A Little Bit About A Few Things

I haven't sat down and written much lately. No great explanation. Just busy I guess. Busy getting ready for Peter's high school graduation and the graduation party. Busy being stupid - towing a Volvo incorrectly and turning a $400 repair into a $1100 repair. Busy at work. Busy birdwatching (at least at the cabin I was busily doing that - and every spring I try to keep my eyes and ears open for for birds and their songs).

Kate and I have been steadily working at getting the house ready for Peter's grad party - which is not until the 17th of June. From the point of view of the looks of the house, it's never been better. The flower gardens have been amazing this spring. I hope they can stay almost as pretty for another two weeks. Like everything, they will change from now to then. Peonies will finish flowering, I'm sure. Something else will start flowering. I suppose a big component of happiness is enjoying the change. Seeing the things that are there, and planning to enjoy the flowers that have finished even more the next time.

One thing I look forward to annually is the Memorial Day bird count we do at the cabin. Usually Barny joins me trooping through the tick-laden woods, which is a joy in itself. Because of a fairly early spring, the leaves were fuller than "normal" (whatever that is). So it was a bit tougher to see birds. We did see 56 species by the time we were done - about normal if a little low. But we saw Indigo Buntings several times. Spent 20 minutes or so with a Scarlet Tanager (which I swear are battery operated birds. They are truly magnificent). And a few firsts this year. My first Golden-winged Warbler was a real treat. I did not take this photo, but here's what they look like.

It was one of the rare really HOT weekends at the cabin. But it's always a joy.

I won't go into too much detail on the towing incident. A faulty cam sensing device caused it to have increasing trouble starting - though when it started it ran normally. Unfortunately, It died in front of Peter's friend Colin's house. Not too far to the shop, so Peter and I decided to tow it in ourselves. My method of connecting the cars proved unstable. In my pitiful defense I will say that once I had broken the Volvo's "core support" (I didn't even know cars had core supports) and could see the wires sticking out of it, I immediately devised a more appropriate towing method. I'm not expecting any prizes for this late arrived at intelligence. Towing a car is probably something one should do correctly the first time. And I doubt if I'll get $700 worth of joy over the years laughing with Peter over the time we towed the Volvo. Live and learn I guess.

Enjoy.