Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Is It The End?
Hello to all my faithful readers around the world! No, I’m not talking about my blog. Though I might be making some changes to my site soon. I’m talking about our summer. It came to a rather abrupt end this week. It was still quite nice on Tuesday, but by Wednesday things changed. We have entered early fall now. It is much cooler and these cool temps are supposed to stay with us, except for tomorrow when it should be warmer. Summer is just so short. Only 2 months this year.
After 7 months of winter, 2 months of summer is, well, short. Some of you might like that, many people here enjoy the cool weather. Maybe I’m just odd. Okay, I will change that to, I’m just odd. I like warm weather. Just the way it is. I’m not going to change just because I’m in the minority. I’m going to have a post soon talking about that. Not weather, but change. Or perhaps I should say, no change.
But it is a beautiful sunny morning! It is, however, time to wear a jacket. With this change in weather comes other changes. More and more of our birds are becoming silent, no singing, just quieter chirps. And the smaller birds are flocking now, which just means they are all getting together in larger groups, flocks, getting ready to head south. Some birds have gone already. Our nighthawks are gone. Very early again this year. They are one of the key bird species I watch each year to figure out what our winter will be like. The are right 9 times out of 10. They normally leave around mid August. Last year was the earliest ever, August 1. This year they left August 2. That could mean another early and long winter ahead.
Sir George and Lady Pearl haven’t been around for 2 days. That would be early for them to leave as well. Herman is still here. He is another herring gull, not as big as Sir George. But he does stay longer. Not sure what happened to all my squirrels lately, I had 4 of them. Now there is only Choco left. And she only comes early in the morning, and some days not at all. I think I mentioned already that Sylvester was killed trying to cross the street. Cars and chipmunks don’t mix. Rusty is still here. Plus, Skamper and Checker came back. I don’t know where they have been until now, but they are back, actually since the beginning of the month. So that is very nice.
I’m just kind of rambling again this morning. Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about part 2 from our fishing adventure begun yesterday. It’s coming. Very soon. Yesterday I kind of played a tourist. I went on our tour boat and got a lot of pictures from the northern part of this big lake. This lake is more than 4,300 km2 in size, with over 14,500 islands, and 105,000 km (65,000 miles) of shoreline. There are areas on this big lake that never freeze, even in the coldest weather. That’s due to the strong currents in certain areas between islands. I will be taking you on this tour at some point so you can see more of the area where I live.
Guess that is all for now everyone. I hope you are having or will have a great day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2019 Steve McLeod.
An August Day And Memories.
Hello to everyone on this rather cool August morning. It looks like our summer days are gone once again and we are entering the beginning of fall. It is cooler now, night and day. And it’s supposed to stay that way from now on. Sigh. Summer here is so short. I will admit, I am not really looking forward to winter again. If we have another 7 month long winter this year, I think I will go absolutely crazy. Okay, it might be hard to tell the difference. It is nice and sunny today though, so that helps a lot.
It was a day similar to this that Dad and I decided to try some fishing. There was this nice lake that we had never tried fishing at before, so off we went to see what might be there. It was nice and early, the sun was shining, no wind, just perfect. We got the boat into the water, which was easy, all downhill. Off we went. Did you bring our lunch?, asked dad. Naturally, said I. I don’t see it, said dad. Oh, oops, left it by the car, I said. BONEHEAD! Glad dad is enjoying himself already. We hadn’t gone far so headed back and I climbed the hill, retrieved our lunch and came back. Off we went. 
Hey, where’s my tackle box?, asked dad. You said you would look after that, said I. Great, still in the car, he mumbled. Back we went. I climbed the hill back to the car. Even though dad forgot his tackle box, he figured I should be the one to go get it. Sigh. Back down the hill and into the boat. We have everything now, said I. Good, said dad. Off we went. Hey, where’s my rod?, asked dad. Not again. You set it down while we launched the boat, said I, guess you left it lying on the rock. BONEHEAD! Hey, it wasn’t my fault. Really. Back up the hill, which dad decided I should climb since I was now experienced at it. Right. Okay, let’s check everything. All here. Finally we are off again. 
Looks deep here, I said, looking over the side of the boat. Don’t do that, yelled dad. That startled me and I sat up quickly which for some reason really rocked the boat. Poor dad. He never did like rocking boats. He gets dizzy so easily. BONEHEAD! Guess he’s okay this time, since he is enjoying himself. I made a nice cast. Well, it would have been nice, but the hook got caught on dad’s shirt. AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!, yelled dad. Just got your shirt, I said, you ruined my cast. Could have gotten stuck in my arm, he said. At least it only ripped the shirt a little, said I. Dad was looking at this hole in his shirt. That’s small?, he asked, I can practically put my hand through the hole. Dad did like to exaggerate at times.
He also liked to stand while fishing. I was changing lures and put one down on the seat. Dad chose to sit down right then. A loud scream and he jumped up. That rocked the boat again. Dad sat down again. He screamed again. What is that?, he asked. You sat on my lure and bent the hooks, I said. Pull it out, yelled dad. Barely stuck in, I said. But it was still stuck in his pants. I gave a big pull. Riiiiiiip. What was that?, asked dad. It’s okay, I said, just a small hole, matches the one in your shirt. Bonehead! Hard to believe he’s enjoying this.
Oh my, this has gotten a bit longer than I thought. I will continue this story next time. I hope you all have a great day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2019 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 