Good morning to all of you out there and around the world and wherever else you are while reading this funniest, most enjoyable blog you can find!  Well, okay, maybe not quite the most enjoyable.  And perhaps not the funniest.  But it is a blog.  Sigh.  But I do have readers from around the world.  I’m actually aiming for 20 countries right now.  Once I achieve that then I will aim higher.  Okay, might take a while.  But that’s part of the fun.  I think.  Sometimes.  But usually it gives me a headache.  Sigh.  Spring has definitely arrived here in the cold north, the snow has finally melted, the birds are returning from their southern get-away locations, some birds are nesting, some are building nests, and dad and I are hiking mile after mile down the tracks.  Tromp, tromp.  Mile after long mile.  Tromp, tromp.  Finally we arrive at the first hill leaving behind that long section of lowland.  That was a long stretch, I said.  Dad looked at me and said, we’re only about 500 feet from the car!  That’s all?  Seems like we have been walking for miles, I said.  Bonehead, said dad.  At least he is enjoying this.  It is a nice warm, sunny day.  Being wasted looking for some blobs of glass.  Amazing.  Why waste time collecting something that just holds wire to a pole?  Chunks of glass with no historical significance.  We should go back and find a nice spot to dig for some old bottles, I said, certainly a nice day for it.  Dad just looked at me.  Why waste time collecting bottles, he said.  They don’t even look nice.  Just look at those beautiful insulators sparkling in the sun, he continued, now that’s something to collect, with a lot of history behind them too.  We obviously look at those chunks of glass a little differently, I thought.  I was hoping this higher ground would last for a while.  It was not to be however.  Just a small hill.  And a curve in the tracks.  Leading to miles of swamp.  Sigh.  Look at all the swamp, I said, might as well turn around now.  That’s opportunity, said dad, that swamp is dry and there will likely be a lot of insulators laying around just waiting for us.  Well, he might have a point.  Around here we have discovered that as insulators were removed, the linemen would toss them into the water, if there was any nearby.  Just wait, said dad, we will find a lot when you go down there looking for them.  Hmm, certainly went from we to me in a hurry, said I.  Well, the mud might be soft and you are lighter than I am, said dad.  I need to gain weight.  Off I started down the embankment, which at this spot was only about 20 feet high, not as bad as some we have had to go down.  Maybe you should come along, I called back, after all, if I need help in a hurry it would be nice if you were closer.  Okay, said dad, and he started off.  Right then a train came roaring around that curve.  We didn’t hear a thing until it was right there, a common problem around here, those rock cuts always seemed to block the noise of those trains.  But it startled dad this time and he slipped.  And was he moving along down that embankment!  Right behind me.  No way I could go anywhere, there was wild rose bushes on both sides of me.  Only thing to do is run down and try to stay ahead of dad.  Right.  Suddenly, whump!  He hit me and I landed on his stomach, my backpack on dad’s face.  Ooohhhh, groaned dad.  But amazingly his glasses stayed on, usually they fall off quite easily.  As we came to the bottom I quickly rolled off dad and sploop!  Dad landed in a patch of wet, sloppy mud.  Bonehead!  Amazing that he could actually be enjoying sitting in that wet mud.  For my new readers, dad said bonehead a lot when we were out together.  I finally figured out it must mean he was enjoying himself.  Couldn’t think of any other reason for saying it.  Anyway, back to the story.  Why don’t you get out of there, I asked.  A little help would be nice, he said.  I’ll get that old branch and pull you out, said I.  NO, you don’t need a branch, said dad.  Hey, no problem, I said, and picked it up and swung it around.  Whack!  Oops, hit dad on the back of the head.  My glasses, he called out, they fell in the mud.  You’re always losing your glasses, I said.  Only when you’re around, said dad.  Right.  Finally managed to pull him out.  You’re covered with mud, said I.  What was your first clue, said dad.  Good thing it is such a nice sunny, warm day.  The birds are singing and chirping.  Probably looking for food.  Might be a good time to get some pictures, like,

the junco above.  Sorry no pics of our insulatoring trip.  The story will continue next week.  Unless I forget.  That happens sometimes.  Sigh.  Sorry this is late this week as well, should do better next week.  I hope you can get out and enjoy what is left of the week and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

