Skiing From Long Point To Maple Springs, Dinner at Pine Junction

Hanging Out

Love the Winter

Snow Bound

7:50

It's 7:15 and I am up to a gray morning, a few fishing huts out, and 23º, not as cold as  yesterday.  It's going to warm up later, as we may even get some sun.  No yoga this morning and it feels surprisingly good to know I have a couple of hours to just relax in the living room, with my coffee, and wait for Leah to get up so we can start our day, cross country skiing in the Dobbins Woods, as easy hour circle about ten minutes from us.

On Our Way to Maple Springs

Love Chautauqua

Sunset Bay

I started the morning with de-icing my car, so I could meet the guys for breakfast, only two because the rest are in Florida.  The Bemus Inn was packed, had a hard time finding place to park.  Mostly the regulars, people I recognize from previous mornings.  Thursdays seem like a big day for guys breakfasts because there are two or three other groups that gather on Thursday mornings as well. After breakfast, we sat around the living room enjoying the morning, sipping coffee, in no hurry to get out on the lake.  About 10:30, we gathered our cross country gear, jumped in the car and drove over to the Pavilion at Long Point State Park.  Surprise---we were the only ones there.  We wanted to ski somewhere other than on our side and thought the east side towards Maple Spring would be different.  It was another great day to be out on the lake, light flurries most of the way out and back. We got as far as Maple Springs before turning around and heading back in to a stiffer wind unfortunately.  We had fun taking pictures, goofing around on the ice, enjoying being outside with Leah.  She loved to race ahead, leaving us behind, the returning, being social, before taking off again. We wish we had her energy.  We skied three miles according to Leah's watch, were out about an hour and a half.

Alone

The Hare and the Tortoise

Long Point From Sunset Bay

Faux Zorba

We got home around 12:30, had a lunch of leftovers, a bagel and chicken piccata for Leah, black bean soup for me, with an enchilada from Monday.  I then relaxed while Evie and Leah went off to Wegman's around 2:00 to pick up some thing for dinner and go shopping.  I had enough of shopping for awhile.  They hit all the hot spots, Wegman's, Ryder's Cup for coffee, the Brick Elephant, then home by 4:15.

Bailey Road Sunset

Linda Hepp and Ron McClure came over at 5:00 because we were going to the Pine Junction for dinner, and wanted to make sure we had some daylight for the drive there because it can be so beautiful. And it was, large vistas of snow on hay fields, silos, farms, and a setting sun.  We took the long way, and the roads, especially Bailey, were mostly snow covered or icy so we had to take our time, especially on the hills. The restaurant was moderately busy, lots of empty tables, but people coming and going. No snowmobiles even though it would have been a great night to be on the trails.  We got a table in the bar, ordered beers, fried pickles for an appetizer, then dinners.  It was a the perfect choice for a clear, cold evening, a crescent moon hanging in the sky.  We took #86 home, just to be safe because it was cleared, well taken care of.

Dinner at Pine Junction

Forgot My ID, alas

We got home around 8:00 and decided to go for a walk on the lake in the dark, even though it was a chilly 15º out.   We got out our flashlights and head lamps, and headed out for a short walk.  Evie, of course, was the instigator, getting Leah and me to go out with her.  We did not stay long but it was neat to be outside if only for 15 minutes, the sky filled with stars, the moon slowly dropping.  It was dark despite our lights and would have been much more fun if it were a full moon. Leah actually loved it, did not want to go in, and ended up, like the silly puppy she is, making snow angels in the snow and standing on her head in the middle of the lake.  Ah youth.

Snow Bunnies

Snow Angel

A Snow Angel, A Night Headstand in 15º Weather

We then came in, toes and hands frozen, warmed up and watched a movie called The Skeleton Twins.  It starred two SNL veterans Kristin Wiig and Bill Hemer, so I was expecting a comedy. Well, the show opens with the two of them, a brother and sister, estranged for ten years, attempting to commit suicide.  Obviously, this was no comedy though they were a few laughs.  None of us liked the film much, but both actors were very talented and convincing in their tragic roles.

The Abode At Night

A Fun But Exhausting Day With Leah

The Cross Country Girls

7:09

Despite being sore and tired, I had a restless night and gave up trying to get back to sleep at 6:00.  It's pitch black out, cannot see any fishing tents yet but I am sure they will be out on the lake shortly.  It's warmer than yesterdays 9º, a toasty 24º.  It looks like another fine day to be outside, with some sun later, temperatures in the 20's.  It' now 7:00 and nary a fishermen is out on the lake yet.  It's now 7:23 and the first tent has appeared, the sky a deep gray still, no hint of a sunrise.

