In early September we went to the Black Hills to do some geocaching. We saw Deadwood South Dakota and some other areas. We stayed at the Deadwood KOA this time. We arrived late and were unable to get a pull through site and as luck would have it, we got stuck up top of the hill, unable to back up into the spot with our trailer. We still haven't got that down yet and it is very frustrating to say the least! I guess the folks that were already there got tired of us yelling "Right! Left...no turn the wheel left!" because a fella came over an offered to back it into the spot. It took him about 3 seconds max. You can bet our tails were way between our legs! We had quite a nice time after that. So here we are now, awaiting the change in the weather and for the time to go back an hour. It actually has been quite an uneventful Summer and Fall so far. I did have a few memorable experiences. I won Best of Show with one of my jewelry designs at the Montana State Fair this year. In fact, I won three blue ribbons, two red ribbons and a green Honorable Mention for one of my photographs. I was glad that I got that green ribbon as it went for my squirrel photograph of my little friend Nut Job who had been sharing my back yard with me. Notice I said "had been sharing" the back yard. He was very skillful at walking the tree lines to get to the feeder I had put up for him. He was a beautiful red squirrel and I had been working with him to not be afraid of me. Well, he was making his way over to the feeder on a rainy day and lost his footing. Needless to say, he knocked out the power to half of the West end of Billings Montana. I found him near the power poll and put him into a nice shoe box and covered him with a little blanket. My husband, God bless him, buried him in the back yard while I wept over his little box. So getting an Honorable Mention for his photo was very special. A few weeks later, I saw two young squirrels forging at the feeder. One was precariously balancing on the Finch feeder, trying to stick his little tongue into the holes but was having no luck. I stood there watching for a while and then told him that his daddy would be very disappointed with him trying to raid the bird feeder when there was a perfectly wonderful pile of peanuts and sunflower seeds in the feeder jar. He jumped onto the roof quickly and looked at me, squeaking and telling ME off before making his way to the feeder on the other tree. He's not been on the bird feeders since that time and has grown to be a very nice looking young fella. He has begun to allow me to talk to him and finds ways to talk back instead of running away.
I have a wonderful array of bird feeders outside of my breakfast window. I can watch them as I eat my own breakfast every morning. I have House Finches, Downy Woodpeckers, Chickadees and Nuthatches that visit. I even put a make-shift feeder made of an old metal lid onto the stand where one of the air conditioners had been a few years back. I screwed the lid down to the wood and filled it with three different kinds of seed. They love that feeder! It is amazing the photos I can gather with them so close as the upper window opens to the stand where the feeder is. I just drop the shade and watch them through the slats. I can also poke the camera through the slats and shoot photos of them. So, that is my life for right now. We await notification if the geocaching Hawaii cruise will fly and if not.."we're off to 'ol Californie" again! Cheers for now! Freedancer
