Countdown to shutdown: Closing up the VPYC and away all boats

VALOIS, New York, USA - Adm. Fox and I have slightly over a week left before we hop a US Airways jet from Elmira, NY to California, back for a our final foray into teaching at California State University, Sacramento.

On the trailer this week

And that flight means starting in on the house shut-down list: put boats on trailers, store solar lights, drain hot tub, put away garden tools, arrange for mail forwarding... The list is two pages single-spaced, so naturally I am writing this piece.

This season we have two houses to consider, the lake cottage and our casa in Watkins Glen. The cottage we have closed down for years now and it's almost routine.

Almost.

We have a few quirks with the new house, especially now that will be our official permanent residence when we fly back in December 15.

Fly back in December? Yup, that's right, we will be coming back to Watkins Glen right as the winter cranks up to full cold & snow. What few possessions we have in storage in Calif. will be shipped east, along with my red Nissan truck (something I could have used here a dozen times this summer hauling cement, lumber...).

Shutting down the Watkins casa is pretty easy: turn the theromstat to 55 degrees, close the storm windows and make sure the lawn furniture is put away under cover. And we will have a new amiga staying in our attached apartment for the winter, so she will ensure the utilities are taken care of, etc.

When we get back in December, all we have to do (I hope) is turn up the thermostat and check the wine cellar to make sure the wine didn't freeze. (It shouldn't, the boiler for the heater system in the basement and seems to be a steady temperature year round.)

Sen. Schumer with Jim Hazlitt

The writing gig with the Finger Lakes Times newspaper will continue however, with my Friday column. I'll be reading the FLT electronic edition and getting the hard copy in the mail, just as I do now in Watkins Glen.

I'll miss some of the news story writing, though. Last week I covered a talk by U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and got to chat with half of the politicians and assorted mucky-mucks from the county. Some of those folks expressed interest in having me do some videos for them, too.

Woo-hoo.

But the time will fly in California.

Within a few days of arriving we will be getting together with cruising buddies Dan and Lorraine Olsen, trips are planned to Yosemite and other California landmarks, and, of course, we have granddaughters Samantha and Kami - and their mom Anne - to visit as much as possible. Perhaps even the elusive Dylan Fox will come leave the city limits of Berkeley for a visit - or we will head there.

And teaching?

Oh yes, teaching! We have our final semester of teaching set up. I have my usual four classes, which include a section each of magazine writing and column writing. I am still considering giving only one of two grades for all students: A or F.

They either get it, or don't get it.

But that decision can wait a couple of more weeks.

Time to take down the yacht club sign

Why the weather is always a topic of conversation in New York

VALOIS, New York, USA - When Adm. Fox and I live in California, we barely ever mention the weather. Oh, maybe in late November or the first week in December, when we have the beginnings of sprinkles of rain, or a cold front (50 degrees, brrr!) blows in.

Ditto for Mexico, where the temperatures are, well, temperate for the months we hang out in Arroyo Seco and La Manzanilla.

And that's why we hang out there, among other reasons.

But here in upstate New York, the weather rules. I mean really rules.

Plans for a boat trip? A picnic? Anything outside? Better have alternate plans because the weather will not be what you expect.

Today the plan (Can you hear God laughing?) was to do a few typical Sunday morning things (big breakfast, get a Sunday newspaper...) and then take a boat ride on the Spirit of Louise pontoon craft.

The first half went off without a hitch, but the boat ride has been scuttled - for the moment - as a cold front has been marching down the lake on and off for several hours. If the sun breaks through the cloud cover, it will be glorious.

For now, glorious is not an appropriate descriptor for what it looks like outside our window.

The nice thing about this anything-can-happen weather cycle is that in casual conversation there is never a lack of common ground. Everyone is affected by the weather. And some people really like to complain about it. (Hmm, I would seem to fall into that category today.)

But as the saying goes around here: You don't like the weather? Wait 15 minutes.

And as I write this, it looks like the clouds are parting across the lake and that the sun is about to burst through the layers of gray that have plagued us all day.

I swear I can hear someone singing hallelujah.