Goofing Around In Panama

Yesterday I was out of the house early because yoga was moved up to 8:30 and since Leah was still sleeping, I decided to brave the cold morning, chip the ice off of the wind shield and drive to Lakewood.  Five others also braved the cold, for a rigorous class with Jen.  We worked on some breathing exercises to start class which were interesting.  Maybe they will clear my sinuses.  I did not tarry after class, wanting to get home because I knew Evie and Leah would be waiting for me.

Westside Overland Trail

We had planned on hiking, so when I got home, we gathered together our backpacks, water, skis and snow shoes and drove off to Panama, to the trailhead of the Overland Trail,  just west of the village. We have hiked this part of the trail before and I noted that it would be excellent for cross country skiing because the first mile is fairly level.  We had hoped it would be snowing but it was still wonderful to be in the woods of mostly pine trees, decorated with garlands of snow, the forest floor covered with snow, the trees like rows of pencils.  Leah seemed to enjoy it as well, as were out for an hour and a half, hiking or snow shoeing or skiing almost a couple of miles.  We were never cold despite the temperatures  in the teens.  And we never saw a soul, an animal or bird for that matter, something we always wonder about.  Where is the wildlife?  Do we scare them away?

Cross Country Skiing

Leah and Her Aunt Evie

Climbing On Dead Fall

Anyways, we were tired by the time we returned to the car, ready to head to the Ashville General Store for lunch.  It's a must for a visitor to the area, a real old time Country Store, untouched in and out for years except for adding more and more memorabilia.  It has a homey, cluttered, used, almost beat up look, with great food, and lots of aisles of goodies for browsing.

The Ashville General Store

 I ordered the Hijacker, the closest one can get to an authentic Cuban sandwich in the area.  Evie had chicken noodles soup, some of my sandwich, and Leah had a toasted cheese, tomato, and veggie sandwich.  Everything was as expected, filling and delicious.  Before leaving, Leah found a hard cider she liked, Angry Orchards Seasonal Cinnful Apple.  She and Evie were going to experiment not only drinking it but adding some to a cookie recipe. Neither one of those two are a good influence on the other!

When we got home, I read and took a nap while Evie and Leah baked cookies in the kitchen, using Leah's recipe for sugar cookies.  She had come up with a new cookie, sugar cookies frosted with a confectioners sugar with a 1/4  of cup Fireball whiskey added.  Needless to say, for anyone who is a fire ball aficionado, these were tasty, with a hot, cinnamon flavor.  Yum.

Nothing Like Cross Country Skiing As It Snows

At 4:00, it began to snow, so we gathered our skis and boots, dressed for the cold, and went out on the lake for an hour, skiing down to Wells Bay, back to the cam ground, in a fairly heavy snow.  It was glorious to be out on the lake in this snowfall, the various fishing tents smudges on the lake, Long Point disappearing in the snow all.  Leah had never cross country skied before but quickly caught on and we had a hard time keeping up with here. Evie loved it as well, her first time on the lake this winter, so it was a great way to end the afternoon for all of us.

Making Chicken Piccata, Chopping Spinach

When we got back, we all helped in the kitchen, putting together our dinner, Leah's favorite from the last time she was here, chicken piccata.  Evie acted as the coach, and showed Leah how to lightly flour and saute the chicken cutlets and make the sauce.  Meanwhile, I chopped the garlic and spinach, got it ready for our vegetable, and Leah made a couple of cups of rice.  Once everything was basically ready, we put it in the oven to stay warm, and sat down in the living room with a glass of chardonnay, some brie and crackers, and looked at the pictures we had taken during the day, some from our hike, others from our cross country skiing.  We then had our dinner, and Leah was a happy girl, enjoying one of her favorite meals.  After dinner, Leah wanted to take a bath, so Evie and I cleaned up the kitchen.

The three of us then watched some TV until 10:00, some Jon Stewart and American Idol.  Leah was tired by then and went up to bed.  Evie stayed up a while longer and I read until 11:00 when we went to bed. Both of us were really tired from our morning hike and  afternoon cross country skiing.

Yesterday I mentioned Leah was training for a bicycle race on May 2nd.  If you are interested in it, the race is called the Breathless Agony Ride, 114 miles, four mountains, 12, 000  feet of climbing, starting and ending in Sylvan Park, Redlands, CA,  just east of LA. It's May 2nd, so start training.

Hanging With Leah, Our Twenty-Two Year Old Niece

7:20

7:24

7:25

It's 7:10 and there's enough light to make out the lake, the dark shadows of a couple of fishing huts in the middle of the lake, and a light pink just above the tree line.  It's very cold once again, 9º though it should warm up into the 20's later in the day.

