Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Coffee On Wednesday. #2 Happy June!
Good morning everyone! Time to enjoy a nice hot cup of coffee on this first day of summer! Yes, the calendar says summer begins on June 21, but whoever came up with the calendar does not understand weather, in the north especially. Even the weather forecasters agree that summer begins today. Oh well. It is a beautiful sunny morning for the first day of June, though it is also very chilly at only 39F (4C).
It looks so nice outside right now, but the wind has picked up already so it feels cold out there unless you are sitting in a sheltered spot and in the sun. Not much bird activity this morning, but definitely more than yesterday. The blue jays are still busy each day and it is so nice to have them around. They are such a beautiful, colorful bird.
Some people do not like them around because they can be a bit bossy at times. But mine get along quite well with the other birds and the evening grosbeaks have even learned to fight back and chase the blue jays off the feeder. Speaking of chasing. Chase, the squirrel, is learning to get along with the chipmunks just like Jasper. Skamper and Choco will even chase Chase. So now they mostly ignore each other and concentrate on getting peanuts.
I was going to show the 3 male grosbeaks today, like I showed the 3 females yesterday, but since this is the first day of June I thought it would be better to show some of the chipmunks. After all, this is their big month. What is that you ask? June has International Chipmunk Appreciation Day which is on the 23rd. Well, our summer is off to a cool, wet start, and the whole summer is supposed to be near to below normal temperatures, with more rain than normal.
Not really the best outlook. Though it should mean less forest fires this year, so that is a good thing. And we will still get some hot days too, though there likely will not be many of them, which is not a good thing. Especially for people like me who enjoy being outside during the summer. Oh well. I remember one summer where it rained, even if it was just a shower, every day of the summer except one week.
That year we also just had 4 days above 70F and each of those days was 80F. It was a very cool, cloudy summer. I hope it is not quite like that this summer. I am going to miss the flowers on the apple tree this year, the bear pushed it over last year. The neighbors mock cherry tree is just beginning to bloom however and it is going to be full of flowers again this year.
Well, it is time to go out and see if I can get some pics. Thank you so much for being here today, have a most wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2022 Steve McLeod.
The Investigators, Inc. Ghost Town Mystery. Chapter 13. The Ax.
“Well, I have to hand it to you,” said the man, “planting a bomb on that helicopter was brilliant. Steve has been giving me a hard time right from the very beginning. Now I will not need to worry about him looking over my shoulder again.” “But I did not do that boss,” said another man. The boss just looked at him. “I did not do it, honest,” he said again, “you just said to scare them away, not kill them.”
“Well, if you did not do it, and the ladies said they did not do it, then who did?”, said the boss. “Maybe it was the Ax,” said the other man, “she is ruthless, and I am glad she is gone.” “What are you talking about?”, asked the boss. “Have you never heard of the Ax?”, asked the other man. “Of course I have,” said the boss, “but I did not know she was here.”
“Sure, she was with the PI team,” said the man, “she was the beauty with the auburn hair.” “That was the Ax?”, asked the boss, “why did you not tell me?” “Thought you knew who she was,” said the man. “Sometimes I wonder how you can be so brilliant and so stupid at the same time,” said the boss. “Just comes natural,” said the man.
“That I believe,” said the boss shaking his head, “now, when they go pick up that machine, we go look for the treasure. But we have to make sure they cannot leave here with it before we are done moving the treasure somewhere else.” “No problem,” said the man, “I will just grab their chainsaw and cut down a tree or two across the road, and without the chainsaw they will not be able to get rid of those trees.” “Great idea,” said the boss, “after they leave you go do that.”
“Not by myself,” said the man, “the Ax seldom works alone, her friends might still be out here somewhere.” “Oh, thanks for telling me,” said the boss sarcastically. “Hey, no problem boss,” said the man. The boss just shakes his head again. “Okay, take a couple men with you for guards,” said the boss, “the rest of us will go treasure hunting.”
Meanwhile… “I am picking up someone else,” said a woman. “Then there really is someone else out here,” said a man. “Here, I have them now,” she said. So they heard the above conversation. “Hmm, now we just need to find out who they are,” said the man, “but first we look for that treasure, and hopefully find it before they come looking for it.” So off they went to the boarding house and down into the cellar. “There must be a door in here somewhere,” said the man, “and we need to find it fast.”
“Down here”, said C. There was a large box sitting beside a wall, but that was not exactly unusual, there were similar wood boxes all over that cellar. But this one did not move. It also had handles on the sides. The man felt them and tried pushing and pulling them but nothing. Then he tried turning them and the one on the right side of the box turned and there was a clicking sound. Then the box pulled open. The man got down on his hands and knees and pointed his flashlight into the dark opening.
“Be careful,” said C, “there might be traps.” “Better let me go first,” said J. But too late and the man was inside. “It opens up to a normal sized tunnel,” he said. Then the others followed inside. The tunnel went about 100 feet, then turned to the right for another 25 feet and came to a dead end of solid rock. “What is this?”, said J. The man looked, “try pushing it.”
J did so but nothing happened, however, when it was turned there was another clicking sound and the stone wall easily pushed open. Everyone went inside. “Wow, look at all this gold,” said C. “And this box is full of bags of gems, diamonds, emeralds, rubies, this is amazing!” said J. “Well, we certainly will not have time to carry the gold away to hide,” said the man, “but we can carry these gems with us before that other group comes along.”
Up they went with the gems but when the man peeked out the door he saw the other group walking down the street. “Well, well, I thought so,” said the man, “quick, we will have to go out the back door.” Meanwhile… “Thanks for coming Jake,” said Baldwin. “No problem Mr. B,” said Jake, “glad to help out with this one. And if Axelina is indeed the Ax, then you may have a lot of trouble on your hands.”
To be Continued.
©Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 