Back in the USSA; getting ready for summer at Seneca Lake

WATKINS GLEN, NY, USA - It was a shorter-than-normal season in Mexico this year, prompted in part by the domestic situation of son Dustin, but also because Admiral Fox and I in December purchased a home here, just a few blocks from Seneca Lake and within walking distance of town.

The pier at Watkins Glen on Seneca Lake

Watkins Glen - yes, that Watkins Glen with the NASCAR race track - has grown up in the last decade and has excellent restaurants, a nice marina and waterfront area, good shopping, all kinds of medical services and several good bars.

Several.

And, perhaps as a sign the place has come of age, this July there will be a Phish concert held at the racetrack that has the entire area buzzing, mostly about the commercial possibilities brought into town by the arrival of probably 75,000 people.

Go Phish, right?

The house has a good view of Seneca Lake

Our new house is a rock-solid brick place with one of those huge, East Coast basements that is as large as the rest of the house.

Adm. Fox has already claimed part of the basement for a music studio. I'm lobbying for making it into a den for videos, too. There's enough space for both and to build a bar in one portion.

A bar? Hmmmm....

I already commandeered one of the bedrooms for an office, where I am decorating it in early 'Chuck' decor (LINK: TV Series Chuck). Does anyone know where I can get an original poster of the movie TRON?

I arrived a few days before Adm. Fox and had a chance to equip the house. It came fully furnished (gracias Dios!) but without normal accoutrements like dishes and linens and all the other items you need to live in a house.

One of the flock

I discovered that nearby Montour Falls (home of the Harvest Cafe, another great place to eat LINK: Harvest Cafe) has a Dollar Store ensconced on the edge of town where the prices put the Watkins' WalMart to shame.

Oh! And no pink flamingos came with the house either. I remedied that immediately and we now have a growing flock. Whether the birds will go south with us next winter when we return to Arroyo Seco in Mexico is in question.

The early arrival here in the north means that, well, we are freezing are butts off (it was 85 degrees when I left Mexico, 35 when I arrived at the Syracuse, NY airport). But more importantly, we will be able to open up the lake house in Valois earlier and do projects that are best completed before the growing season.

I have at least a half dozen trees that need to be trimmed, the path to the lake needs to be rebuilt (again...) and the raspberry vines need to be trimmed back to near the ground .

Most summers, by the time we have arrived, everything has been growing for months and we are confronted with a jungle of new growth, high grass and, of course, poison ivy creeping around.

LINK: The Coasters sing 'Poison Ivy...'

The lake house in Valois - sans foliage

This fall we will return to California for our last semester of teaching at California State University, Sacramento.  It's been a great run in California, but after December, perhaps, we will be splitting our time between Seneca Lake (and Watkins Glen) and Arroyo Seco.

Or some other place, I suppose. We are subject-to-change, after all.

But for today (so far), I am holed up in my office (dubbed a 'man cave' by amiga Tina Hazlitt), organizing the place, searching online for Tron posters, and cruising Craigslist for a skiboat so we can zip from here up the lake to Valois quickly.

Summer is just around the corner after all. Really...

Cruising amigos head back to California, Hector Fair ahead

VALOIS, New York, USA - Amigos Dan and Lorraine Olsen left this morning to wing their way back to California where they live summers aboard their 26-foot sailboat, moored at the Oakland Yacht Club.

Sometime in October, they will be heading back to their big sailboat, moored in the Rio Dulce in Guatemala as they continue their cruising, this year to the Bahamas and Key West. With luck, the Admiral and I (and perhaps Eric & Tina Hazlitt and Jennifer & Keith Marshall) might catch up with them there aboard a chartered sailboat.

The Olsens took a moment out, before leaving for the Syracuse Airport, to have their photo taken with local celebrity, Arnold the Wonder Dog.


Lorraine, Dan and Arnold

We had, as usual, a great time, curiously hitting just one winery during the week for a tasting (Rasta Ranch), and had lots of adventures. We sailed the Red Rocket sailboat, kayaked up and down the Valois waterfront, hiked Watkins Glen, toured Brother Dan's plant in Big Flats and attempted to rescue Brett Beardslee's ring from the bottom of the pond at the Pee Wee Farm. All that in five days.

Hard to say which was the most fun.


