I’m the type of person that only takes off my shoes and socks when it’s time to go to bed. I’ve always been that way. Lots of people go walking around barefoot or in sandals or flip-flops… not me. People that don’t wear shoes whack their feet on things. Whenever my kids stubbed their toes, my mantra was, “That wouldn’t have happened if you wore your shoes!” If I were going to have a headstone, that’s what they’d probably have engraved on it.
I took my shoes off once, and broke my toe on the edge of the TV cabinet. Lesson learned once again. However, it’s hot enough tonight that I’m sitting inside my rig with the AC blowing, and I’ve taken off my shoes and socks! I guess I’ll just have to sit here for a while and write a long blog post. I certainly don’t want to get up and try to walk around, since I’m sure disaster would befall me. 
I was out the door by 7:00 this morning to work on the Balsam Lake Breeding Bird Atlas block. Ha! Not so fast Judy, the big cement truck was coming by 7:30, so I had to move my car down the hill to get it out of the way. Then it was decided that the luxurious refuge truck I was using would have to be traded in for an older model for my use. I knew this change was coming since the truck I’ve been driving only has 12,000 miles, but I have a lot of stuff in this truck to transfer over, so it took a while. Volunteers generally get to use the vehicles that have been ‘retired’ from active duty. I really don’t care what vehicle I use as long as it runs and I don’t have to haul along a step ladder to get into it.
 |  After I was finally off, I had a red-tailed hawk in the block, but it didn’t stay around long for pictures. |
I worked the block for about three hours, and by then the temps were rising quite a bit and the birds had quieted down. I decided to check all the kiosks at the different entry points to the refuge to make sure there were enough pamphlets available for visitors over the long holiday weekend.
Just before noon, I got a call from headquarters that a couple had arrived and asked if I was around. It turned out to be Bob & Linda, whose blog I recently started reading. They’ve been reading this blog for some time, and decided to take a chance on meeting up since they’re traveling through the area. I told headquarters to direct them to the Old Indian Trailhead where we met. It’s always nice to meet fellow fulltimers and bloggers in person. We had a good time chatting for a while, and then it was back to work for me.
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As I traveled along, I found these intriguing seed heads. They were about 3” in diameter. Once a big gust of wind comes along, these seeds will be on their own flying journey to new territories. I just enjoy the symmetry of nature.
On the home stretch back to the rig, I came upon a big lump in the road that I thought might be another nesting turtle. Turned out to be a female ruffed grouse taking a dust bath in the middle of the road.
I stopped, put the emergency blinkers on in the truck, and snuck out with my camera. It turned out to be one of those ‘National Geographic’ moments for me. While mama was taking a bath, her little ones were hidden in the growth beside the road. Can you see the little chick on the right?
Maybe now it’s a little easier to see as mama got closer. You can see its little head peering out from under a leaf just to the right of her breast. There were a couple of them safely hidden in there. They were located in the Booth Lake block that I also atlas, so check off another breeding confirmation!
The cement was poured for our new patios early this morning, so I’ll be packing things up again tomorrow and moving back into place to take advantage of it. Even though it’s only a matter of moving a very short distance, it’ll be another start from scratch set up, and I’ll have to see how long it takes to set up the DISH once again. It can be a real pain at times.
Guess I’d better put my shoes and socks back on so I don’t break any toes on my way to the recliner to watch a Netflix movie…
Happy Birthday USA!!
THE END!!
Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later, Judy
