  We channel surfed from then on, hoping to see a change in the score but  it never happened, the Tribe losing 9-3.  We ended up watching more of the documentary on Anthony Weiner before going up to bed.  I finally finished Ann Patchett's novel, COMMONWEALTH, which I enjoyed.  

To The Lake, Again

7:34

I woke at 6:15 on the lake, after a great weekend in Virginia with my daughter Jill's family and 720 mile road trip.  While it got up to 80º there on Sunday, it's a chilly 38º here at the lake, a typical morning with a leaf strewn yard, a partly cloud sky, and the sun rising over Bemus.

We left Virginia yesterday at 7:30, just after both girls left for school, Jill to work out.  We were not sure whether to head towards Gettysburg for the morning but it was such a nice day, we decided to bite the bullet and drive to Gettysburg, a two hour drive, a bit out of our way but eventually worth it. The drive to Gettysburg, on RT. 15, was surprisingly busy, making me wonder if any works anymore or has to be there at 8:00.  The roads, the traffic, certainly suggested the opposite.  We made decent time, arriving at the Gettysburg Battlefield Welcome Center just before 10:00.  We talked to one of the guides, who suggested we walk to the Civil War Cemetery than take the AutoGuide through the fields and town of Gettysburg, a good idea.

Fall At Gettysburg

Pennsylvania War Memorial

Greek Gods/Goddesses 

So we began our morning with an hour walk, to the cemetery, through woods, to the site of Lincoln's Gettsyburg address.  It was a sunny, cool day, a good day to take a walk, to see where many of our veterans have found there final rest.  Soldiers from various wars are buried there as well, not just those who died in the Civil War.  The cemetery is well taken care of because of the popularity of Gettysburg, a site on many people's bucket list.  Of the 46,00-51,000 soldiers that died at Gettysburg, just 3,000 are buried at this site. After our walk, we drove through downtown Gettysburg, its narrow streets, houses squatting a foot or two from the road, to the fields outside of town where the battle took place.

View Of Pickett's Final Charge Battlefield

One Of The Thousands Of Roadside Memorials To Those Who Died, Both Union and Confederacy

Lincoln

I was surprised by the vastness of the battlefields, having thought, from reading THE KILLER ANGELS, that it was a much smaller area.  But we drove on various roads, which crisscrossed each other, stopping at various recommended spots, and got out and view either a memorial or a battlefield, with useful descriptions usually of what we were looking at.  I cannot imagine what it must be like in the summer because even now, there were lots of visitors and buses.

Backroads Of Pennsylvania

We spent another two hours, taking our time, getting out and walking when we wanted and eventually, left town around 12:30, for our ride home.  And like always, it took longer than we thought, six hours, as we took a back road, RT. 30 West, to Breezewood, where it connected with our usual drive home from Virginia.  We stopped at the Ashville General Store on the way home to pick up a pizza and a salad for dinner and arrived at our door about 6:45; we were just glad to get out of the car and be home.  It felt like a long drive.

Fortunately, unlike most of our other trips, we had little to unpack, so we were relaxing with pizza and a salad by 7:30, back on our couches, enjoying or not enjoying the 'breaking news,' it always seem to be 'breaking news,'  We had enough by 8:30, so we watched the documentary WEINER on Showtime, which chronicles the rise and fall of politician Anthony Weiner.  What chutzpah this guy has, to run for Mayor after his sexting, embarrassing both him and his wife, Houma, now in the news because she is Hillary's top aide and confidante.