20/20 Investigations, Inc. The Curious Letter. Chapter 16.

Well, now we have the eagle that is supposed to point the way. But since it’s not in it’s proper place can we find out the right direction? And since it’s a weather vane it constantly points in different directions all the time, unless there is no wind. But then it could stop when it’s in any direction. So how will that help? Lena and I sit on some hay to think about this while the cats go off looking for mice. The next part of the letter says to follow that direction and go straight down. We go back outside and look up to where the weather vane should be sitting. We look all around where that eagle could possibly be pointing to see if there is anything abnormal in the area, but, there really was nothing that could be seen, at least not from ground level.

Hmm, I wonder if I should look from on top of the barn. Lena looked at me. “You’re not thinking of climbing on top of the barn to look around, are you?”, she asked. “Hey, that’s good, that’s exactly what I was thinking,” I said, “I wonder if it’s strong enough to climb up there, I don’t want to fall through the roof and go straight down to the ground.” I thought for a moment. “Hey, that could be it!”, I said. The cats came running out when I said that. Meow, meow?=What you find, what you find? Meow!=Yes, tell us, tell us! “I didn’t find anything,” I said. The cats look at each other while I continue to look at the barn. Meow, meow.=He losing it again, need help right away. Meow.=Yep, I agree. Meow, meow.=You take right this time, I do left. Meow.=Okay, better hurry.

“AAAAAA!!!!”, I yelled, what was that for may I ask?” Meow, meow.=You yell out all excited without finding something and get us all excited for nothing. Meow.=Yes, so we know you have thinking problem again, this best way to clear brain. “Thanks,” I said. Meow, meow!=Welcome!, they both said at the same time. Sigh. Lena laughed quite heartily. “I’m getting more outnumbered all the time,” I said. Lena comes over, gives me a hug and kiss on the cheek. “You must admit, it is funny,” she said, then burst out laughing again. “I’ll make sure I remind my legs of that next time,” I replied. It’s kind of strange, but it’s like Lena and I have been friends for a long time, yet we just met a couple of hours ago.

We all go and stand under where the weather vane would have been. “The next line states, ‘at the bottom is a door’, guess that would be the barn door,” I said, “then it says go inside and turn left.” We did this and we’re just looking at a blank wall. “Okay, then it says, ‘now look straight up, and look out the window’, I continued. Up on the loft there was a small window. There is an old ladder in here, no sure how safe it is, but it’s the only way up there. I put the ladder in place and the cats climb up to the loft right away. Meow, meow?=Why you wait, come on up, plenty safe. They both went and looked out the window. Meow.=Not see anything interesting, just trees and old garden maybe. Up I go and Lena right after me. Mr. Cat was right, there is nothing of real interest out there.

“The next line says, ‘you will see the eagle’s quest,’ which doesn’t really make sense,” I said to everyone. We sat there looking out the window. “Well, the next line was, um, oh my, what was it?”, I said thinking. Meow.=It say, go there, watch eagle circle round and round, soon my treasure will be found. “That’s it, thanks Mr. Cat,” I said happily. Meow!=Welcome! We go back down and over to the garden area and look back at where the weather vane had been. “We would have to stand over here to see the weather vane properly,” said Lena. We all go to that spot and look. Hmm, I move over to be in direct line with the front of the barn. I had brought a shovel with me from the barn so I started digging. I was down about 2 feet when the shovel hit something metal.

To Be Continued.

Previous chapters of this story and other stories can be found on my home page under 20/20 Investigations, Inc.

©2020 Steve McLeod.

Daily Pics #319.

Good morning everyone! I hope you are feeling well today and have a nice big smile on your face. Yes, I know it’s not always easy to produce that smile, but it’s always good to try. A smile will actually make us and others feel better. It’s a very dull kind of day, with heavy clouds, and a snowflake or two twirling around through the air as they make their way to the ground. We received another inch (2.5cm) of snow overnight, so nothing serious. Quite interesting that we are just getting small amounts of snow, November is usually a fairly snowy month. I’m certainly not complaining though, lack of large snowfalls is easier on me, especially since I’m not supposed to shovel snow. It is mild out this morning again with a temp of 28F (-2C). I finally got my new feeder finished yesterday afternoon. Yes, I know I just finished one recently, but the rock doves made that one unusable for now. I needed one they couldn’t get on, but the smaller birds could.

So I put it up right away yesterday and within 5 minutes the chickadees were using it. They were the only birds I saw using it yesterday, but it was late afternoon when I put it up. I’m hoping to attract redpolls and grosbeaks with it. I had to brush snow off of it this morning and put some fresh seeds on it. After breakfast I looked out and saw a female evening grosbeak sitting on it feasting away. She was joined by another female within minutes. There was just the two, but they were quite happy in their new feeder. It kind of looked like they were in a cage since it has plastic covered wire for it’s “bars”. The wire was spaced just right to make it easy for the grosbeaks to get in and out, so that was good. Two birds is a good start. Hopefully they will attract others. Then I will need to make a bigger feeder, this one will only hold about 8 or 10 grosbeaks.

Well, today we have a couple pics of pine siskins to share. Generally speaking the males have more yellow in their wings and tail than the females, but sometimes that difference doesn’t show up too well. Can you tell who is who in these pics? I hope you have a wonderful day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2020 Steve McLeod.