Foods for Thought

Sam enjoys her leather candycane.

We started Christmas day lazily - up at the crack of 10:30. No little kids to pressure us and the dogs enjoy a long quiet morning. We did open gifts and everything was greatly appreciated. The rest of Christmas Day was full of food. Started with a large breakfast of fried mush and sausage - think we’ll make that a tradition. From there Nicki prepared a mid-afternoon roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes, squash, peas, etc. Martin brought Gretchen and her two children. (Ed - we pulled out our old castle with the little people and Bobby, the 4-year old, focused on it). With barely a break (or opportunity to loosen the belt), Laura and I collected Ursula at 4:30 and transported her to Norma and Han’s where Nicki joined us for another dinner - ham, chicken, shrimp, etc. Such a variety and abundance of food. Ursula enjoyed the company and food.

Grandma has a way of telling us when she’s had enough photos.

After that celebration Nicki and I took Ursula home. Just after we got there I discovered that the TV in the lounge down the hall was showing a concert of Renee Fleming with Christoph Eschenbach conducting. Ursula was quite pleased to see her “godson” performing and proclaimed such several times. While she watched I setup the new radio we all got for her - hopefully she won’t notice the change and will accept the gift. Tomorrow’s goal will be to teach her how to enjoy the music.

Back home all was quiet as Laura went out to visit friends and Martin was off with Gretchen. Nicki and I talked with Sarah and then lazily reviewed the day and digested.

Better Service Without More Cost

I did a quick trip to Little Valley Thursday to Friday. The goal was to deliver a few Christmas presents for brothers and sisters but also to do a quick check of the homestead and to soak up some of the ambiance of the area. The house was fine. A little cozier and warmer than expected but that is good. And the driveway was very clear - even at the entrance - so the plower we’ve employed is doing his job well. Which may be expected since we are paying by the plow. Makes one wonder what the final bill will be.

Martha had arrived just ahead of me so we ran over to Ellicottville (“the little Aspen of the East”) to have dinner. We ate at the Ellicottville Brewing Company which was a little crowded at first. But we got a small table right away. Once we ordered (fish and chips for both) the meals came almost instantly - hadn’t had more than one sip of our beers. Suspect they may have judged us as we walked in and dumped the fish in the frier. But it was a good meal. Afterwards did a little walking and window shopping on Main St. and drove through Holiday Valley. Not many skiers but lots of slopes open and the snow looked good. Then back to Little Valley where we tested the internet connection (still good) and watched TV.

Friday morning we met Ed for breakfast at Dina’s for our package exchange and to review Ed’s homestead 2005 expenses and 2006 projections. Nothing but good news as the corporation has successfully weathered several household improvements and repairs, the unit is in healthy structural and financial condition, and dues for the next year have been reduced. The new motto is "Better Service Without More Cost". The spreadsheet will be reviewed for possible adjustment at the annual June convention. I should also report that Dina’s has opened their second floor area. As you come in their front door there is a stairway to the left going up to the new dining area. They have also added a huge ceiling to floor curtain to block out drafts at the front door.

After a little shopping in Ellicottville and a short stop in Little Valley (and a short tutorial on podcasts for Martha), I started the return trip to Oberlin. On the way Laura called me to report that her flight was slightly delayed which gave me enough time for grocery shopping at one of our Trader Joes - coffee, wine, soy milk, and marzipanstollen. Laura’s flight arrived 45 minutes late which wasn’t too bad. Traffic around the airport wasn’t bad at all. Stopped at Lorenzo’s to get take-out for supper.

The only other interesting experience that evening was a call from Martin (still in NYC) asking for help. His old Jeep, which he has given to a friend in Oberlin, was not starting and she needed to visit relatives that evening. So I grabbed my jumper cables. Had her started after a few tries. She only lives a few blocks away. We decided she will need to have the battery tested as it is getting very old and looked mighty corroded. Martin will be arriving in just a couple hours. At that point everything should be in place for our family Christmas festivities.

We hope all of you have a worthy Christmas and enjoyable holidays.

Prepared for Winter

Suppose there comes a time when you must admit that the season really is over. Lakes are freezing shut. Snow covers the ground. Days are much too short. The thought of lashing the kayaks to the top of the car is enough to numb the fingers. So the kayaks are mounted on the garage wall - much like hibernation. Can't even think of doing the little maintenance things you should do in the coldness of the garage - wait until just before Spring breaks. But we can't help seeing them every time we pull the cars in or out of the garage - a reminder of where we'd rather be - if not for seasons.