Admiral Fox chugs up the steps at Watkins Glen - running


Watkins Glen trail and waterway


Lorraine and Sylvia head north in the kayaks

Thursday (my God, that's tomorrow!) the Hector Fireman's Fair starts its run, concluding Saturday with a big fireworks show. The tents are up already and many of the rides are being constructed. And, of course, the beer tent is ready to start dispensing for those of us in need of hydration.

The weather is supposed to be good for the entire fair- no torrential rain forecast, as least as of this moment. Several years ago, it rained for most of the fair, turning the fairgrounds into such a muddy swamp that people still talk about.

Friday night we will watch the Hector Fair parade on Highway 414 from the front lawn of Tina and Eric Hazlitt before heading over to the fairgrounds to try to win some silly prizes to take back to California.

The parade is always fun to watch, in good part because we know half the people in it.

Perhaps we should enter our newest automobile in the parade and join in. It's a  1996 Mercury Marquis which we purchased from our neighbor, Mary Crouch.

The car is a classic, after all.


Cousin Brett driving his signature van in last year's parade

Water days on Seneca Lake - and one treasure hunt at a pond

VALOIS, New York, USA - This has been the summer of water for Admiral Fox and I, with lake temperatures in the 70s (perfect for swimming) and also fair winds for sailing and boating.

Unfortunately, the engine on the Spirit of Louise pontoon boat has come down with a serious mechanical flu, taking it out of service for the balance of the season. So, in a week or so, the boat will go into storage with a cure to be applied next spring. The cure might include buying a new - and more powerful - engine to replace the vintage 35 HP Mercury on there now. Maybe that replacement will be a 60 HP Merc.

Zoooooooommmmm.

For the balance of the summer, however, we have the Red Rocket sailboat, two kayaks, and the new blue rowboat.

We'll still be on the water for sure.


Jennifer hoists the Red Rocket main sail


Jennifer at the helm

My boat partner, Jennifer Fitch Marshall, just ended up a way-too-short visit (one week) but had a great sailing week. We went out together one day, and she remembered her lessons well from last summer when we purchased the Red Rocket together and she did her first solo sailing.

Sometime this winter, we hope to get both families aboard a charter boat in the Bahamas for a week - or more - of sailing in those warm waters.



But two days ago we had another waterside adventure - the search for the wedding ring cousin Brett Beardslee lost in the pond at the nearby Pee-Wee Farm. About an hour after saying his wedding vows July 10 to his wife Jesse, the two dove in the pond to go for a swim and the ring slipped off his finger.

Ouch. Or maybe more accurately, oops.

Brother Dan Schwartz, Admiral Fox, Capt. Dan Olsen and Lorraine and I mounted a rescue operation at the pond, where we were met by amigo Brad Phillips who had his diving gear on when we arrived.

Brother Dan made some modifications to his metal detector to check for the ring and Brad did some serious mucking about below the surface where the ring is likely to be resting in a foot of soft mud.

Alas, no joy - at least on that first try.


Brother Dan splicing the metal detector cable

Here's a short video of the treasure hunt for the wedding ring.

A New York summer of sun, water, and exhausting fun

VALOIS, New York, USA - The summer of 2009 was about as cold and wet a summer as anyone here can remember.

This year, I suspect people will talk about the long stretch of dry weather (the grass is brown), the broiling heat and humidity (both in the 90s) and the fact that Seneca Lake has stayed consistently warm enough to swim in - for nearly two weeks.

I am not complaining. I have been swimming every day for nearly two weeks and Admiral Fox has declared herself a 'dock widow,' because I spend so much time on the waterfront.


Brett and Jesse's marriage ceremony

The most recent major social event was Saturday's wedding of cousin Brett to his fiance Jesse - a wedding party that started at 2 p.m. and wound up the next morning, sometime. It was Woodstock III in some ways, with a moving ceremony, fantastic food, and music that went on and on and on.

The Admiral and I ducked out about 10 p.m., quite full of homemade beer and cider.

The next morning, however, many of the hundreds of people at the wedding managed to crawl out of bed (if they slept at all) to go the Hector Firehouse for the breakfast that was served there.

We shot enough video and stills to make a rockumentary, though with the weather so good again today, well, it will have to wait.


