Scattered Thoughts . . .

We had a brilliant, colorful sunset last night that lit up the stormy skies...resembling a distant forest fire or even a distant bomb blast. The colorful, bright, fireball setting sun contrasted perfectly with the stormy clouds looming overhead...

We've been so busy that I haven't had many opportunities to share some photos so, while it is raining and the house is quiet because our guests haven't arrived just yet, I thought it would be a good time to share some photos... We had a really nice visit with Tom and Karen for a couple of days. We kayaked the longer length of the lake and explored some marshes and the dam...  Our young airman visited a few times (the one wearing the dog tags)...  One of our many sunsets as viewed from the deck... This shot, below, is a long exposure shot. It was almost completely dark outside but I kept my shutter open for 10 seconds which brightened the sky considerably and it also smoothed out the surface of the lake... a nice landscape shot... The loons (and all wildlife, for that matter) have been rather elusive this year. My latest loon count is at only four loons on the lake this year. Last year we had at least seven... I know this s...

Today was another stunningly beautiful day. We expected the rains from the remnants of the tropical storm (named "Bill" according to Sheila) to cause problems for much longer than we experienced. Fortunately, this storm hit us through the night and left us with a beautiful day today. Last night, however, was brutal!  We had high winds and heavy rains while the winds blowing across the lake and toward our house caused a bit of a rise in lake elevation on our side of the lake like a mini-storm surge. The lake completely covered our beach and even made its way up a few steps toward the lawn.  This storm reminded me of terrible storms on the waterfront of Long Island when I was growing up. I laid in bed worrying about the power, the roof and the boats while wondering what the high winds were blowing away from our deck and yard. This house is sort of like a houseboat as it is perched out over the lake so the house was also making many unusual sounds as it was battered by ...

Whenever we are at the lake house, I try to get up out of bed between 6am and 7am so I can get out on the lake in the kayak. At this time of day, the lake is often so calm it is like smooth glass... there is a mist rising off the lake as the sun rises... it is completely quiet until wildlife slowly wakes for another day... and, after all, it really  is the only time to get the chance to see the lake come alive as it does only each morning. This past week we had one particular morning which provided us a beautiful morning on the lake with the grandkids. This is something I typically do alone with my photography gear stowed on my kayak but this past week we had a chance to get out with the grandkids too (unfortunately, the grandchild used up the space for my photography gear). To capture this first time early morning excursion with the grandkids, I had a camera mounted on the bow of my kayak. Lukey was in my kayak while Kenzie was with Gee in her boat. Sheila's parents met us on th...

As I wrote in a previous blog post, we had quite a few guests the other day and some beautiful weather for this busy day.  Although I actually shot more than a thousand photos that day, here are a few photos... not necessarily the best... but a quick selection which is representative of the day nevertheless.   Early morning was beautiful... we quietly paddled the lake in our kayaks as the morning mist rose from the lake and the rising sun burned through the night mountain fog.  By mid-morning, the lake was a little windy (and thus slightly cool) but that made for some nice sailing. Lukey actually had a chance to sail for the first time and he enjoyed it immensely! Until now he only got to play on the boat as it sat on its dolly on the back lawn. He actually seemed more at ease in the fast-moving, leaning sailboat than while in a slow-moving, stable kayak. I have some video footage of both this first sailing experience and the early morning kayaking but compilin...

We had a very busy day on Wednesday with a visit from Sheila's family. Everyone had a really good time in some magnificent weather on the lake especially the kids.  I'll venture to say that the weather we had yesterday was the most beautiful weather we have experienced in a very long time... perhaps the best ever while at the lake!  It was sunny and clear... it was warm... the lake was calm... the water was clean and warm... it was a perfect day for all water activities and we all took advantage of that by starting our morning at 6am by paddling on the misty morning lake. Sheila had Kenzie in her kayak while I had Lukey in my kayak. Nan and Pop caught up with us on the lake within a few minutes.  When we arrived back at the house, we made some french toast with fresh strawberries. About the same time that we finished cleaning up breakfast, Sheila's brother arrived with his kids. By lunchtime, Liza had joined us as well.   The day was spent kayaking, sailing, ...

The epitome of laziness... sitting on a couch behind a boat... The past two days have been quiet, uneventful and relaxing.  Yesterday was a beautiful day but for some reason the wildlife has been in hiding. The loon activity is minimal... even the nights have been mostly absent of the loon calls. We've only seen two loons at a great distance so far. This is quite a departure from the norm. Overall, it has been quite quiet here. During the beautiful weather, yesterday, there were some boaters and water-skiers out and about on the lake... and the occasional lazy children sitting on inflatable couches being pulled behind expensive powerboats. If I had a boat capable of pulling anything, only water skis would be allowed in my boat... none of this inflatable couch nonsense. People, especially many of today's children, are lazy enough. The epitome of laziness has to be sitting on an inflatable couch while being pulled behind a boat! It was fun watching the occasional water-sk...

Searching for Adam's delayed flight... This weekend has been hectic to say the least! Adam outprocessed from his last training base on Thursday and into early Friday. He then hopped on a plane mid-afternoon on Friday. He was supposed to arrive in Burlington around midnight but, as usual, his flights were plagued with delays, maintenance problems and even a canceled leg.  He ended up spending the night at the USO in Philadelphia where he got to catch some sleep and was given a nice hot meal and a hot shower. He finally arrived in Burlington early in the afternoon on Saturday. Searching for air traffic and listening for Flight 3861... We had a little time to kill before Adam's flight arrived (another delay even on this new final leg... for crew rest this time) so we visited the tower at Burlington's quiet airfield. Being in the tower overlooking this combined civilian and military airfield reminded me of some of my past Air Force jobs.  I had forgotten how...

While I was trying to find something for the kids to watch on television last night (to give us a break from constant train videos), I came across a series called  "Bernard". I immediately thought it looked interesting as Lukey just kept shouting "No, no, no..." because it didn't have a train in the preview image. I hit the play button anyway... after all, regardless of what the kids may think, I'm in charge.   Within a few seconds, the kids were captivated... a few seconds longer and both of them thought this was hilarious to the point of tears and sore belly muscles! 

I spent the day, yesterday, cleaning and waxing the kayaks and our Minifish sailboat. It never fails... if you wax something, it will rain. Before we even made it to bed last night, heavy rain and thunderstorms began and continued through the night.  Fortunately, as the first few drops splattered on the pavement, I quickly found room for the mast, boom and sail in the shed. I didn't think they would fit in our relatively small shed but I somehow managed to get them in there! I definitely didn't want that sail getting dirty again before we even had a chance to sail nor did I want to have a lightning rod in the form of a sailboat sitting in our yard next to our bedroom. On the positive side... It appears as though I did a good job with my cleaning and waxing... the white sailboat is still clean and is only covered in crystal clear beads of water. That really is a nice sight! Today is a day of laundry... mostly... while the washing machine is doing its thing, I will be cle...