Getting into the Spirit

Sam and Cricket
are thinking
about the holidays.

Branching Out

Ursula has now spent a week in her new place. She didn't go very far - maybe 50-60 paces. From one end of the swimming pool to the other. But Nicki is still sorting out papers and boxes. Our garage has the furniture that wouldn’t fit into the slightly smaller room. Somewhere in the move some of Ursula’s warmer clothes have disappeared and the care level increased to the where laundries are more frequent, so some shopping may be in order. The walls are filled with her artwork and we tried to make the area around the outside of her door look familiar so she will recognize her place on the way back from meals. Photos from the move can be found on My Website.

This blogging thing is getting too easy. I’ve decided to branch off a second blog with a theme - a logical extension of this blog. Head here for Kayaking Across America. Probably an odd time to start a journal about kayaking - at the end of a season. But I decided to grab the name while it was available. Also I’m considering the use of verse. An experiment for sure. In the next few months you’ll probably read a lot about kayak maintenance and musing on places we can kayak in the future that are located beyond Ohio. Time to start a list - got ideas?

The Sound of Music

Nicki's sister Barb came in the middle of last week. She had been invited to do a presentation at Kendal Friday evening on her experiences with the Von Trapp Family Singers in the late mid-1950's. The program went very well. Large enthusiastic audience. Ursula sat in the front row with Nicki. She seemed to enjoy the music. I'm sure she recognized most of the songs. Not sure she heard much of the talk but that's okay. People at Kendal were still talking about it today. I think Barb should go on tour. Bob drove down from Lansing and made it for the last couple numbers.

Barb discussed her invitation to join the Von Trapp's, the travels throughout the world, and visits to the Trapp Family Lodge in Vermont (A little of Austria - A lot of Vermont). She sang songs learned from the Von Trapps as well as selections from "The Sound of Music." Barb also demostrated several different sizes of recorders and tricky maneuvers with poi balls. The Trapp Family added poi balls to their concerts during a trip to New Zealand. And Nicki well remembers the poi ball craze among the kids in her neighborhood after Barb returned from that tour.

Saturday we grabbed the opportunity of sunny weather (and temperatures in the high 40's - low 50's) to do a little kayaking. We also had Bob and Barb bring Ursula in their car so Ursula could watch us unload and launch the kayaks. She was bubbling with curiosity. After watching us they gave Ursula a bit of a drive throught the country. And later that evening we all got together at Hans and Norma's for pizza, chicken fingers, salad, and chocolate pie. I think we tired Ursula out with all the excitement and excursions.

As for our kayaking report. The paddling was fine. The water was probably very cold but we wisely or luckily didn't dip. We were just about ready to give up on wildlife when we spooked 3 great blue herons at the same time. They flow off in 3 different directions. Think we saw a couple small groups of diving grebes. I was just about to suggest to Nicki that we set the goal of taking the kayaks out at least once a month every month of the year - when we came upon a big batch of funny looking water. Of course, it was a large sheet of ice. So I played "ice breaker" for a while - interesting feel. However, the kayak doesn't turn or backup well in an ice field. There may come a point when the ice wins and the kayaks stay in the garage.

Deer in the headlights

Last night, after I chaired my monthly district technology committee meeting, I drove over to Kendal to meet Nicki and her mother for supper. As I was driving into the parking lot just outside Ursula’s room a deer walked across the drive right in front of me. A buck with 5-6 points on its antlers. Good thing I was driving slowly since I always worry about hitting a resident. And we had a nice supper with Ursula.

And have you checked out the luxury casino/hotel plans for Salamanca? Wow - a step up from the Dudley.

Yes Yes ... again

Amazingly both our levies passed. I figured it would be very close but the numbers were very positive. The replacement proposal passed 64% to 36% which I figured since there wasn’t much difference in cost. But the 5 mill new levy passed 55% to 45% which was respectable. This will give us financial stability for a while provided the state doesn’t do something screwy or GW doesn’t declare war on the economy. Click here for the campaign website.

Had our first opportunity to do the touch-screen voting. It was different but the process went smoothly. The only disconcerting part was when part of an issue would start on one screen and finish on another. Some precincts had machines that broke down or the paper back-up jammed. But I only waited 5 minutes and it was overall less worrisome than our usual punchcards. The voting results were slow to be reported. Turns out the board of elections always counts the absentee ballots first and then deals with the regular voting - and there was some problem with the absentee processing. And with the reporting pace it was hard to grasp a trend. I did a lot of reloading of the board of elections website while the levy campaign committee snacked and chit-chatted. But we got the same results at the same time as the radio stations and the TV. I gave up and went home to catch the final results. And now we start thinking about the technology levy that will need to be renewed this time next year. It never ends.

