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2009-03-23 - 2:29 p.m. I finally got on top of things and even mailed off the taxes, so I stole a little time to take a bird stroll. At first I went to the lakefront to see if the Bald Eagles were around, but instead the mowing machines were out (yes, multiple mowing machines) so I headed onward to the Northlake Nature Center. Wrong time of day to see much. Fussing Carolina Chickadees, fussing Tufted Titmice. Singing Northern Cardinal and (mostly) silent White-Throated Sparrow. A nice male Wood Duck, resplendent in his spring plumage. A startled Belted Kingfisher. A male Red-Bellied Woodpecker came to the female, and it looked like they were kissing, a food exchange I'm sure. So sweet. Best reptile was the large Black Racer/Blue Runner that was sunning near the water until I surprised him. The irises are starting to bloom, and there were a decent number of butterflies, mostly some species of large Satyr but some Eastern Tiger Swallowtails and a black Swallowtail species too. On the way back, I saw a guy with large, serious photographic equipment, followed by a young woman dressed in full stripper/hooker gear. The shoes were in a similar style to those in the picture above, although plain brown rather than purple and brown snakeskin. The dress was a spandex scrap of matching brown cut to show most of her cleavage and (barely) hemmed high enough to cover her rear end. It was, needless to say, difficult for her to pick her way along the trail in those heels. She was smiling and seemed to be in good cheer, though, so...what? I'm guessing a naughty photo shoot, out in the woods. Just as I was thinking that I'd been alone for my entire walk until then and that they would probably get away with it, then along comes a shady-looking fiftysomething guy...what? Following them? Playing look-out? Playing voyeur? Just stumbling along that far into the park by happenstance and coincidence? The plot thickens, as they say. Even with a look-out, I think the photo shoot may end up being abbreviated, because when I reached the parking lot, there were two full-sized vans with their doors swinging open to unload half a classroom's worth of kids with crab nets. Uh oh. I have to somehow figure out how to pack for my trip. Pray for me. later Forgot to mention I got not one, but two, $3.50 rebates in the mail for Zupreem, for a total of $7. It brought back the days before Bush, when there was so much fat in the economy that I used to rebate right and left, and not just for chump change. And who can forget the dizzy days of Pets.com when they had coupons all over the internet to sell you the bird food for free, and oh yeah, and coupons were stackable, so you'd add in a free shipping coupon, and the birdies ate free for a year. I saw a poll where Pets.com was voted the best beloved internet business of the year (2000 I think but it could have been 1999), and surely we'll not see the like of that business model again where they deliver a freebie for gratis right to your door. But, heck, I used to do the drugstore free-bates and didn't pay a dime for hair color for years and years while playing on the blackjack team. In fact, cosmetics of all kinds were something you simply didn't buy, because you either got so many samples sent to your house for free or you could hit all the drugstores and get more rebate-able items than you'd ever need. So many goodies out there over the years...but now a rebate check that actually arrives is a rare event to be celebrated.
All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2002-2017 by Elaine Radford
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