Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Friday Fun With Coffee! #7
Good morning and Happy Friday everyone! It is cloudy this morning with a fairly strong wind and a temperature of -2F (-19C). That wind makes it feel much colder however. The good point is, the wind is from the south and is bringing some warmer temperatures with it for today through to Sunday. It is actually supposed to reach a high of 25F (-4C) today. That is rather hard to believe, but it might happen.
There were some Pine grosbeaks here this morning, but they left already. I heard some Evening grosbeaks too, but they never came down to the feeder. The chickadees, nuthatches and redpolls are here. There were two male Downy woodpeckers here earlier, and they spent most of their time chasing each other. I have seen 4 blue jays so far, but they did not stay around long either.
A cold Blue Jay coming in for a peanut.
The deer have not been coming around either, probably due to the dog who keeps chasing them. Speaking of Chase, he is still coming and getting a little braver. And fatter. He needs more exercise. He used to get lots of exercise when Jasper was here to chase him. He was thin then too. Speaking of being chased. I used to participate in a lot of bird studies at one time, for the National Audubon Society and the Canadian Wildlife Service, plus a few others.
One of those studies involved owls. Now, owls are generally only out at night. I prefer to sleep at night. However, it was fun getting out on lonely roads, walking through the forest in different places, and calling for owls. I got good at that and was able to call owls right in very close to me. It would have been more fun, and safer, to have someone with me, but no one shared my enthusiasm in looking for owls. Oh well, what could happen around here at night anyway?
A Hairy Woodpecker at the suet feeder last winter.
Anyway, this one night at about 1am I stopped at this one location off our main highway and started calling for owls. I did hear one, a Great Horned owl, but it was far away. I got back in my car and wrote down some notes. That is when another car pulled up behind me. What are the chances of that? I always carried my “persuader” with me, just in case. Suddenly there is this blinding light shining at me and flashing lights. Oh, the police, no problem.
The officer told me to turn on my interior lights, then to come out of my car slowly. Hmm, this is different. He asked for my license and what I was doing. I told him and showed him my ID card for this owl study. That is when I noticed the second officer on the other side of the car, with his gun out. Interesting. The first officer suggested I should go back to town.
Bohemian Waxwing on a snowy day. Those white streaks are snowflakes.
Apparently they were looking for someone who was considered armed and dangerous. So much for a nice, safe area. But things can happen anywhere. So I went back home. They did catch the man they were looking for. That was good. I waited a couple more nights before going back out again though. Well, I hope you have a fantastic Friday everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
The Investigators, Inc. The Secret Estate Case. Chapter 10. Going In.
Our meeting continued for a couple of hours while we went over things, such as our plan for getting in, and out again, without getting anyone killed. Hopefully. The volunteers from our visitor and Mandar understood that we could not guarantee that no one would be killed or wounded, but we would do our best. Baldwin would supply what we needed, including extra helicopters for getting us in, and out in a hurry if needed.
We would all have the same phones so we could keep in touch. Baldwin had one of his companies working on these phones so that they will overcome that shield around the estate. And everyone understood that I would be the leader of this operation, and Rock would be second if something happened to me, with Kristina as the third leader. Sky looked at me with her “look” when I mentioned me as the leader.
She did not say anything right then, however, since she did not want to start an argument in front of our guests. That was nice of her. She also looked down at Muffin with the same look. Muffin just stared at the ceiling. Muffin was helping me arrange an early release from the hospital with Saranna. Sky had already told Saranna not to let me go so early, I needed more rest she said. But this case is more important than some rest right now.
The six extra men would be staying in guest rooms here at the hospital. That evening Rock came to see me and brought a bunch of stuff in a large bag for me. “What is all that?” asked Sky. “Steve wanted some things to keep him occupied while we are gone,” said Rock, “so Muffin helped me find everything. Oh, she is in the bag here too.” He let her and MC out and they hopped onto the bed. “I did not know MC was in there too,” he said, scratching his head. We all chuckled.
“Well, I am happy to see you are being sensible Steve,” said Sky, “for a while I thought you were planning on coming along.” “You mean, going along,” I said, “you will not be going.” “What?” she said, “I am so going.” “Nope,” I said, “if I have to stay behind, then I need you and 3 of the girls to stay behind to protect me. You know that is the rules, 4 must stay with me.” “Yes, I know,” she said, “but I do not have to be one of the 4.” “True, but it only makes sense that you would be,” I said.
She looks at me again with that “look”. “I should slap you,” she said. Rock laughed and the cats giggled. Sky then giggled too. “Well, I could go along, then you could go too,” I said. “NO, you are not going,” said Sky, “and the rules state that I get to pick the 4 girls that will stay with you.” Hmm, she had me on that one, I meant to change that rule but forgot. “Okay then, we will add Crystal, Sigurbjorn and Galyna, so then we have our 4 to stay behind,” I said, “do we all agree with that?”
“Yep, I sure do,” said Rock, “those are good choices.” “Okay,” said Sky, “I agree too, you definitely need Sigurbjorn with you for your massages.” “Good, it is settled,” I said. We had a meeting for the whole team that evening to let everyone know what was happening and those who would be staying behind. “We are sending both of our nurses along on this one,” I said, “with extra team members and the danger ahead, I think that is best.
Rock will be in charge, with Kristina next, and I will help to coordinate from here as much as possible. Annelie will make sure there is always an open line between us for communication. Each one going in will be equipped with cameras so I can see what is going on at all times.” The next day was spent getting everything ready to go in the following day. “Well Saranna,” I said, “what do you say? May I go on this case?”
“Well, I have given it every consideration,” she said, “but I think it is best you sit this one out.” Sigh, even extra vacation time did not work. The next morning everyone was off and the choppers let them down 5 km from the estate. From there they walked. The snipers positioned themselves and the rest moved in around the perimeter, watching carefully for the guards. They were in pairs, 100 feet apart. That is a lot of men to deal with. It was decided to wait until it was just getting dark…
To Be Continued.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
