Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Steve’s Country Cabin Journal #5.
It’s been a long time but here we are once again with part 2 of our fall hike looking for those elusive glass and porcelain objects known as insulators. So, without wasting time, let’s pick up our story where we left off last week.
Dad and I started down this steep hill, with me in the lead as usual. It was actually very easy walking, with no problems. We hadn’t gotten very far when I spotted a pileated woodpecker flying overhead going uphill. “Hey look”, I said and swung around pointing out the pileated woodpecker to dad. For some reason dad decided to sit down. “Are you tired?”, I asked. “No, I’m not tired,” he said. “It’s okay if you are,” I continued, “we can stop and rest for awhile.” Now, he claims that when I turned around my hand hit him right on the nose, which knocked him down. I never felt anything and I don’t think I could have hit him hard enough to knock him down. I think he was tired and didn’t want to admit it. He started to get up. “Here, let me help you”, I said. “Okay, grab my arm”, said dad.
So I grabbed hold of his arm and gave a good pull. After all, dad was a lot bigger than me so I knew pulling hard would be the right thing to do. You should have seen how big his eyes got! Then he raced right past me, screamed, slipped on some moss and slid right into a pine tree! “You shouldn’t try running downhill,” I said, “you can hurt yourself that way.” And he did, his nose was bleeding. He claimed it was because I hit him on the nose, not because he slammed into that tree. He would come up with all kinds of excuses rather than admit he was accident prone. The rest of the way down the hill was uneventful. About half way down a squirrel chattered at us from a nearby tree. At the bottom however it was nothing but thick undergrowth. We both looked. “You go first,” said dad, “but be careful with those branches.” What a strange thing to say, it’s dad that always got hit with branches, not me. Oh well.
Off I went. I looked back and saw dad still standing there. “Are you coming?”, I called out. “Don’t worry about me,” he said, “just keep walking.” Now, that’s exactly what he said. Okay, off I went again. I finally came to a big boulder and decided to wait for dad to catch up, he was getting far behind. Then I heard him yell to keep going, so off I went again. Then I came to a small hill that went down to a stream. We should be able to jump that stream easily, but I figured I should go back up and warn dad or he will end up sliding down this hill and right into the stream. He was always doing things like that. Suddenly I heard him yell and he went sliding right past me, except he grabbed my leg and pulled me right off my feet and I landed with a thud. “I have mud on me now”, I said. Dad groaned a bit but managed to say, “Bonehead!” Hard to imagine he could enjoy that, he was covered with mud from head to toe! That got me and I started to laugh loud and long. “Very funny,” said dad. “I thought so,” I said, barely able to talk. Even a blue jay seemed to be laughing at us from a tall pine.
Dad took his glasses off, forgetting his hands were also covered with mud. “My glasses!”, he exclaimed. “Here, let me help, I’m not covered with mud,” I said. “NO!”, said dad and pulled his glasses away so fast that they went flying from his hand and landed in the stream. “AAAAAA!, my glasses!”, he exclaimed again. “You said that already,” I told him, “at least they’re in water, now you can clean them.” Dad just looked. Then he went over to the stream to retrieve his glasses. “The water is deep here,” he said. He was right. “You can reach them,” I said. “I’ll get wet”, he replied. “Just your arm”, I said, “or I can try to get them with this stick.” “NO!, I’ll reach for them,” he said. He started putting his arm in the water. “That’s cold water,” he said. “Go fast,” I told him and gave his arm a quick push up to his shoulder. “AAAAAAAAAAAA!”, he screamed. “You got your glasses”, I said, “so what’s the problem?” Seems the side of his head got a bit wet too. “Hmm, you should be more careful,” I said, “no wonder mom doesn’t want you going alone.” “If only she knew,” he said. I’m not sure what he meant by that. We were able to get across that little stream with no problems and then up the hill to the tracks. “Good,” said dad, there’s a nice hill in the sun to stop for coffee.” “But we just got here,” I said. Dad just looked. “Right,” I said, “a good place for coffee.”
To Be Continued.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
Daily Pics #282.
Good morning everyone on this beautiful sunny morning! The trees are looking rather empty and barren these days. But with that morning sun shining on their branches it brings out a new warmth and color to them. Yesterday morning I went out to feed the birds, I just got out the door and noticed Theodore sitting on the post that holds one of the hanging feeders and which is just outside the door. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long Theodore”, I said. Back in I went to get some sunflower seeds for him and spread them on the large feeder. He came over right away and starting feasting. A bird that size can eat a lot of seeds! Wild turkeys like peanuts also but they need to be broken open for them. I don’t plan on feeding him peanuts. At least not before winter. It still looks funny to see that big bird on my bird feeder. But I’m glad he comes around, he’s getting quite tame, and it will be fun having him here this winter. In the afternoon the sun was shining, but still cold. Jasper came looking for peanuts so I sat down and gave him one. He sat beside me and decided to eat the peanut right away.
You really miss those chipmunks, don’t you? He looks at me with sad eyes. Then keeps eating. You don’t like the blue jays? He looks at me and gives a little “chip”. Then keeps eating. You need to find yourself a mate, I told him. He looks at me, gives a bigger “chip”. Then keeps eating. Hmm, no females left on this side of the street? He just looks at me and keeps eating. Don’t cross the street, I said, too dangerous, you might get run over. He gives another little “chip” and keeps eating. We keep sitting there in the sun until he’s finished. Then he comes on my lap looking for more. I give him a nice big peanut, he takes it, looks up at me, then runs off. That’s twice we have been able to sit together. Maybe he just needs someone to talk with. There was a nice treat this morning. A gray jay showed up so I ran outside with some food for him. He came and got it right away and off he went. Then he was back a few minutes later, got some more food and this time flew back across the street, which is where they live. There is actually 3 of them that I have seen this fall, but they have never come to my feeder. But I haven’t been putting out food for them because I don’t want the crows coming back again. They eat the same food. Gray jays don’t eat seeds or peanuts, they want bread or meat. It was so nice having him come to the feeder again. Too bad I didn’t have my camera ready. The only pics I have of gray jays are in the winter, which is normally the only time they come to the feeder. It would be nice to get a pic without snow around.
Our featured image today is the northern bedstraw. This is a wildflower that produces loose clusters of tiny flowers and thrives for a good portion of the summer. In the pic above is the water smartweed, another wildflower that is really very beautiful and also produces tiny flowers, in this case pink. Only a few open at a time so the flowers are in bloom for quite a while mostly in July. There are a lot of them down by our river. I hope you all have a beautiful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 