Last night was a quiet night. I worked until 9 PM. When I came home, the old guy had a fire in the fire ring and we sat on the patio in the dark. Then I cooked and ate the last 6 marshmallows. Well, someone had to.
It sounded like fall outside. Locust, crickets, those buzzy seasonal night sounds that let you know that the season will change soon, even before the calendar gives you the same message. Autumn is my favorite season. As we sat in the darkness, it occurred to me that this is probably the last year we will be in this house. I had better enjoy the sounds of our backyard because next year they will probably, God willing, be different. Not greatly so, but different.
I want to put a bird feeder up now, so that the birds are ready for us when we are ready to move. I have always enjoyed watching birds. My mother loved her redbirds, as she always called the cardinals, and all the other birds of the skies. She even tolerated the owls that she swore ate an entire batch of kitties, one by one, when they were just wee little and just starting to get around. No one ever saw this occur, they just disappeared and that is to what she attributed their disappearance. Interestingly, she never really saw the owls at all but there was a barn in the back so there must have been owls.
My mother in law was a great bird watcher. She was the one that really got me back to it after we moved into the woods in Vinton County in the late 1960's. I have not been without a bird feeder since. All the children and most of the cats we have had have enjoyed them almost as much as we have. We have had unusual birds, regular birds, squirrels, chipmunks, hawks, flying squirrels, opossums, raccoons, skunks and deer at the feeders over the years. I wonder just what wonderment awaits us at the farm?
Still no news reguarding a mason to lay block for the basement. Until we have one, no digging will commence. It is going to be a little harder to arrange for a bit. The old guy is gone again. The assignment was made last night around 11 PM or so. We had covered the fire and come in and he was actually already in bed when the team announced the assignment on their Facebook page. Gotta love Facebook. It is out to the public before the phone even droids the message tone. He was gone by 9 AM, winging his way to Missouls via Chicago? Yep, that is how they sent him.
It was not an easy beginning. No boarding pass. Seems that, while they got the flights scheduled in almost record time, they forgot one teeny tiny part. No one paid for them. Surprise, no payment, no boarding pass. They got it all worked out, after a fashion. Believe it or not, they held the flight at the gate until they could load his luggage and he could get there. They said it was an emergency. He was, after all, going to a fire. He had plenty of time for connections and had no problems later. He did sit on the tarmack in Missoula for a bit because all the gates were full, but he made it without a problem. So did 2 of his 3 bags. Bummer. The missing bag has his boots and the Starbucks French Roast. He assures me that they will get there. They were inadvertenetly sent to Denver rather than Chicago and when they are recovered, they will "run them out" to him. Hope so, the boots are very expensive as they are custom made for him. And the camp runs on coffee.
Oh well, back to the beginning. I was very glad we had a quiet evening before all the controlled bedlam of later. Those kinds of evenings are hard to come by this time of year, what with bugs, heat, rain and work.
And it is after midnight. Happy Anniversary, dear heart. It has been a good long run, so far. I hope we have many more years together. And they said it wouldn't last. They were wrong.
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