Yesterday was framed by our drive to Buffalo, to pick up my niece Leah at the airport.  The day started, as it usually does for me, with yoga at 9:30, five of us, on a overcast morning.  I am getting to the point where if I don't go to yoga, I feel lost, like what am I supposed to do without it. When I got home, Evie was finishing up getting the house ready and had put together dinner, chicken enchiladas and a black bean soup, so when we got back from the airport, dinner would only need to be heated.

We left for Buffalo at 12:15, despite the fact Leah's plane did not arrive until 4:00. I had made an appointment at the Apple Store at the Walden Mall, about ten minutes from the airport.  So, I had my Mac checked, no problems with hardware, some with the software, so the genius suggested wiping my hard drive clean and starting over, something I was not keen to do unless my computer really starts acting up.  He did say it was in good shape, which gives me confidence to wait until the new Mac Air arrives, hopefully sometime in the next six months.  We also did some browsing in the various mall shops, all with great sales, though the prices of almost anything seemed ridiculously high to the both of us.  We have not shopped much in the past five years so we have lost track of the cost of clothes especially.  The only store we really shopped at was The Body Shop, where Evie was able to get some things she really liked.

Leah Arrives At Buffalo International Airport

We arrived at the crowded airport parking lot at 3:30, and Leah's plane was early, arriving at 3:55 which was great.  She was excited to see us, to get to snow country.  We did not get home until 6: 15, driving the 90 miles in the diminishing afternoon light, so when we got here, we could just make out the shapes of the fishing huts on the lake.

We relaxed when we got home, with a glass of wine (Leah's now legal) and had fun catching up on Leah's life since we last saw her a couple of years ago.  She looks great, happy with her graduation from college in psychology, and is in serious training for a bicycle race in May, hoping to break a record for this race through the mountains of California: her goal, less than four hours and fifty minutes.  I cannot even imagine the amount of toughness and training it will take to even finish the race.  She's obviously obsessed in a good way with her life, her training.

A Great Dinner With Leah's Aunt Evie

 Dinner tasted good to all of us, enchiladas and soup.  We then quickly did up the dishes, made Leah a fresh latte, as she's become a coffee lover, then adjourned to our TV room and watched a cute movie from about ten years ago called Waitress.  Evie and I had seen it before and liked it, thought Leah would as well.  It was a good choice, preferable to the State of the Union speech.  We all went up to bed after the movie, tired from our day of travels, us to the airport, Leah from Chicago to the lake.

We hope to cross country ski part of the Westside Overland Trail this morning, when I return from an early yoga class at 8:30.

A Tuesday Afternoon In Buffalo

7:35

I prefer winter and fall, when you can feel the bone structure in the landscape - the loneliness of it - the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show. ― Andrew Wyeth



It's 7:00 and I have been up for a half an hour; the darkness is beginning to recede so I can make out the lake surface, the flag moving, though it's mostly gray out at the moment.  It's 22º, a few flurries forecast, a few tents already out on the ice.

Long Point, A Fixture From Our Porch

Yesterday was in the 20's most of the day.  I went to yoga at 9:30, as usual, had a coffee, stopped at the bank, then hit TJ's to see if I could find a deal.  I did, a pair of running pants for twenty bucks.  While I was at yoga, Evie went shopping at both Sam's and Wegman's, a big shopping day because our twenty-one year old niece, Leah, who lives in Reno, Nevada, will be coming to stay with us till Sunday.  She just graduated from college in December and is taking a couple of months off to enjoy herself.  She spent the past five days in Chicago with Evie's sister, Elaine, now five more with us before flying back to Nevada.  

While Evie shopped, I had lunch, pizza and cauliflower soup and indulged my guilty pleasure, watching Banshee for an hour.  Great show, lots of violence and sex, geared, obviously, for real men not Snags, like me.  Evie returned around 2:00, weighed down with bags of groceries.  I helped carry them in, then went back to the last few minutes of Banshee...don't want to miss a minute of violence, for sure.  

Cross Country Skiing With The Fishing Guys

I then read some, made a cup of 'good coffee,' with Peats coffee, from San Francisco; it definitely has a distinct aroma, different from our usual Folgers. Around 4:30, I went out and cross country skied in the woods and on the lake for an hour.  I fell a couple of times for some reason, perhaps because I was bush whacking in the woods, making trails and realized how easy it is to fall, how difficult to get up with skis on .  The lake, despite the thaw the past couple of days, was good for skiing so I look forward to be out there with my niece when she arrives later today.

