Alfred Hitchcock's movie, The Birds, has nothing on this flock that was in Caspian Saturday morning.

February 14, 2021 - Sunday morning
-21 degrees/clear skies/breezy
Pentoga Road

Happy Valentine's Day. Sargie and I celebrated this morning by sleeping in. I made it until 7:30, nearly a record for me. 

I had just settled in from my Saturday morning's walk when the phone rang.

"You'se guys wanna go to Rhinelander with us?" asked Yooper Brother Mark in that unique Chicago/Yooper accent that so eloquently redefines the English language.

Cold, snowy, and windy, he didn't have to ask twice. Sargie squealed in the delight while doing half a dozen cartwheels across the dining room floor as I told him we'd be in town shortly.

Leaving Caspian, we came across the huge flock of birds feeding in the middle of the road. Newly spread gravel was everywhere and we never did figure out why they had to land in that one particular area. 

I'm going to have to ask Pentoga Road's resident birdologist, Jambo, what kind of winged creatures these are. 

The four of us spent the day in Rhinelander, wandering from one store to the other. Sargie and I entertained ourselves playing with an overpriced video/security system at a local home/lumber store.

We weren't the only ones playing. Mark also made the most of his time being silly.

Sheri wasn't going to be left out of the nonstop fun and games.

From one store to the other, we found goodies that we didn't even know were needed. I even managed to purchase a brush that fits on the end of the skimmer to help keep the sides of the pond clean.

For a whoppin' $3.75, life didn't get any better.

Groceries? Of course. When in Rhinelander, skipping a stroll up and down the aisles of Aldi Foods is like saying you don't believe in Baby Jesus.

 

The highpoint of the day was stopping at the Pizza Ranch where I found some of the best fried chicken, mashed taters, and gravy, I've sampled in a long time. 

Doesn't everyone go to a pizza place to eat chicken?

Look at that plate of Mark's. Just two baby-sized pieces of pizza? While he was watching his girlish figure, I made four trips to the buffet line. (In all honesty, so did Mark.)

We arrived home last night, cold and frozen, but happy. After stopping to render unneeded aid to a woman who'd spun far into a ditch filled with deep snow, we unloaded the car. Sargie put groceries away while I rekindled the fire and carried in wood.

The lady in the ditch wasn't one of the UP's finest. I stopped and asked if she was okay. With a cigarette dangling from her lips, she said she needed someone with a truck to rescue her car. I replied that she'd need a wrecker and boy, did she go into a tirade about not having enough $(_@^ money for a blankety-blank wrecker, etc. etc. Good thing I didn't have a bar of soap handy or it and her filthy, cigarette smelling mouth would have become one. 

I can cuss better than most, but after listening to her assault my delicate ears, I asked if someone was coming. She said they were. Her car was running, she had heat, probably a hidden bottle to keep her company, and who knows, maybe a nearly full pack of cigarettes, so we bade her goodnight and left. 

In the grandbaby department, Matt sent this video of Em, Ben, and Wes, getting their puzzles I made them for Christmas, but didn't get mailed out until last week. Grandpa Santa was a bit slow this year, but Matt said they made GREAT Valentine's Day gifts. 

Perfect!

 

 It's time to get this uploaded and think about going for a walk. The lazy side of me wants to stay home where it's warm and cozy. The hiker side says to man up and get off my lazy backside. 

As my all-time non favorite performer who was living proof that a person needn't have any talent, just a famous name, to become a star, Nancy Sinatra, once crooned, "These boots are made for walkin'. And that's just what they'll do."

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...