I survived house cleaning

I got up before 7 and commenced house cleaning.

The word commenced makes me think of the time I was going to put a rock garden in the back yard and I succumbed to the ads to Call Gopher One Before You Dig! How did I know they were going to conduct the Spanish Inquisition about my plans? The woman I spoke with wanted to know if I planned to use dynamite and where the nearest intersection was that would be accessible to an ambulance. What the hell, lady, I said. I'm making a rock garden. There is no dynamite involved. Then she wanted to know when I planned to commence digging. That is the exact word she used...and she said if I didn't plan to commence digging within 48 hours I would have to call back and give them the information again...about the dynamite and the ambulance accessibility. I started to laugh and said maybe they should screen calls so people like me wouldn't have to answer such ridiculous questions. I'm not making this up.

So, the house cleaning was fine. I don't see dirt so well so it happens often that I look back later and see things I missed. The same happens with paint so don't ever ask me to help you paint. I ran the Spot Bot a few rounds on the carpet. That's pretty disgusting. Anybody who is considering a dog ought to come over and take a look at the dirty water that comes out of that thing before making a final decision. Laurel, are you listening?

Other than the house cleaning it was a nice day. Tiffany came down to work this evening so we went out for lunch and spent some time visiting this afternoon. Ella came over to play for a while and now Regis and I are contemplating our evening plans. We had to make a list and vote on what we wanted to do. I think it's a symptom of my seasonal allergies that I'm indecisive. The winner was to watch the movie Arthur and order a pizza. Bet that makes you wonder what the other choices were.

While we were eating breakfast this morning, Regis got another call from the liquor store in Mankato. This was another manager who wanted to apologize for not having the wine we wanted. Really, this was a twelve dollar bottle of wine and only two dollars off. We aren't talking Dom Perignon. This was not a heinous crime against humanity and it was not worthy of five phone calls, one on a weekend. We got a new ad today and I said we should go over there, find something else that isn't available and send them an email. It takes a twisted mind to think of something like that.

We had a rose-breasted grosbeak and a male cardinal in the bird feeder at the same time this afternoon. Also a few grackles and a sparrow, but I guess they have to eat, too. The yellow finches are lined up in the trees waiting to eat at their feeder. Maggy is back from Dubai next door and will be our alarm clock for the next few weeks until she adjusts. Maggy's the dog not the human. And that's all the wildlife news from our house.

This is a picture of the fishing opener on Upper Red Lake. It's snowing. I remember hearing a story about a guy fishing in a snowmobile suit and he was struck by lightning and it melted the zipper shut. Now, that is a sign. How can this be fun?














This is the weather map for Minnesota. The blue areas are snow. One would hope that it melts before it enters the air we breathe but the picture above says not necessarily so. That northern blue area is right about where Upper Red Lake is. People who live in temperate climates do not want to come here. It's cold. It snows in May. The mosquitoes will be the size of Apache helicopters. Miles, I hope you still fit into that Patagonia snow suit, pal.