The Valley Goes Wireless

The pattern being established here is that I report on our events after some time to reflect - usually a week or so. Or I start the blog entry after I’ve had time to download our photos from the cameras and when I’ve found enough spare time to compose the text. In this case it took an entire week and now I’m sitting and watching the Cavs playing the Spurs.

Nicki and I drove up to Little Valley last Thursday (the 27th) night arriving just in time for a late dinner that Martha had prepared - pot roast. We certainly can’t say the oven isn’t being used. After that great dinner I did a little experimenting with the cable broadband connection. It wasn’t a matter of simply plugging my wireless router into the cable modem and being able to check my email. They just didn’t want to talk to each other which means the internet wasn’t accessible. Of course I was following the installer’s directions and not going with my experience. I'm sure I was great entertainment for Martha and Nicki. Gave up finally - looking for a fresh start in the morning.

Friday Nicki and Martha left me to do their thing in Ellicottville while I did my thing with the wireless setup. After a lot of frustration I finally did what I should have done first - basically unplugging and resetting the cable modem (the installer said not to do that) - and of course the wireless connection was instantly recognized. From there I tweaked the settings to get the best signal. Found we can receive a strong access signal outside the house at least to the garage - maybe further. So the dinning room table or the porch will be no problem. During this process I found at least one other access point in the neighborhood which is encouraging for Little Valley.

I’m not going to say anything about the level of openness. Any of the family wanting to access our connection shouldn’t have a problem. Your laptop’s wireless card should recognize the signal and the station’s name should be obviously ours. And I can always talk to the router and adjust the settings from Oberlin.

Nicki and I did a bit of a walk that afternoon. Started with the cemetary, then beyond the Fairgrounds to the bike trail, eastward past the old railroad station as far as the swimming pool, and back to the homestead. That evening we met Jim and Cindy at Tips Up Cafe. Not much of a wait. Good table. Good food. And afterward we all moved back to the house. At one point there were a bunch of laptops accessing our network round the dinning room table.

Next morning we left the Little Valley crowd and headed back towards home. Arrived at Sue’s Mom’s memorial service with plenty of time. Then did a little shopping and finally home. We did see the Wallace and Gromit movie at our local Apollo Theater that evening.

Sunday afternoon we took advantage of the very nice weather. Loaded up the kayaks and visited our Findley Lake. Kept running into people that were interested in our kayaks. Both when we were taking the boats off the Honda and later when we were getting them out of the water. We think there is some interest in the sport.

Beautiful day on the lake. Autumn leaves on the water. A ring of fall colors around the lake. Our usual herons. A couple hawks. The only disappointment was how early it is getting dark. We took the boats out of the water at 5:30 and 15 minutes later it was night. I don’t think we’ll get anymore kayaking trips on weekdays after school. Better get good weather on the weekends or that’s it for the season.

Halloween was a little better than usual for trick-or-treaters. We had around 20 - mostly very young kids. The past couple years has been very light. But that number doesn’t stress our dogs much. They bark and take a look at the costumes but Sam and Cricket weren’t on the alert.

This week has been focused on the upcoming elections. Tuesday evening was the local candidates night at First Church. Time to hear about the issues and an opportunity to see the school board candidates. Wednesday I had a levy committee meeting to discuss the final push. Thursday I attended a levy discussion at Kendal. And Saturday Nicki will be distributing leaflets in the neighborhood while I tweak the campaign website. Maybe Sunday we’ll kayak - but the forecast isn’t very promising.

Almost forgot - this week I've been trying to fix a PC at work. One of the secretaries computers had a browser hijacker "accidentally" installed which led to her getting endless annoying popups whenever she accessed her email or had to go on the internet. Needless to say it was disrupting the efficiency of her work. Took hours and hours of work to get her even partway back to normal. And the cures are as annoying as the problem. Please save yourself a lot of trouble and get yourself a Mac. Or if you can't, then keep your anti-virus definitions up-to-date. And don't click on any "free" offers or any notices that your computer has a problem and can be fixed by clicking on some flashy button. And whether you use a Mac or a PC stop using Internet Explorer and start using Firefox - a much better, faster, and more secure browser that blocks popups and has some cool features.

