Greetings, Friends!

I’d like to say that Katya is keeping me company while I write to you, but I know better. She’s actually waiting for me to get off the computer so that she can play her video game.

Yes, the cats have a video game. It’s free from  Friskies and involves little fish silhouettes swimming around first alone, then in twos, and finally in threes. If you successfully bat at the fish, ripples form around them and they disappear only to reincarnate on another part of the screen. I am not sure this is either realistically or religiously appropriate for the cats.

And when I said “bat” at the fish I was attempting to give Buffy the Destroyer a hint. She ‘bites” at the images.

Katya has  now left the area, preferring to sit out on the porch and watch real birds.  It’s okay. She can’t do any damage to these either. And the neighborhood hawk can’t get at her. Win-win.

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As I was walking around the lake this morning, I spied the maintenance people working on the amphitheater/band shell/performance area.  I stopped and stared.  Here they are:

I know it’s difficult to see, but they are cleaning windows, the very windows that allow you to enjoy a concert and still see the lake behind the performers. And that ladder that you can see is not the only ladder. That first ladder only gets them to the top of the storage area. Then there’s another ladder on top of the storage area that allows them to use elongated squeegees to reach the top of those very windows that allow us to view the lake. At this point of their cleaning, the second ladder is as close to the edge of the wall that the first ladder is leaning against as possible. Two guys are working, one bracing the bottom of the higher ladder, the other guy atop said ladder.

Oh boy, am I glad that that is not my job!!!! I’m not so sure that I would even feel comfortable bracing the second ladder at the bottom , much less wielding a top heavy tool at the top.

So, if you are planning to attend any performances in Maple Grove this summer, or even if you just enjoy walking around the lake, take a minute and appreciate the clean windows. These guys deserve it.

Which brings me to superglue.  Well, it’s a stretch, but I can make that transition! If I had that job, I would probably break my  neck not unlike the  three ceramic things I’ve had break in the last week or so.  (!)

Strangely enough, I was not responsible for any of them; they were all accidents.

I have spent time fixing two of the objects with superglue. (The third was thrown away by another party before I had a chance to assess the breakage and determine its fixability)

Here is what I have learned about superglue. You can’t use it without getting some on your fingertips. Well, at least I can’t. No matter how many years I have worked with the adhesive, my skills don’t get any better.

Wait a minute, I think it has improved. I seem to recall that when superglue first came out I was consistently gluing at least two fingers together on every project. And now I don’t.  Yippee!!

But no matter how many toothpicks I use now, and no matter if it’s gel or liquid, I always get some on the tips of my fingers where it dries to a rough crust.

And then, try to use the IPad or phone???? The touch system won’t respond to the glued tips. Basically I wind up using my ring finger and pinkie to touch and don’t tell them, but they are just not as efficient.

I know, I know. First world problem. But I just had to warn you that you won’t be as efficient at tapping if you have superglue on your fingertips.  Think of it as a Public Service Announcement.

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Here’s an update on the wildlife at the lake. Now, keep in mind that this is a very urban lake. I could walk two blocks away and pick up a $350.00 pair of shoes. So when I get excited about the wildlife, it is because I am so happy they have decided to live so close to people.

And shoes.

Well, I have been watching the only pair of mallards raise their seven ducklings with the help of the uncle ducks.  In the last few weeks they have been joined by another pair who were proudly swimming with their teeny tiny ones yesterday. So exciting!

Two mama geese with their broods were lined up on the point this morning. They seemed to be waiting for lessons on swimming in a straight line from the Instructor Goose who was already putting another mama’s fuzzy awkward ones through their paces. Back and forth they swam, staying in a rigidly straight line, carefully watching the I.G. so they could stop and not bump into each other.

It reminded me of Colvill Park Swimming Pool:  anxious parents watching their kids take swimming lessons and the kids proudly bobbing under the water and coming up smiling.

And last of the waterfowl at the lake, but certainly not least is the Great Blue Heron which flies in some days while I’m walking. What a wing span! What grace and elegance in flying! What sneakiness!

Wait, what? Yep. You heard me. Sneakiness. That heron keeps an eye on the tall dry two leggeds walking on the path twenty yards up the hill. I stopped once to take a picture of its silhouette and before I could take the pic it had moved far enough away to be indistinguishable in the shot.

And yesterday! Yesterday as I was walking around the lake, I noticed a bent pipe near the water that I hadn’t seen before.  I stopped to stare at it. As I focused on it, the top of the pipe seemed to come to a point that I found unusual. I stayed still. The more I looked, the more I could see that the point that the “pipe” came to looked an awful lot like the beak of a GBH. I stayed still.

So did the “pipe.”

It was a standoff.

Until, the neck started to contract and the head of the GBH slowly sunk into the tall grass, away from my sight. I nearly laughed out loud! It was hiding from me!!!

And it was sneaky enough to stay still when it saw me approach long before I noticed what I thought was a pipe. And then sneaky enough to think that sinking down into the grass would do the trick. I guess when you are as big as a Great Blue Heron, you have to work extra hard to keep from being seen.

It was refreshing given the current political scene to have a being with sticky up hair that didn’t want to be in the limelight.

And with that I’ll bid you adieu. If you are in the Osseo Schools, have a terrific last few days of school. You are appreciated!!!!!

If you are retired, send good thoughts to the teachers, ESP’s and support personnel. These last few days are like riding a bucking bronco; you just try to hang on and finish as best you can.

Have a thoughtful Tuesday. And yes, Katya, you can finally play your game,

Love,

Janet