Thursday Thoughts With Coffee. #4

Hello everyone! It is cloudy again with a temperature of 5F (-15C), but there is no wind, or was no wind when I was outside, so it did not feel so bad. It should warm up to 10F (-12C) today and stay that way overnight as we get some more snow tonight and tomorrow morning. Then tomorrow night the cold will come in. And I think I will stay in. And play with Muffin.

The birds have been here all morning so far and that is sure nice. Hmm, there was a couple dozen American Goldfinches out here just now. I have not seen them since Christmas. That was a nice treat. But they suddenly flew away and have not come back. They are obviously eating somewhere else this winter.

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Someone in the general area must be feeding this winter that normally does not. And I started feeding late last fall, and that is not a good thing. I prefer to feed all year, it produces more and a greater variety, of birds in the winter. And starting to feed in September is far better than beginning to feed in late October. By then the birds have settled on their winter feeding spots.

Speaking of feeding spots. There was a nice little country restaurant that I enjoyed stopping at, especially for breakfast. Dad and I started going there years ago when we went on our many adventures. Anyway, one day I stopped in at about 8am. It was open early in the summer, usually around 6am. I went inside and sat down. I waited. And waited. The coffee was on so I helped myself to a cup and sat down again. I did not hear anything, so after a while I went and peeked in the kitchen through the window in the door.

Female Evening Grosbeak.

I could see no one, but the lights were on. So, I went in the kitchen and called, but no answer. Hmm, I go all the way in and called again. Nothing. Their house was attached to the restaurant and a door came into the kitchen. I knocked on the door. Nothing. I tried the door and it was open. So I called inside. Hmm, this does not look good. This was before smart phones were around. I looked inside and could see an open cash box on a table, full of money.

I called again, but nothing. This really did not look good. So, I could leave, or go inside and look around. Someone might be hurt. Their daughter was often alone looking after things while the parents went into town to shop. I went in and looked around just a bit, but could see no one. So, I retreated back to my car and decided to head into town and talk to the police.

Female Pine Grosbeak.

As I was about to turn onto the highway, I noticed a police car coming so I got out and flagged it down. I then told them what I had found. They asked me to come with them while they checked out the place. There was no one there. The police took down my info and let me go and they locked up the place. The next time I stopped in, which was the next week, I found out what happened.

Apparently they left in a hurry to go do some shopping and forgot to lock up. They were going to take the money to the bank to deposit it, but forgot that too. They were happy it was me that discovered things or they might have lost that money, which was several thousand dollars. They gave me a free breakfast, several times in fact. I told them it was not necessary, but they insisted. Other interesting things happened at that restaurant over the years too. Well, I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2023 Steve McLeod.