Beer-balancing festivities at the wedding


Big Johnson's bar honors the newlyweds

The next big event is today's splash of Eric and Tina Hazlitt's sailboat - a boat Eric and Tina have been working on since last summer.

Yup, since last summer.

Eric tore the boat apart and put it back together during the fall, winter and spring, with finishing touches going on as late as two days ago. It's a beautiful craft and will be the queen of the Peachy Dandy Sailboat Race next month.

Given the ship's long waterline and big sails, I don't think my 16-foot Red Rocket will have much of a chance at catching it, unless the wind is extremely light.


Eric and Tina's boat, ready for the marina

The air temperature just hit 80 degrees Fahrenheit - the magic number that tells me to grab a cooler full of hydration supplies and get down to the waterfront.

I have some cleaning up to do on the Red Rocket before my boat partner, Jennifer Fitch Marshall shows up with her family Saturday from Arizona for a week's vacation and I am sure she will want to squeeze in every minute of sailing time she can.

Mid-week, world cruisers Dan and Lorraine Olsen from, well, South America, Central America (and California), arrive for a week.

But before all that, I realize, the Admiral and I need to get the cabin ready for our next renters, who arrive tomorrow afternoon.

We just bid adieu to three young Canadian women who stayed for a three days and who say they might even return later this summer if we have any time open to rent. They loved the new dock, the kayaks and the waterfront. They also went to a NASCAR race, visited local wineries and went dancing every night, I believe.

It made me a little tired just to write that paragraph.


Our first renters of the 2010 season

Ready or not, summertime fun about to hit Seneca Lake this weekend

VALOIS, New York, USA - The north wind is blowing a steady 20 knots today, with gusts to 25, (and temperatures about 58 degrees, brrr...) but the weather forecast calls for calm winds and temperatures in the 80s starting tomorrow - and continuing all weekend on the southerly part of Seneca Lake.

And that's a great thing, because this weekend would seem to be the official/unofficial beginning of summer fun at the lake with a beach party Friday, cardboard boat races Saturday and Jen and Karl's wedding Sunday.

Monday has been officially declared Detox Day at this house. The cases of ginger ale stand ready.


A dock party at Cousin Ruth's two years ago

The beach party is being thrown at the Guy Schamel house, just south of Peach Orchard Point and if it is anything like the floating party of two years ago - the weekend when Matt and Shannon Schamel were married - it will be a hoot.

This party is to celebrate Jen and Karl's impending nuptials and while it won't move from place to place, the Peach Orchard waterfront should be a lot of fun. The Schamel clan has plenty of water toys to keep party goers amused.

And keeping hydrated - in the expected hot sun - will be critical, of course.

The Spirit of Louise is likely to be pressed into service to get the Admiral and I the three miles to the party, depending on wind. Or perhaps we might take the Red Rocket sailboat. There's plenty of beach to leave the Red Rocket if sailing home isn't an option.


The nurses' entry in last year's Cardboard Boat Race

Saturday, the annual Cardboard Boat Race will be held in Watkins Glen inside the sheltering breakwater of the marina.

Last year the weather was simply miserable, with rain, wind and cold temperatures. Really cold temperatures...

But even at that, the participants seemed to have a great time, even those who barely made it away from the start line before shipping water and sinking. I got soaked in the rain and was freezing, but still enjoyed watching. It was a lot warmer than trying to swim to shore, dragging a soaked (and half-sunken) cardboard boat.

As with the Friday beach party, if the weather is good (and predictions say 90 degrees and sunny Saturday, woo-hoo), the Spirit of Louise might make a guest appearance at the marina. It would be a great deck to sit on while the racers paddle - or sink - nearby.


That water was cold

And then Sunday afternoon, Jen and Karl will be getting married at the church in nearby Hector, followed by a reception in Watkins Glen at a beautiful new hotel on the waterfront.

If the reception is half as much fun as the partying at Jen's sister Kate's wedding several years ago, it will be a great capper for the weekend. Then again, now that the family already had one wedding, this could be twice as much fun as the cavorting when Kate and Steve were married.

The Admiral and I will be prepared for everything but doing the Chicken Dance at the reception. The Hokey-Pokey might be ok. But the Chicken Dance? No way...