We had a dinner of leftovers, schnitzel, potatoes, cauliflower and salad and discovered that since we were members of Amazon Prime, we could watch the last two episodes of Season 1 of the Americans free.  We opened Apple TV, then Evie switched on her Ipad, opened the Amazon app, and we were able to watch The Americans on our TV.  Ain't technology amazing.  It was a tension filled ending, as we both were on the edge of our seats, wondering if the Russian plants were finally going to be caught...of course not, Season 3 starts in a week!

Yoga this morning, then a drive to Buffalo, with a stop at the Apple Store at the Galleria Mall before picking our niece up at the airport at 4:15.  We should be home just as it gets dark, around 6:00 we hope and it looks like decent weather both going and coming.  

Tonight we will listen to the State of The Union Speech, usually a bore.  The Writer's Almanac had an excerpt from FDR's State of the Union in 1937 and I thought it was interesting and worth quoting as little seems to change:

FDR's second inaugural, and in his address he examined the progress the nation had made in the intervening four years. He said: "Have we reached the goal of our vision of that fourth day of March 1933? Have we found our happy valley? I see a great nation, upon a great continent, blessed with a great wealth of natural resources [...] I see a United States which can demonstrate that, under democratic methods of government, national wealth can be translated into a spreading volume of human comforts hitherto unknown [...] But here is the challenge to our democracy: In this nation I see tens of millions of its citizens [...] who at this very moment are denied the greater part of what the very lowest standards of today call the necessities of life [...] The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

Monday, Monday, So Good To Me

7:20

It's  getting colder once again, 27º at 7:20 when I got up.  The wind, however, has died down, and we got an inch of wet snow over night. The sky is filled with gray clouds, the lake has seeming wet spots from yesterdays warm weather, and only a few guys are out fishing at 8:05.

Snow Shoeing Long Point State Park

Yesterday as I mentioned was surprisingly warm, near 40º much of the morning, with a drizzle most of time.  Not the kind of weather that makes you want to rush outside but we wanted to get some exercise after our lazy Saturday, so we decided to drive over to Long Point and hike (me) and snowshoe (Evie) the park.  Fortunately, the rain seemed to let up and the woods were empty of snowmobiles and hikers so we had it to ourselves.  The trails were still snow covered but slushy, fairly easy going for both of us and we enjoyed being outside once again.  When we got out to the tip of Long Point, we started meeting others, mostly walking their dogs, as good a reason as any to get outside I guess, but I don't need a dog!  We were out for a good hour and a half, as walking in foot deep snow even with snowshoes is slow and tiring so we were both glad to get back to the car.

We had our usual breakfast about 1:00 and really enjoyed a cup of good coffee in our new Bialetti coffee maker.  It's another treat for our Sunday breakfasts, as we watch CBS Sunday morning.  By the time we were through with breakfast, it was almost time for football, so I wrote a quick book review before kickoff of the Packers and Seahawks game.

A Melting Lake, Late Sunday Afternoon

We watched the Packers game but by 5:30, we were hungry, so Evie had already pounded out the pork cutlets, so all she needed to do was fry them up, along with scalloped potatoes and a salad, and we had dinner watching the end of the game. The Packers should have won but deserved to lose, if that makes any sense.

We were getting footballed out, but wanted to see how the Colts would do against the Patriots, so we stayed with the game as long as we could, until Downton Abbey came on at 9:00. I am glad there's only the Super Bowl left, a game we can rarely sit  through in entirety.  Downton Abbey is losing its charm, becoming sillier than usual, as we found our selves "rolling our eyes" with the arrival of the Russians. Perhaps its time to put this series on the shelf.

Random Think: "Everything is relative, and only that is absolute." August Comte

THE BOOK OF UNKNOWN AMERICANS: CRISTINA HENRIQUEZ

I  enjoyed and learned from this book, about the 'unknown Americans' that surround most of us gringos, building our homes, cutting our lawns, shingling our roofs, cleaning our houses, people we see during the day but rarely include in our lives.  They live here but apart, caught between two cultures, the one they have now adopted, the one they left behind.  This is a book everyone should read because of the understanding that comes from 'walking in someone else's shoes,' and this novel puts you right their among the 'Unknown Americans.

Two families dominate this narrative, Alma, Arturo and their teenage daughter, Marilbel, guest workers from Mexico.  They have come to the States for one reason---their daughter Maribel, who has suffered a brain injury and they have been told that the schools in the States might help her. Arturo, the father,  gets a visa to work in the mushroom farms of Pennsylvania, so they immigrate to Delaware, a state that's cheaper to live in than most states on the East coast.  The other family we follow is from Panama and are now American citizens, having lived in the states for the fast fifteen years.  They befriend the newly arrived Rivera's and we see the world through their teenage son, Mayor. The older brother has won a soccer scholarship to the University of Maryland, and is the pride of the family. Mayor's father has been a short order cook in a diner for fifteen years, making just enough money for them to survive and live in a small apartment, where others from Latin America have lived because they rarely find the job with money to move upward in status.

