Over the Highways and thru the Snow, to Grandmothers House we go

Today I visited my Grandmother in the very small village of Castile, NY
Mom and Dad were with me and we went out to the "Hawley Lumber Yard" restaurant in the nearby town of Perry. Dad's first choice, "The Hole in the Wall" restaurant was closed today. We had a leisurely lunch and over two excellent deserts (shared by everyone at the table) of coconut creme pie and a chocolate fudge pie topped with coconut and ice cream talked with Grandma about our family history, past relatives and other genealogy topics which Dad, Mom and I did not know about.





After lunch Dad played with the dogs Cody and Toby back at the house. Aunt Liz was hosting a bridge tournament out of town.






A cold front had moved through the area last night, bringing winds, snow and a high of 9 degrees today! The winds bring a local weather behavior called "lake effect snow". Unlike a larger snow storm which affects a broad area, lake effect is long bands of snow

mixed between areas of no snow at all. To understand what I am talking about, do this: grab a state map, put your hand over it with your fingers stretched out. Whatever your fingers cover, that would be getting snow. In between your fingers, sunshine. Like these pictures taken 15 minutes apart. Sunshine in the first, snow in the second. And we drove out of the snow five minutes later.

On our way home I took the scenic route and took the road which follows Oatka Creek. The name comes from the original Seneca Indian name for the creek, O-at-ka (translated: Queen of Water).

It has a three mile section of class II-III rapids on it, and is known for its excellent brown trout fishery.

Dad and I had canoed it several times when I was in Boy Scouts and I had fond memories of the creek. He also remembered an early spring canoe trip when there was still ice on the water and we dumped the canoe, soaking us both with cold, cold water.