I'll also get to continue field testing my new combination still/video camera again to document the event - between trips to the dance floor, of course.

And if the Chicken Dance does sneak in, well, there will be video.


Karl, Jen and the Admiral in Mexico

Could it be an attack of cabin fever - after just two days of rain?

VALOIS, New York, USA - The temperature is a reasonable 68 degrees, humidity about 97 percent (less reasonable) but after two days of on-and-off monsoon-style rainshowers, the Admiral and I are beginning to look at each other like two Alaska gold miners, locked in a creekside cabin for months in the middle of winter.

In other words, a little cabin fever is setting in, despite several social events. (Yes, we are spoiled from Mexico's all-sun, all-the-time weather.)

Last night we went out for dinner with Hector amigos and had a great time, ignoring the gray overcast.

And we did get out and socialize for an hour or so early today at the Hector Volunteer Fire Department's pancake breakfast. That's the place to go to catch up with neighbors. The bad news is the breakfasts are only one Sunday a month. The good news is the breakfasts are only one Sunday a month.

Why is that good news?

Well, I ingest enough bacon grease, cooking oil from the potatoes and sugar from the real NY maple syrup to break every health edict I am reading about in a book called Younger Every Year.

I'll restart the health regime tomorrow.

We did lower the cabin fever temporarily an hour ago with a long walk around the neighborhood, in between rain showers. Many neighbors were out, peering at the sky and wondering what happened to the 80+ degrees and sun we had all last week.

But no waterfront activities are on tap, unless the sun comes out and dries the path to the lake. It is slippery as snot (sorry) and traversing it is not recommended right after a rainstorm. Can't kayak - or sail - with a sprained ankle or busted butt.

Here's a short video of today's breakout walk from the house and into the fog...

New video camera in hand - can a 'rockumentary' be far behind?

VALOIS, New York, USA - The Admiral presented me with an early birthday present this week - a new high definition video camera that also takes excellent still photos.

It might be the camera I have been looking for, for, well, years. And if it tests out well, I can get back to making 'rockumentary' films, like Cruising For Croissants, a video of a canal boat trip through the south of France that the Admiral and I took with amigos Jim and Myrna Keitges.

Rockumentary? Yes, that's label I use because music is integral to the production.


Sanyo Xacti camera

I tried out another version of this camera last fall, but was disappointed in both its video and still images. Dual purpose things frequently don't do both things well. (Ever been on a sailboat that's called a motor sailer?) But if the still images on this blog (and the short video at the end) are any indication, I think it's a keeper.


Spirit of Louise at the dock


Red Rocket sailboat and kayaks ready for action

While I tune up my camera skills, the Admiral and I are enjoying the new dock and waterfront, every day. Friday we took what cousin Roger Beardslee calls a 'rubberneck tour' aboard the Spirit of Louise to look at our neighbors' docks to see what kind of fender material people install.

Eric and Tina Hazlitt's dock - where we stopped to get hydrated -  clearly has the best protection for boats (and the dock), a rubber bumper called, appropriately dock gard and sold by a marine outfit called Overtons.

I already ordered a roll of the stuff and it's on my project list for next week to install.

Can't start the Valois Point Yacht Club until we have proper docking facilities for reciprocal yacht club guest...

Here's a short video taken with the new Sanyo video camera.

All the ships are launched - just as the weather turns butt ugly

VALOIS, New York, USA - The last of the fleet was launched Friday, just in time for summer-like weather to turn butt ugly (or bugly, we usually say). Still, we had a run of great weather, enough to get the Red Rocket sailboat, two kayaks, a new rowing dinghy (still unnamed) and the Spirit of Louise all in the water and ready for, well, the weather we just had.

The water in the lake warmed up very quickly. Memorial Day weekend, I went swimming off our new dock twice. Twice! That's the earliest I have ever been in Seneca Lake. And, to be honest, it was warmer than it is has been in July some years.

The thermometer this morning said the water temperature was 66 degrees. Pretty brisk, but only two degrees colder than the water at Catalina Island in California where we used to snorkel.


May 30, swimming in Seneca Lake

The days have been filled with little - and not so little - projects: leveling two compost piles that were probably started 50 years ago, rebuilding the base for the hot tub, making the path to the lake safer (good luck with that) and, of course, fixing up the waterfront where our new dock has already been pressed into service for boating and fishing.

