Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Thursday Thoughts With Coffee. #2
A big hello to all of you out there! It is nice to see you all again today. It is cloudy, still, with a few snowflakes floating down and swirling around a bit. The chickadees are here and 2 blue jays as well. I have not seen any other birds yet though. I am sure the nuthatches have been here, I probably just missed them. They come and go quite frequently throughout the day. But they do not stay long. It is a bit cooler this morning too, though still not too bad considering what it could be this time of the year.
The weather has been quite nice so far this year. And it is supposed to continue for a while yet too. But it is also supposed to stay cloudy as well. This is one of those cloudy winters that we get sometimes. There really has not been many sunny days this winter at all. I will admit, cloudy days seem to take my energy away and hide it in the snow somewhere. A day or two at a time is okay, but 2 weeks or more is when it starts to affect me. Oh well.
I am back again. Nearly forgot it is garbage day, so I had to get mine out to the street for pickup. Normally this time of year I do not need to put garbage out every week since I can keep it outside where it freezes and does not attract animal attention. It is kept in my trash can though just in case. However, I am still busy sorting and tossing things that I no longer want or use. I am downsizing. Hard to believe how much stuff I can fit in this little apartment.
Most of it is packed away in boxes in the storage area. Which is why it takes so long to get this done. But I am determined to stay at it until it is all finished. That will take a while longer. I am still very sore and stiff from my little ordeal on Tuesday. Sigh. I do not notice any improvement at all, to be honest. But I am sure there is improvement. It did make it very difficult to get my garbage out to the street this morning though. I almost feel like going back to bed.
A nap is not a bad thing sometimes. But not quite this early. There are still a few chickadees around, though not as many as normal. I think some are staying away because of that shrike being around so much this winter. The nuthatches are here too. They always come when the chickadees come. Plus, there were 4 blue jays here as well. Still not quite sure what has happened to them, but at least some of them come around.
Baxter and Betty, my two top blue jays, come every day, and they stay around most of the day too. That walk to the river on Tuesday was so nice. It was quiet back there with just the sound of birds calling to each other. I saw most of them but was never close enough for a good picture. I met Scramble also at his usual location. I called to him and he came running though the trees over to where I was, but he would not come and get the peanut until I moved back a ways.
It is my camera that he is afraid of, but hopefully after a few more times being out there, he will learn to trust me all over again. He did recognize my calling him anyway. None of my pics of the ducks turned out, unfortunately. I tried something new since they were so far away, and it did not work so good. I will show one photo so you can see what I mean. The top featured image is further downstream from where I usually go. Well, thank you for a nice visit today, I hope you will come again. Have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
The Investigators, Inc. The Major Case. Chapter 7. Changes.
“Okay, lead the way,” said the new man. Off they went along the path to the docks. The moon was shining illuminating the water and dock area quite nicely. Aside from that there were no lights around. “Are you sure you can do this?” asked Sam. “Hey, you are talking to a pro,” said the new man, “not some young kid. Now, hold the flashlight so I can see what I am doing here.” Sam was a bit nervous being so close to this bomb while Tim changed the timer.
“This way if they did find the bomb, they will know there is 10 minutes,” said Tim, “now, this new timer looks the same and will still say 10 minutes, but it will blow at 8 minutes. So if they have some trickery planned, this will stop them.” “That Milt thinks of everything,” said Sam. “The others with the girl?” asked Tim. “Only Juan and Rich are with her right now,” said Sam, “Pete is at the hotel keeping an eye on the guests, just in case there are more PI’s around. We do not trust that Major.”
“Just remember to do what Milt told you with that girl,” said Tim, “we do not want Major or Victor hunting us down, they have good memories and do not give up. And we do not want to be looking over our shoulders the rest of our lives.” “Yeah,” said Sam, “that would make it hard to enjoy the money.” “There we go,” said Tim, “my part is over. Now over to the hotel for some sleep.”
“Pete is waiting for you,” said Sam, “he is in room 202.” They went over to the hotel, but Sam kept going off behind and down a little narrow trail. Tim went inside and up to the second floor. “Where is Sam?” asked Pete. “He kept going behind the hotel, said he had things to do,” said Tim. “I do not trust him,” said Pete. “I would not trust him either,” said Tim, “you guys have too many people in on this thing anyway. With 5 of you that means you only get 2 million each.”
“Yeah, I agree,” said Pete, “I have been talking with Rich about it and we figure that Sam and Juan should stay behind, then it is just a 3 way split. Where do you fit in?” “Hey, I am on Victor’s payroll too,” said Tim, “and Milt said he would give me 10K from his part. Good enough for me to do this. Where was Sam going anyway?” “Oh, he has a girl on the other side of the island that he visits now and then,” said Pete. Tim sat up in bed right away.
“You let him do that?” asked Tim, “are you crazy? He could spill the whole game to her and that would be the end of us all.” Pete just stared at Tim. That was something he never thought about. “He better not!” said Pete. “Hey, young guys like that cannot be trusted spending time with a gal while on a job like this,” said Tim, “way too dangerous. All he has to do is mention the wrong thing and she will be asking questions and he will be giving answers. That is just plain stupid!”
That had Pete worried now. Pete called Rich right away. “What? He has gone to see her again?” he asked, “I do not like that either. Tim is right, that is just too dangerous. I will deal with him when he gets back.” “Are you staying here at the hotel, or heading back to the others today?” asked Tim. “I am staying here,” he replied, “I will pick up the money when the Major drops it off, then head back to the other island.
We keep our boat hidden in a little cove on the other side of the island. We will leave while it is still dark, then call the Major and let him know where to pick up his little girl. You coming with us?” “Nope, not me,” said Tim, “I leave back to the main island this afternoon on that boat taxi. Like I said, my part is done, I do not know you from here on.” “Okay by me,” said Pete, “hey, how would you like to stay here for a bit, I want to round up that idiot and take him back to the island, just in case he has not said anything yet.”
“That is fine with me,” said Tim, “I need a little sleep anyway.” Pete then left to pick up Sam. Morning arrived and the girls and I left in the boat. Rock was getting ready to go fishing with Benson, while Annelie and the girls were sitting around on chairs at the beach counting the time. Suddenly there was a huge fireball out on the water as our boat blew up. Annelie and the girls just stared. It was only 8 minutes!
To Be Continued.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 