Been Out Boatin'

Just got inside after having a bonfire on the Strand, what I call the lower patio by the gazebo. It is named after that great fun place by Myrtle Beach, SC, where we have had some great times. "Ya Just Can't Beat Fun" at the Bowery, home of the country group Alabama. This is where they cut their teeth, so to speak.

We definitely took advantage of the great weather we had this week to get some serious boating in. We boated every day since Tuesday.

Tuesday was essentially go out and float around, a very common thing to do for us. Nothing like turning the engine off, floating, reading a newspaper, magazine. or book, and listening to tunes on the radio or off a cassette (yes, we still use cassettes, and BY CHOICE I should add). Stopped by Baja Benny's and met Rich who grew up and lived in Chicago near where Liz grew up. They had a long talk about the good old days back there.

Wednesday, we boated over to McDonald's in the morning and had breakfast. Fox Lake has one of the two McDonald's you can actually boat to for a meal. We tie up at their piers and go inside to order. I usually get the steak, egg, cheese bagel meal. That is a real piece of steak and it actually is as big as it looks on the commercials. Have you ever noticed that the fast food sandwiches on the commercials are ALWAYS a lot bigger than what you get?

We then feed the mallard ducks, who are always there looking for food. Today, we also had three white geese, one of whom looked a bit like a descendant of old Crooked Neck who used to hang out there three years ago. Somehow, his neck was bent at a 45 degree angle. He was a character. Also, for the first time ever, we had three Canadian Geese. They ruled the water, but the mallards were faster and still managed to get some food.

We then did some floating in Pistakee Lake before putting the boat up so I could go to McHenry to visit Liz's mom Frances.

To Be Continued... --RoadDog

The Birds Are Back

A couple days ago, I was out in the yard, working amongst the flowers and bushes, and on three different occasions came across very young birds trying to hop/fly away from me. This occurred in three different areas of the yard. I was afraid that one was going to hop into the garage and get behind some stuff which would make it very difficult to find and catch. Fortunately, it hopped off into the bushes by the northeast corner.

At least I didn't have to deal with any Mama Birds. They are a real pain. I'm kind of surprised to still find young birds out this late in the season. Hope they survive.

Today, we boated over to McDonald's for breakfast. That means eating out on the boat and feeding the mallard ducks who are permanent year-round residents of the lagoon by McDonald's. There are also a lot of noisy seagulls.

But, today, they were joined by three white geese (one looked like he might be a descendant of Old Crooked Neck who was there one whole summer a few years ago, but we haven't seen him since. His neck was bent at a 45 degree angle.) In addition, we had three Canadian geese, and we've never had them before. It made for quite a noisy conglomeration. The geese sort of ruled the waves, but the ducks were faster so managed to still get most of the crumbs we were tossing.

Tonight, I watched Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds." Sure glad I didn't see this movie last night. That would have made today's breakfast at the McDonald's lagoon a whole different story.

Hey, No Pecking the Hands and Face!!!!! --RoadDog