Traveling East

Talk about being slow. I’ll blame it on a short and busy week - coming back late from our trip, lots of school meetings, working on the levy campaign, open house meetings with parents, and so on. They say an indicator of a successful blog is quick and current entries. I’m not looking to expand my readership.

So Nicki and I did a little traveling. Left last Friday heading to Little Valley, stopping there just long enough to store the kayaks in the garage and do a beef on wick lunch at the Congregational Church. Lots of talk among the ladies about which Memmott I was - the bets were on Ed, of course. You time lunch right you get lots of attention and they toss in extra sandwiches and pie for free. Then we continued eastward along the southern tier with the jog up toward Albany until we arrived at Laura’s round eleven. Had plenty of rain the last couple hours of the trip but avoided the flooded or missing sections of highway. Laura and kitten Zoe were ready for us with pastries. Only 665 miles in one day.

Saturday morning we did breakfast at iHop, drove to Stanford, and caught the train into New York City. From Grand Central we subwayed to the World Trade Center area where we met Martin. Walked around the recovery site, down to Battery Park, up to China Town, and to Little Italy for supper. Wandered a little more to a park with break dancers where we split with Martin and caught the subway back to Grand Central. Another train ride, while reading the Sunday NY Times, to Stanford and a drive back to West Hartford. A long day but nice. Sorry we didn’t contact Will and Jen and Susanna but time was tight and we focused on the kids.

Sunday morning was breakfast at Mo’s Midtown of course. That was fuel for the road. A little work setting up a printer for Laura’s computer and playing with Zoe and then we were back on the road heading west. A beautiful fall day with lots of color going over the Hudson and through the Catskills and into the Alleghenies. Picked up rain just after nightfall and before arriving in Little Valley. Martha had an unbelievable supper ready for us - turkey breast, scalloped potatoes, with apple crisp for dessert. Weren’t expecting that - what a hostess!

Monday morning we met Ed for breakfast at Dina’s. Back at Little Valley I made the call to set up installation for broadband - so the homestead will have highspeed internet. (Give me a little time to add the wireless router - and picture us serving coffee to the locals with their laptops on the porch). We reloaded the kayaks and headed for Presque Isle near Erie. Beautiful park. Spent most of our time exploring a large lagoon area in the center of the peninsula. A few herons, lots of ducks, and one animal swimming just in front of us that we’re pretty sure was a beaver. Ended up in Misery Bay which was the temporary home of the fleet of ships commanded by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry in the War of 1812. Not many people in the park. No other kayaks. No fisherman. Very quiet and scenic.

For the final leg of our trip we had supper on the east side of Cleveland and drove through a final bit of light rain as we returned to Oberlin. 1,500 miles total. A very nice trip. A compact but worthy vacation. And if you need your photo fix click on Travel Photos. In that collection is a photo Martha took of a broken hinge on one of the dining room cabinet doors. We’re trying to find a match. Keep your eyes open.

Fair Play

Nicki has been complaining that my blog doesn't feature enough photos of me. Seems she wants some balance considering I enjoy posting photos that happen to contain her. So since my last blog entry had photos from years gone by, here's one of me from the last century - maybe a little more than 25 years but close. Not much has changed of course.

You're probably wondering when I'll mention our kayaks. Learned today that duck season starts this weekend and that our favorite lake (see below) will have shotgunners in boats instead of guys with fishing rods. Hope they can tell the differences among ducks, herons, carp, and osprey. We won't be there to protect them.

25th

Yes - though time does fly - it has been 25 years - very good years! And to celebrate we didn't go out to a fancy restaurant. We didn't go out to a movie. Instead, even though it was a gray almost rainy day, we loaded up the kayaks and hit our closest lake - Findley of course. Since it is getting darker earlier and earlier we only paddled for maybe an hour and a half but we saw our usual herons and spooked a bunch of carp and even watched a pair of osprey circling the lake. And we had a chance to test out our new cold-weather wet-weather coats bought in Freeport this summer. And maybe our first taste of cool weather boating.

Once again we were putting our boats on the rack in the dark. With the clouds it gets dark very fast. We had the lake to ourselves and that means it was very quiet. I think we saw 5 walkers - no other boaters - no fishermen. As we drove out of the park we were watched by one lone deer. On the way home we dined at a Burger King. Kayaking was Nicki's choice though I approved. We can do fancy stuff another day - maybe this weekend? Oh yeah, I did do a bunch of roses delivered to Nicki at work. A good day. And, yes, I can do another 25 - easy.