Good morning to everyone who is actually reading this blog and everyone else too since I like to include everyone even if everyone isn’t exactly everyone though everyone always is everyone even when they are not everyone but I will still stay with everyone because that, to me, is everyone that is everyone even when it seems like it never is everyone but that’s just me anyway and maybe to you everyone might mean something else other than everyone and sometimes that is true since it isn’t always everyone and it just depends on what is going on with everyone for everyone to be everyone or not be everyone so I will just leave it as is so I don’t get myself mixed up and that does happen sometimes like I wrote about last week when I became not me for awhile which really felt rather odd so it was nice that they found me again so I could continue being me and that still is enough to make my head spin to think that if my birth certificate is no good than does that really mean I wasn’t born and if I wasn’t born than obviously I can’t be me but if I’m not me than who am I and maybe I don’t really exist and actually some people do find it hard to believe that someone like me could actually exist anyway so for a few minutes I had to agree but nonetheless it was good to get back to reality again even if my reality is hard to believe sometimes and it is even for me!  Sigh.  I just had to have one of those long opening sentences again.  After all, it’s been a while.  And that makes it hard.  Speaking of blankets.  It was sunny today, even though rather cool, and windy, so I decided to hang out a blanket for a while.  Easy enough.  Right.  I shook it a bit over the railing of my deck and a gust of wind grabbed that blanket and blew it in my face.  Haha.  Tried again.  Success this time!  Decided to leave it out there for a bit so spread it on the railing.  Gust of wind grabbed the blanket and whoosh, over my head.  AAAAAA!!!!!  Can’t see!  Almost fell down.  Which is something I find easy to do even without being covered with a blanket.  Sigh.  The blanket ended up on the deck.  On the pile of peanut shells I had just swept up so neatly.  Peanut shells like to stick to the blanket I discovered.  Like glue.  Thus, picking them off one by one.  Sigh.  Easy turned out not to be.  Speaking of birds.  There are a LOT of them around right now.  I have been trying to get some pics of them.  Little birds do not like to sit still. Like this little redpoll below.  Nor do they like to come close.  When I have my camera in hand.  Please note some new photos in my gallery, more to come.  Anyway.  This morning when I went out, no camera, there was a nice little junco, which I have been trying to get a photo of, come right up to me on the deck.  Right by my feet.  Even looked up at me.  Not scared at all.  He KNEW I had no camera with me.  I don’t know how he knew, but he knew.  Always happens that way.  I am trying to get a pic of one of my chipmunks as well.  Same problem.  They KNOW!  Sigh.  Oops.  This was supposed to be about insulatoring.  Sigh.  Got sidetracked.  Again.  So here goes.  Dad and I got up early, went out, found insulators, came home.  There.  That wasn’t so hard.  Doesn’t work?  Sigh.  But we did get up early and off we went.  It was spring, about this time, sun was shining beautifully, though the forecast did say clouds and light showers for the afternoon.  That’s why we were up so early.  So we could be back home before the showers.  This was a new destination, fairly close to home, but we had never checked it out before.  Strange, but true.  There was a nice road to this spot and there was even a good place to park the car, off the road.Okay, not my photo, but it fits(thanks D.L.).  There they were.  Insulators as far as we could see!  Which actually wasn’t very far since there was a curve in the tracks and a hill just a little ways from where we parked the car.  Oh well.  Dad checked to make sure we had everything, even after asking me to check.  Odd.  Anyway, off we went.  It had been a very dry spring, which turned out to be good for us as we came to what normally would have been some very wet areas.  Speaking of normal.  There is a fox sparrow singing outside.  One of my favorite birds.  Would love to get a pic of him.  So guess I had better stop and get outside.  Maybe this will be the time!  Supposed to be much warmer tomorrow and most of the week, so, wherever you are, I hope you are able to get out and enjoy your week!  God bless!

Steve and Muffin.