There's some loose talk about declaring the new dock and waterfront the Valois Point Yacht Club. That way we will have reciprocal privileges at other area yacht clubs when we take our inter-lake cruise later this summer from here, through the Erie Canal, to Cayuga Lake and perhaps lakes beyond.

We would then be members of two yachts clubs: the yet-to-be-started, Valois Point Yacht Club and the Tenacatita Bay Yacht Club, which is headquartered in Arroyo Seco, Jalisco, Mexico at the Pink Flamingo Bar, Grill and Language Academy. 


The new dock - part of the Valois Point Yacht Club?

We have a very good trailer for the Spirit of Louise and could simply drag the ship about on the fine highways of the State of New York from lake to lake, but what fun is that?

Hmm... perhaps more fun than if we ran into the cold, 25-knot winds that have Seneca Lake kicked up into a wild froth as I write this. The temperature went from 80 degrees Fahrenheit to 55 degrees in about 10 minutes two hours ago. And the wind, well, let's just say I am very glad the Red Rocket sailboat is safely tied to shore and I am not out and about - even if that water is 66 degrees.



The change in weather, means its time to get back other pursuits: writing, playing the ukelele and plotting out which local tavern to hit this afternoon to hear music and, of course, maintain the proper levels of hydration.

Several weeks ago, we went to Two Goats Brewery, just a few miles down the road, and heard Celtic music. The Admiral was sad that she didn't bring her violin to join in. Perhaps she will drag it with her today. We have also been out shopping for a building to move onto the property for use as a music room for the Admiral. That way, she says, she can practice her violin without worrying about bothering anyone when she hits a high note that isn't quite where it should be.

It's no bother to me. I love the sound of the Admiral's violin, but we perhaps we might make a deal for two buildings: a music room for Adm Fox and a workshop for me. It's all music to my ears. (Sorry, that pun was too good to pass up...)

Here's a short video sample of the Two Goats Brewery music and a few photos from the last two weeks.

OH! And posted on this page (to the left at the top) is a five-minute video clip of a longer movie done by Captain Clarence Harvey of the sailing vessel Lotus. It's a snippet of the Banderas Bay Regatta from March in which Adm. Fox, CEO Laura Warner, surfer dude Julien and I all crewed for Captain Clarence. The Admiral and I haven't seen the full movie yet, but have the popcorn ready to go when it arrives this coming week, now that Captain Clarence has cut and spliced the film.

Watch out Mr. Spielberg, Capt. Clarence is on your tail.




A music room for the Admiral?


New rowboat on its way home


Seagulls on sentry duty on a neighbor's dock

New dock, new kayaks, new car: Can summer be far behind?

VALOIS, New York, USA - In the past few days, Admiral Fox and I picked up our new-to-us car from car dealer Hal Van Skiver, had the dock guys from Schamel Brothers show up with their barge to start pounding in pilings for our new dock and - in a total surprise move - the Admiral bought us two kayaks so we can get on the water quickly.

Can summer be far off?

The car was three weeks coming, but worth it: a used 2002 silver-blue Lexus SUV that has so many computer and electronic features it's scary. Still, it is probably the most comfortable car I have ever driven, and so far, getting good gas mileage (good being defined as 23 mpg on the highway).

And, perhaps most important, it has a sun roof, a feature the Admiral has wanted since we sold our sun-roofed Jeep Laredo two years ago to an Ithaca woman who specializes in rescuing injured wild animals.

Now if we just could get some of that sun...


The new car, with new kayaks


The Schamel Brothers pile driver at work

Friday, the pile driver showed up and the air was filled for an hour with clanging and banging as we started the process to get our dock extended out into deeper water. The Schamel Brothers crew will also be putting a large "L" on the end, so we will have a spot to sit and more places to tie up visiting boats (as well as our own).

The posts are driven 6-8 feet down into the lake bed forming a permanent base for the dock. The water should be 6-7 feet off the end, perhaps deeper depending on how quickly the bottom falls away. We need to ensure that it's deep enough to dock the newly-painted sailboat Eric Hazlitt has been working on since last summer.

