Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
20/20 Investigations, Inc. Part 3. J! Chapter 13.
The cats ears go straight up! Meow, meow?!=What you mean, enough for 2 people? What about 2 cats? We not stay here! Meow!=Yes, we not want to be left behind! “Don’t worry you 2,” I said, “there’s plenty of room for 2 cats as well.” Meow, meow.=Good, we get nice river ride, no walking. “Just make sure you don’t use those claws of yours,” said Karin nervously. Meow?=What wrong with our claws, they nice and clean, and come in handy too. Meow, meow.=Yeah, we always have claws with us, can’t take them off like shoes you know. “I think Karin is just worried you might put a hole in the raft which means we would sink and end up in the river,” I explained.
Both cats ears went straight up again! Meow, meow?=You mean raft not made good? We poke hole and it sink easy? Then we end up all wet in river? Meow?!=We get wet? No, not like getting big bath in river! I say no to boat! Meow, meow!=I with Mr. Cat, say no to flimsy boat! “I’m with the cats on this one,” said Karin, still nervous. “So that’s 3-1, we win,” she said firmly. With a little jogging we reached that spot by the river quite quickly. Meow.=I thought 3-1 mean we win vote. Meow, meow.=We did win vote, but my human have different way to count, it kind of complicated. Meow?=So even when he lose, he win? Meow, meow.=Yep, that how it work. Unless we at home, then I always win vote. Meow?=Why you always win? Meow, meow.=If I not win, I bite feet, then I win. Meow.=Oh, that good way to do it.
“Okay you 2, quit talking and watch the road and let us know if anyone comes,” I said. Off they went to watch while Karin and I got the rubber raft out and unfolded it. I was just about to inflate the raft when the cats came running back. Meow, meow!=Car coming fast! Great, how did they know? We ran up the hill beside us dragging our raft and hid among the pine trees. I went back a little closer to try and hear what they said. They have a boat with them too I see. “Hurry up”, hollered Dave, “get that boat in the water!” “I still think this is crazy,” said another man. “Ma said to patrol the river, so you patrol the river, after all, K said they had a rubber raft, so they must have one,” added Dave. “K?” She’s the one that told Ma, I thought to myself. And here I thought she was so nice, wanted to help us. How could I be so stupid? Sometimes I think my skills as a PI are below 0.
Now what to do? I go back to others after they have the boat in the water and Dave, with a couple other men, left in the van and headed further down the highway. “Well,” said Karin, what do we do now?” “First Muffin and Mr. Cat will check us again for listening or tracking devices,” I answered. Karin looked puzzled again but didn’t get angry this time. However, after a thorough check the cats didn’t find anything. “They knew about our raft,” I said, “I just wanted to make sure they weren’t still tracking us somehow.” “But I guess it was K”, I added. Meanwhile…”Good morning Ma”, said Dan, one of the trustees. Ma almost died when she heard his voice. “But, but, you’re not supposed to be here until 12, it’s only 10:30”, she said, obviously scared. “We finished our other business early so we thought we would come and get things done here so we could be back home early as well”, said Dan.
“Is there anything wrong Ma?”, asked ‘J’. “No, no, nothing wrong”, she said nervously. “Good, then bring out the merchandise so we can get going”, said ‘J’, “I don’t like being in this out of the way place, makes me nervous.” “Um, would you like some coffee?”, she asked, trying to stall things a bit. “No,” said Dan, “we want to get things concluded.” “Well, that’s fine”, said Ma, “but I’ll have to see if I can find Dave or Earl to get the merchandise. We weren’t expecting you so early so it might be hard to find them”, she said, figuring this tactic might stall things perfectly. “You mean you don’t know where the merchandise is?”, asked ‘J’. “You always know Ma”, added Dan, “what’s going on here anyway?” “And where is K?”, asked another trustee. “I, I, don’t know, she just ran off the other day”, said Ma very nervously. ‘J’ turned red with anger, pounded the table with his fist and yelled, “what’s going on Ma, out with it NOW!”
To Be Continued.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
Daily Pics #271.
Good morning everyone on this very beautiful autumn morning! The sky is mostly clear although the sun is not yet shining, but it should be soon. The small birds are busy outside chattering and looking for their breakfast. That part is easy around here, there are seeds everywhere on this deck and the feeders. The blue jays are very busy, as usual, going after their breakfast of sunflower seeds and taking as many peanuts as they can to hide them for later use. Blue jays have been studied quite a bit it seems and they have discovered that blue jays can locate the food they have hidden more than a year later. Even in areas where there is really no physical markers to help them remember, such as a large yard or field. Chickadees are also like that, and many other birds. Chickadees will hide food, such as bugs, during late summer and fall, which they will then use as a food source in the winter to supplement what they can find naturally. It helps to ensure survival during what can be a very harsh environment during our long cold winters.
The chickadees are here this morning too, enjoying their breakfast of sunflower seeds. There are two things that most birds who come to feeders will eat, sunflower seeds and peanuts. Nothing else is really needed. Both provide wonderful nutrition and energy for the birds anytime and are about the most perfect of foods for them in the winter. Jasper hasn’t been here yet, he comes later in the morning now. No chipmunks either, they too don’t come until later. Everything starts changing by late September or early October. The days are shorter, it’s noticeably cooler, so animals change their behavior. The small birds are around the longest during the days, especially as temps really start to drop by the end of this month. They need as much food as possible to carry them through those long cold nights. I managed to remember to bring my bird feeders in early last night, no more going out after dark for me. Unless I forget to bring the feeders in earlier, then I have no choice.
As soon as it was dark last night I heard some loud noise on the deck. Muffin jumped up to look out the window. She crouched. Her fur fluffed out. I had to look. Sure enough, a bear was on the deck. Hmm, I’m glad I remembered to bring those feeders inside. This was a different bear than the last 2. How do I know? He had a small white patch on it’s head. I went for my camera, even though pics through the window are never that good, but I figured I would try anyway. But by the time I got ready, which didn’t take long, he was already climbing over the railing and down the other side to the ground. So I missed. I waited too long. So that makes 3 bears in less than a week and a half.
Well, we have some more fall color for the featured image. No, the picture isn’t crooked, the benches and tables are on the side of a hill. I’m not sure how they expect people to sit on that one bench without sliding off however. And in the pic above is a purple petunia from my little deck container garden, which is all gone now. Summer flowers are finished for another year. The sun is shining beautifully on those golden leaves, a beautiful fall morning indeed. Happy Friday everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 