Finding Fall in Findley

We are keeping to our mid-week kayaking schedule. Tuesday evening we made a dash away from work, changed our clothes, and headed for Findley. Made it there about 5:30 which gave us a couple hours of boating. We are beginning to notice the changing fall colors and the lake is getting a smattering of leaves floating on the surface. Started by visiting the shallows near the tall grasses. We’ve found the large carp wallowing in the warm waters. This time Nicki was leading along the shore and found herself in the middle of a pack (5 or 6?). When her boat was almost on top of the group they did their explosion thing - manic flippering on the surface until they get to deeper water. There is a slight concern that they might collide with a boat. So far they’ve managed to escape contact - but it has been close - and it is exciting. Certainly disturbs the tranquility. Things happen too fast for photos - sometime I’ll bring the video-camera cause it is slightly unbelievable until you’ve seen it happen.

The rest of the paddling was normal. We snuck up on a few herons. One old guy refused to get spooked by us and watched contentedly from his perch in a tree. And our thousands of little black birds were swarming and swooping into the tall grasses while a hawk hunted for dinner. There were more people in the park than we expected - might have been the warm evening that brought them out. Even shared the water with 3 other kayaks.

Monday evening Nicki and I did go to a Katrina Relief Concert held at Oberlin College. A real mix of music that was broadcast live by a Cleveland radio station. The audience was a little sparser than I expected but the music was impressive - all performed by students.

I’m also getting involved in our local school levy campaign by running their website - YesYes for Oberlin Schools. There are 2 Yes’s because we are actually asking for voters to approve 2 levy proposals. We did this before - about 2 years ago - but it didn’t generate the funds we expected so we are trying again. One big complication is that our superintendent just announced that she is leaving Oberlin in January to become superintendent of the Pitt County Schools in North Carolina. Our selling point for the levy campaign will now be that we need a financially stable system to attract worthwhile administrators. Right?

West Branch

Nothing like a weekend to complete a busy week. We really look forward to our time.

Friday evening was recovering at home and watching the sorrowful Indians game. They should have won.

Saturday Nicki worked on cleaning the house while I went into school to do tech work and to get ready for a big reading achievement test we are giving our 3rd graders Monday. And of course we watched/listened to the even more sorrowful Indians game as we worked. That evening we did a little shopping out of town and on the way home went to a jazz concert at the college - Purple Stuff - a student group of various musicians featuring two fantastic drummers. Of course it was free and amazing music. We were probably the oldest people there by 30-40 years (but I thought we fit right in).

Sunday afternoon after the most sorrowful Indians game we drove about 70 miles east to West Branch State Park which has the Michael J. Kirwin Lake (also known as the West Branch Reservoir). The maps said it was a scenic lake with mountain bike trails, campgrounds and lots of fishing. It has a great reputation for muskies up to 50 inches (but we didn’t see any). If you look real close you might see the ripple of one following Nicki's boat but I don't think so.

It is a very nice serene lake though the water level was way down. Lots of fisherpeople but the lake was big enough and they were spread out and there weren’t many powerboats that late in the day. A big enough lake that we had some nice wavy motion from the infrequent powerboats.

Had a very nice sunset. Not much wildlife - not sure why not since the migratory season has started. No geese or ducks and only 2 skittish herons. Might have something to do with the low water and the lack of trees right on the water’s edge. And again we were tying up the boats as it got dark. Either we need to start kayaking earlier in the day or mount lights on the boats. We are getting very good at putting the boats on top of the CRV by touch. Stopped on the turnpike for a late supper on the way home. Forgot that West Wing was on at 8:00 so we missed it totally. I much preferred having it on Wednesday nights.

And the Indians season is over so we can stop watching baseball. That will free up a considerable amount of time in our schedule. We are trying to do at least one evening of kayaking on Findley Lake during the week and discover a new lake on the weekend. That will work until the days get too short and the temperatures too cool.

LaDue & Dinner

A long hectic week so a quiet weekend sounds fine. Friday evening was spent watching the Cleveland Indians win over Kansas City. Looks like today’s game is going to be close. Would be nice if the Indians could manage the sweep. The Chiefs are playing plenty sloppy enough so the Indians should be able to pull it out. (Oops, game over as one of the Indian outfielders lost a fly ball in the sun and the Chiefs win).

Saturday Nicki and I started out with a quiet breakfast and sorting papers in front of the Rita coverage. Very relaxed.