We live intimately with these two families, see their love for each other, sense of 'otherness' living here in the States, where their lack of English skills and understanding of a new culture destines them to underclass status.  And there seems to be no way out unless, like the successful son, you assimilate, get an education and win a scholarship to college.  We also are given numerous vignettes of others who have come to the United States, how they have been received, how they fit in despite their differentness.  Some are happy with their new home, others long, of course, for the pace and intimacy of their homes in Latin America, few return.

The conflict, the trouble, essential to any story, involves the burgeoning relationship between Mayor and Maribel.  Neither family approves, especially Alma and Arturo, who fear for their brain damaged daughter.  Mayor, however, befriends her, helps to bring her out of her shell and despite the families restrictions, manages to drive her off to the ocean for the day, to see snow and ocean for her first time. The families are alarmed when neither returns on time, and Arturo and Alma fear the worst, that a neighborhood tough has molested Maribel.  Arturo, in a rage and fear for his daughter, confronts the boy and his red neck father and is shot dead by the father, enraged by Arturo's Spanish and dark skin.

The novel concludes with Alma returning to Mexico, with her daughter Maribel, and the body of her husband, Arturo, determined to bury it in Mexico.  We, the reader, empathize with all of the families, the characters, their struggles to gain a better life.  And they go against stereotype, as there are no gang bangers, no drugs, no violence, just people like us hoping for a better life for their children. It's a book that will open your mind to humanity, to the 'others'. as Henriquez puts it, the  'unknowns.'

39 Degrees---The Big Thaw---For A Day

7:20

Kayaks---Ready For Spring

It's after 8:00 and I have been up for an hour, a surprisingly warm morning, as the the gutters are beginning to drip as the ice thaws.  Lots of guys are out fishing; I count fifteen as one drags his sled in for the morning.  There's a bit of rouge over the tree line but the sky is mostly gray towards Bemus, stormy like towards the north.  I am not sure what today will bring because of the thaw, perhaps a walk, some skiing, or just spending the day inside, watching football for almost the last day of the year.

Saturday Morning Activities 

Yesterday morning was very cold, 35 degrees colder than this morning  at 4º.  I had to chip the ice off of our car before driving off to yoga at 8:40, a car frigid, a heater straining to warm up the seats. Yoga is called Mixed Yoga on Saturdays, which means all levels, from beginners to experienced are welcome.  Once again, a couple of new women were signing up, seemingly ready to become regulars, a good sign for the new studio.  I decided to forego a coffee, came straight up, and Evie had the trash ready for me to take to the Transfer Station.  Man, it was cold when I dropped our trash off.  I don't envy those guys, braving the cold, for hours on a Saturday morning.

When I came home, we had gotten an email from our good friends, the Cassells in Hudson, saying there were on their way to Holiday Valley mid afternoon, and wondered if we were available for an early dinner.  We had no plans so we said yes, giving our afternoon some shape.  Lunch was easy, cauliflower soup and a bagel with cream cheese.  Neither one of us felt much like doing anything, like skiing or hiking, so we settled back and spent the afternoon reading or watching some basketball.

Barb and Mike Cassell

The Cassells stopped by around 4:30, and we relaxed in our living room, catching up on all the gossip from Hudson, and the goings on here at the lake and Jamestown.  Barb grew up in Jamestown so she is really interested in the changes that seem to be going on in downtown Jamestown.  We decided to go to Guppy's, across the lake in Maple Springs and we were lucky to get a seat, as the parking lot was filled with snowmobiles and cars at 5:30.  For some reason, the restaurant was filled and the outdoor area, now enclosed, was also filled with snowmobilers in their snow suits, enjoying beers and food. Fortunately,  the two tables in the bar were empty, where we like to sit, so we  were able to get seats despite the crowd. The Cassells had never been to Guppy's but really liked it, the ambiance, the food, the draft beers, the busyness of the place.  I had pizza and Evie and Barb loved their fish tacos. So it was a fun evening with old friends.  Barb and Mike are good about stopping by a couple times a year when they drive this way.

We were home by 7:30 because of the early dinner, ready for the an episode of Parenthood, then Bill Maher's Real Time before going to bed. I'm starting a new novel, a Harry Bosch thriller by Michael Connelly.  Let's hope he has not lost his touch.