We have been promised that Monday the crew will be back with the rest of the posts to drive and shortly after that, construction will start on the actual dock.

Memorial Day weekend might be even more memorable this year, particularly if we can sit on the end of the dock.


A sailboat motors north, waiting for the wind

While we wait for the dock to be finished, we have pulled out the gear for our sailboat - The Red Rocket - which we expect to launch this week so it we can use it Memorial Day weekend. The parts were right where I left them, along with a small family of spiders who apparently were studying the instructions on how to rig the boat.

The pontoon boat - the Spirit of Louise - is in storage at Keuka Lake and will splash Friday June 4, the earliest it has been in the water since we bought it.

And the Admiral already figured out that we can carry the two new kayaks on the bow of the boat when we are out and about - even if I have to move the beer cooler a little to accommodate them.


Spirit of Louise at the launch ramp last summer

On our way to out to breakfast, we meet an odd duck

MONTOUR FALLS, New York, USA - After week of cold weather, the temperatures climbed today to over 70 - a veritable heatwave after days and days of burning logs in our wood stove and wearing jackets and hats all the time to keep warm.

But the cold weather was ok, because much of the week was taken up with catching up on medical appointments and other such errands, capped today by my getting my lab work done as part of my annual physical.

Gawd, I hate it when they take blood from me.

But the bloodtaking also meant that I had to fast for 12-14 hours the night before, which automatically means a good breakfast at a restaurant, somewhere down in Watkins Glen or Montour Falls. This time (as the giver of blood), I got to choose the Harvest Cafe in Montour, a favorite spot with great food where the Admiral hopes she and some of her musical buddies will be doing some music one of these nights.


Admiral Fox in front of the Harvest Cafe

We discovered the Harvest Cafe two years ago on a foray in search of a used car. No they don't serve cars there, but the local used car dealer has breakfast there almost every day and that's where we had to track him down.

The food is excellent and this week we met one of the owners, Valerie, who is a transplant from Pasadena, California.

I can't make this stuff up.

She and her husband Jeff sold off their California home several years ago and now live year-round here, with Valerie in charge of the popular cafe and Jeff running their nearby farm.

They are very community-minded and even have a website by the name, Where Community Happens:

Harvest Cafe Website

Valerie and Jeff

On our way to town this morning, however, we encountered a new neighbor a few doors down - a Muscovy duck, who other neighbors (of the human type) told us spent the entire winter at the lake, romancing a flock of white ducks, quite unsuccessfully.

Admiral Fox says she will try to find the fellow a girlfriend so that he isn't too lonely.

Myself, I don't know enough about ducks to tell if the duck in this photo is a male or female. Or if he is lonely.

But he/she certainly wasn't afraid of the camera.

Though I had reasonable cause to believe he is not a native duck,  I didn't ask him for any identification papers.

This is New York, after all, not Arizona.


One of our aquatic neighbors

Back from the Jersey Shore to Frostbite Falls, New York

VALOIS, New York, USA - The wedding of niece Marion and Peter Saturday in New Jersey went off without a hitch. Even the weather cooperated with warm temperatures and predicted thunderstorms stayed well to the north.

Marion is the youngest of the six children of my brother Tony and sister-in-law, Marion Sr.

The entire family took part in the wedding - nieces, nephews, brothers, uncles, God parents and a lot of other folks.

And the priest who performed the ceremony, Father Kevin, had the right combination of solemness and levity. He could probably land a job doing standup comedy if he wanted it.


Peter and Marion

The band at the reception played an eclectic batch of tunes, a mix of Irish songs, 60s rock, and some other music that the people in their 30s seemed to know, but was foreign to me.

Still, Admiral Fox and I spent a good part of the time out on the dance floor, along with most of the Fitzgerald clan and guests, whooping it up.

The music theme started early - in church - when Marion's brothers John and Michael strummed a tune before the ceremony started. And outside on the steps after the ceremony, a fellow played the bagpipes as Marion and Peter left.



Sunday morning we packed up our gear early and left the Molly Pitcher Inn, stopping by briefly at brother Tony's house to say goodbyes. We then headed north and east, back to Valois where we were warned the weather was colder than New Jersey - a lot colder.