Then Nicki took her mom to Oberlin’s Doggie Doo pooch parade. Lots of dogs and costumes and local celebrities - no cats. Ursula seemed to enjoy the outing - even had a chance to hold a small dog. I stayed home with our dogs and did schoolwork. Samantha and Cricket aren’t very civilized with their peers and wouldn’t have been a positive addition to the events. After the parade Nicki brought Ursula back to our house and she had a chance to see how we load up the kayaks.

Then we were off for another kayak excursion. This time we headed for LaDue Reservoir which is an Akron City reservoir. We had scouted it out on our trip to the Upper Cuyahoga last weekend. The first impressive event was circling an island with two trees loaded with cormorants. Cormorants are getting a bad reputation in Ohio as they are starting to have a negative effect on fishing and are competing for habitat with other birds. They are neat to watch as they take off from the water as their wing tips slap the water for the first 5 or 6 strokes. We did see several herons but they were hard to approach. The birds on this lake were much more skittish than our favorite Findley Lake.

But the waters were calm and we had a nice sunset. Took the kayaks out of the water with just enough light to tie up the boats. An odd couple with kayaks was heading out as we headed in. Not sure what they would see in the darkness. Maybe a different set of animals comes out that time of night?

On the way home we stopped at the Mustard Seed Market & Cafe - a neat natural and organic food store with a very impressive restaurant. Nicki had coconut-crusted chicken on salad greens and I had Australian Beef Filet (eight ounce filet of Aussie beef, bacon wrapped, pan seared, and served with grilled vegetables and fries). Not a bad dinner after a good outing in the kayaks.

Sunday was lawn-mowing. Samantha (our elderly main dog) has developed a peculiar behavior. She now follows me around the back yard as I mow. I think she isn't hearing the lawnmower so she isn't bothered by it. Every few rows she seems to need a bit of petting. And then she follows me some more.

Good Ol' Findley

Nicki and I grabbed the good weather and nothing scheduled after work as an opportunity to do a little weekday evening kayaking. And given that it was a weekday we decided to stay close and head for our familiar Findley Lake. And again it didn't disappoint.

First we were greeted at the park by 4 young deer. We've always expected to see deer at this park but haven't. Then as soon as we were in the water I headed for a tall grassy area just across the lake from the dock and found two 2-3 foot carp sunning themselves in the shallow water. Get real close to them and they explode across the surface to get away. Impressive. Turned around to find a couple turtles catching the last few rays of the late sun. From there we did our usual chasing ducks and sneaking up on herons. Nicki prefers to watch them from a slight distance while I like to see how close I can get with my camera. Tonight they seemed easily spooked but that may have been from so few people being in the park or they were just visiting (migrating) birds and not accustomed to kayaks floating up on them.

Just after the sun set and on our way back toward the dock we watched an osprey hunting - flying in circles 50-60 feet above the lake and then diving feet first for fish - big spash - and then repeat the hunt. Nothing like sitting in the middle of the lake watching the nature show. And just before docking I found two more carp to sneak up on with the same explosive results. This time they almost slapped the side of the boat on their way to deeper water.

The first photo is from tonight of the turtles. I'd like to have some shots of the carp but you don't really see them until you are right on top of them and they do their exploding thing. Got a lot of heron photos but there's enough of them already posted here. And the osprey was doing its thing at a distance when the light was too flat and I'd already packed the camera away. The second photo was actually taken by Nicki on our Cuyahoga River trip last Sunday. We didn't download her camera until tonight and I liked the shot.

Cruising the Cuyahoga

Friday night was rainy - lots of rain - no floods but very very wet. The kind of rain that sounds nice outside the window when you’re sleeping.

Saturday Nicki was working around the house while I tried to rebuild a computer cart load of laptops - mostly dealing with cranky batteries. To get out of town we took our aging vacuum cleaner into the Oreck store for a $15 repair which made it good as new. And then back home to watch the Indians win again.

Sunday was church for Nicki and more school tech work for me. And then we traveled about 60 miles east to Eldon Russell Park which is a very quiet county park along the Upper Cuyahoga River (yes, the same river that eventually flows through the City of Cleveland and into Lake Eire). I think I had elevated expectations for the Cuyahoga. It is a “state-designated Scenic River” and is very natural looking. It is a slow flowing river so we first heading upstream. Every hundred yards or so we’d find a fallen tree partially blocking the path so we’d have a maneuvering challenge. After a half-mile or so we gave up - not so much from the obstructions as from the hunter’s shotgun we could hear getting closer.