In fact, Sunday morning in Valois it snowed. Not the kind that sticks on the ground. It was the sleeting kind that makes you wonder why anyone lives north of Latitude 12 degrees

This morning, it was about 36 degrees when I got up and loaded up the wood stove for the day.

But after attending the joyful wedding, reception and trip, we were rewarded with a rare sight as we returned Sunday evening -  a white deer grazing in our yard. Native Americans believe white deer are a sign of good things to come for the people who see it and the people they are close to.

Adm. Fox and I believe the appearance of the white deer indicates that Marion and Peter are on their way to very happy times.

I'm hoping the deer is also a harbinger of warmer temperatures, too.


White deer pays us a visit

Watkins Glen turns out for a NASCAR night

WATKINS GLEN, New York, USA - It was NASCAR weekend in Watkins Glen and Friday night and the village closed down many of the side streets and filled the place with music.

And some of music was provided by our amigo Brad Phillips, owner of Arnold the Wonder Dog who has been staying with us on and off all summer. Brad's band, Ragged Sole, rocked the downtown area for more than three hours Friday night with a mix of music that had people out dancing.


Brad shouts it out



Besides the music, there were NASCAR and food vendors everywhere and the state open-container law - the one that says you can't wander around with a beer in your hand - appeared to be suspended for downtown. I rarely saw a person without a Budweiser, Miller or Pabst cup in their hand. And the bars were serving people beer outside - a lot of people and a lot of beer.

Unfortunately, most of the customers also had a lit cigarette in their other mitt, which they puffed on mightily before tossing the butts on the ground. I think I inhaled more second-hand smoke in the hour or so we were downtown than I had in the last two weeks.


Sylvia says hello to one of town horses


Checking out some wines downtown

Adm. Fox and amiga Laura and I wandered the Watkins Glen streets for about an hour, then headed up the lake to the Stone Cat cafe for a late dinner/snack/glass of wine with amigos Eric and Tina Hazlitt. We talked about plans for Mexico travels, the upcoming Peachy Dandy sailboat race - and a vintage ski boat I have my eye on to add to our armada of vessels.

The ski boat is a Glaspar G-3, a boat manufactured in the early 1960s and a dream boat of mine ever since that time. A friend had one in the mid 60s with a 75 horsepower Evinrude on the transom that could almost catapult the boat out of the water when you floored it. Another had an 80 hp Mercury on his boat and could do more than 50 mph on flat water.

I found a used G-3 - with an old 60 hp Johnson outboard on the transom - for sale at a neighboring lake. If we were to buy it, the first modification would be to put Mercury outboard on it to replace the Johnson. Given the weight of a 1960, 60 hp Johnson, I could probably put a 2009 90 hp Mercury - and have less weight on the transom.

A 90 hp on that boat?

Vrooooommmmmmm...


How fast will it go?

Cottage gets a facelift and the weather finally warms up

VALOIS, New York, USA - The arrival of our amiga Laura Warner from Calgary meant that Casa Fitz/Fox has had two energizer bunnies in residence for the past week or so, resulting in a long postponed project getting underway: painting the trim on the house.

The cottage has always been kind of Wal-Mart white all the years I have been coming here. And in past years, one side of the house at a time, I have continued with that tradition, slapping on a generous coat of white paint, sometimes capturing spiders and other insects into the patina of the house.

Archeologists will probably thank me for preserving the bugs for study.


Laura and Sylvia painting the blue trim

The effect is dramatic when added to the new open view out the front. With the cutting down of some huge trees that shaded the house (and kept a nice crop of moss growing on the roof), the front of the house is now the focus.

I don't know if the project will continue all the way around (as I put on more Wal-Mart white), but it dresses up the front quite nicely.


Arnold and Laura getting to be good friends

At the same time as Laura and Sylvia have taken up painting as a hobby, the weather suddenly shifted from 70 degree days to 80-plus. And add some humidity into that. The net result is that we have been boating almost every day, including simply going out and letting the Spirit of Louise drift around while we go swimming.

We forgot our float toys the first day out and had to improvise. Laura showed us a Canadian invention that allows you to bob around in the water, and still have a hand free for the beverage of your choice.

And it works.


Laura suits up for a water expedition