Going downstream from the park also had challenging trees and semi-obstructions but we kept seeing a bend ahead that promised a potential natural wonder. There was one Great Blue Heron that we spooked out of the shore grasses and that flew ahead to lure us further on our journey. However, the threat of dusk finally made us do a u-turn and we headed back to the launch site, loaded up, and headed home. We did see a couple turtles but again we’ve found little comparison to our local Findley Lake. There just wasn’t much sign of wildlife - not even much in the way of jumping fish. There are a couple lakes in the same area of the Upper Cuyahoga that we’ll try another day. We’ll keep exploring. Given how the days are getting shorter we may need to reserve kayaking to weekends. Though we may try to get out quickly after work one day this week.

Music, Movie, & Muddy Water

Great Blue Heron ---------------------- Great Blue Heron on drugs.

Quick busy weekend. I suppose that’s going to be the norm.

Friday night we saw Bruce (our dogsitter and informally adopted son) and his bluegrass band at the Cat in the Cream Coffeehouse on the campus. Good music Bruce style. Then we did a quick trip to the Quaker State to see Nephew Peter’s band doing the oldies rock thing. Different style and volume. Nice to get a variety of music types.

Saturday after a bunch of school work we headed for Crocker Park. Had dinner at Hoggy’s which was barbecue oriented. Then saw The 40 Year Old Virgin which was very very funny with very very raunchy language. Better than expected. Not sure I'll recommend it to everyone. Maybe they will come out with a PG version on tape? Not likely.

Sunday we again focused on school work (it is a busy time for both Nicki and myself) and then did a quick kayak trip to Hinckley Lake which is a very shallow lake nestled in the hills. Not a lot of wildlife and the greatest challenge was avoiding getting stuck in the mucky bottom - in the channels leading from the boat launch to the main part of the lake. Nicki perfected a method of using her hands to scoop her way through the thin water which meant contact with the muddy bottom. I didn’t do that - resorting instead for paddle pressure - sort of like a pole boat. Otherwise it is a pretty lake that made us appreciate our local Findley Lake. At least we were experiencing nature and away from our chores. Darkness is getting sooner and sooner.

A New Bird

Nicki and i finished off the holiday weekend with a quick kayak excursion on Findley Lake. This time I took my video cam to see if I could get some action shots of the cranes. Came upon a very relaxed bird that we thought might be a hawk. Later, after consulting our bird books, we found it was an Osprey. Here's a photo from our video. Very nice evening on the water and a good way to end summer. Now to start the Fall kayak season.

Finding Lake Erie

Life has been way too busy to blog. Both Nicki and I are starting up the school year. And with watching the Katrina news there hasn’t been much time. The kayaks have been safely stowed on their racks in the garage - didn’t want them caught up in the storms we had Tuesday and Wednesday. Besides we were starting to get a certain amount of recognition (I assume positive) as we drove around town with the boats on top.

However, Saturday we just couldn’t not take advantage of the great weather and reloaded the boats on the CRV and headed northeast. First a stop at Trader Joe’s to pick up coffee beans, munchies, and wine. Then to the boat launch at the Rocky River Reservation which is part of the Cleveland Metroparks - a string of parks that circles around most of metro Cleveland. The Rocky River section contains a long section of the Rocky River as it empties into Lake Erie.

This boat launch is much busier than any of the others we’ve experienced. Five or six ramps feeding into the river in the shadow of a long shale cliff. Even has a policeman on duty and a police patrol boat - assume that is part of heartland security. We didn’t get much notice.

Tried going upriver first. Interesting to be under the cliffs. If you look closely you'll notice that Nicki is wearing her PFD inside-out - either a new fashion statement or just overlooked in her enthusiasm to get out in the water. Didn’t get far - maybe a half mile before the river became too shallow and we started scraping rocks and fighting the current. Turned around and headed toward the mouth of the river. The river passes through the Cleveland Yachting Club marina - hundreds of boats and yachts and interesting houses along the water. At one point we passed an exclusive looking picnic ground - by exclusive I mean the picnic tables had table cloths, candles, wine glasses, and a real nice unobstructed view of sunsets over the lake.

As we got closer to where the river empties into Lake Erie the paddling got more and more challenging. The water got increasingly choppy as you near the end of the breakwall leading into the lake. I’d like to say I was real confident about my boating skills but after a minute or so officially out in the lake we turned around to explore more of the marina area.

Later on we got braver and our desire to see the sunset from the perspective of the lake led us to venture just a little further onto the lake proper. And besides you do get more confident about the kayaks ability to ride the 1-2 foot bumpy swells - I can’t really call them waves. There was a little water that splashed up into the cockpit but only enough to moisten my shirt - no concern. The kayaks feel very stable, turn well, and are easy to steer away from the waves striking the breakwall. And with the wind at your back they kind of surf the swells - cool.

Nice sunset. It was worth riding rough waters. Good thing it wasn’t a busier evening as it would have been even more interesting if boat traffic had been heavy. We are small and low and we don’t make much of a bump in the night.

Wildlife report: We did find a couple herons to sneak up on, there were a few cormorants fishing, and on our way back to the boat launch we found a small bunch of immature and mature Black-crowned Night Herons. Too little light to get decent photos of the Night Herons and besides Nicki's camera wasn't cooperating (she was using her boat camera - not her good camera).

I think we surprised the policeman on duty at the boat ramp as we kind of quietly snuck up on him - he wasn’t sure what was arriving along with the dark. I did have my flashlight on so I was legally abiding by the watercraft rules.

After loading up the boats and changing clothes we stopped for a late dinner at one of our favorite spots - Max’s Deli. Home by 11:00.

Weekend in LV

Nicki and I spent the weekend in Little Valley. Left Oberlin Saturday morning with rain storms coming in from the west. If we had stayed in Oberlin we would have been treated later that day to a tremendous thunderstorm - finally the rain we needed and the lawns are green again). On our way we stopped at New York’s Long Point State Park on Chautauqua Lake. Water was choppy as a result of all the powerboats sharing the lake. Didn’t see much wildlife other than a few herons. The lake was very grassy and weedy for 50-60 yards from the shore which doesn’t impede the kayaks but does make the water very unclear. The kayaks run well and ride the ups and downs without feeling unstable.

Leaving the park we were greeted by a fox sitting 20-30 feet from the road’s edge. Didn’t run away - in fact it seemed to be curious about us and did a lot of rolling and scratching for our entertainment. Looked thin and a little mangy. Grabbed the camera and got many shots. We finally let it cross the road and go on its way. We didn’t get out of the car and even though Nicki was tempted she didn't toss it a granola bar.

Martha was at the Little Valley house and after I took a shower we headed over to Ellicottville to meet Jim for supper at Tips Up Cafe. Great dinner. And then we all went back to LV to work on Martha’s new computer which went very late. Nicki was to first to drift off but then she wasn’t as actively involved in the project. I even gave up round 12:30 and let Jim and Martha finish the night’s work. We had done a lot of installing and tutoring but never did get the new computer to make a dial-up connection which we all know Martha will need eventually. We also did a bit of work on Martha’s iPod - one of the coolest things was putting pictures from her new camera into the iPod which she can then view.

Sunday morning we all met Ed at Dina’s in Ellicottville for breakfast. After eating, Jim and I tested out the free wireless access in downtown Ellicottville (it’s there). So Martha can take her laptop and sit on a downtown bench and check her email. Jim headed north for Geneseo while the rest of us returned to LV. After a little inspection of the recent water work Nicki and I headed off for kayaking while Ed returned to Olean and Martha started laundries. (Photo by Jim)

We went to Quaker Lake in Allegany State Park. Fantastic weather and great paddling. Started on the west end near the spill way and went about a mile toward the other end. A little choppy due to the wind which became a factor when we turned around and started our return to the launch site. The wind and chop was a challenge - to continue to make forward progress you need to keep up a steady paddle pace and fight the wind - a real confidence builder. As expected my arms and especially my hands felt the workout the next day. Highlight was spotting a hawk chasing something into the water and then circling over our heads.

From there it was back to LV, did a little work setting up Martha’s printer to work with her computer (or tried as we didn’t have the necessary USB cable), and then started back to Oberlin. On the way we did dinner at Wegmans and then stopped at Presque Isle State Park near Erie, Pennsylvania, to scout out good spots to launch our kayaks on future trips. We found several good looking spots on the east side of the isle. The west side gets the full brunt of the Lake Erie winds - the waves were impressive - not a good spot for kayaking. We did watch a fantastic sunset before heading off again.

Back to Oberlin by 10:30 p.m. Dogs were happy to see us. It was a short weekend - Saturday morning to Sunday evening - but worth it. I highly recommend a stay at the LV homestead especially when it has water.

By the way - we did check out the Indian Powwow from a distance which was happening at the Fairgrounds but it looked too quiet and unpopulated so we didn’t actually go into the Fairgrounds. No photos there. Kayaking was more inviting. (Photo by Nicki)