Observations of Ordinary

Robins are back. Paul says he's been seeing them for weeks. Had he not just pruned back the cranberry bushes, I would have too, since that is a favorite food source when they return. But yesterday were my first two robins.

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With snow gone, none having fallen here all March (setting a 130-year record), things are drying out quickly. Our county is among those in over half the state which is under a no-burn rule, due to the high risk of grass fires. They've already started. Three days ago there was a tripple-fire along rural Hwy. 8 in Wyoming. It looks like two now, since two spread and combined into one large fire. Time will tell if the fire killed the trees it passed under. They didn't actually burn, but its heat was tremendous. I heard someone last night comment he passed by at the time and could feel the heat from inside his truck. Other than huge black patches on the ground, the most obvious sign of its destruction was to the siding on one fairly new garage backing up to the burn area. Grass around the base of the garage is green about 4 feet out, but the heat warped the vinyl siding on one complete end and half of a side. The whole area is huge bubbles, packed one after the next over the next under the next. No smoke or burn discoloration, just bubbles. From far enough back, they make a pattern of diagonal stripes across the wall, from lower left to upper right. Did the heat do that pattern? Is the siding glued down or something in that pattern where it can't bubble there?

The fire roared through a swamp leaving behind a very few skimpy patches of cattails, enough for about 5 red-winged blackbirds to perch and call out to defend this year's meager territories. Actually, providing we get some rain, everything will green up and fill in and the territories will be just fine soon.


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Nostalgia is a lying scoundrel. When we oh-so-fondly remember how wonderful something used to be, way back in our youth, our memories are tainted by how much better youth itself was than now: no stress, healthier suppler bodies, more free time without responsibilities. The reason I bring this up is the 1st Twins exhibition game was yesterday in the new outdoor stadium. Fans have been clamoring for this kind of stadium instead of the Metrodome almost since that was built. Money, not fresh air, was the real deciding factor in the new stadium's construction - the money going to the owners, of course. But now it's here, and the fans will be silenced in their complaints. I just can't help wondering how many of them will begin to experience the great outdoors and start to chorus,"It's too cold!" "It's too hot!" "It's too rainy, and the game's canceled!" "It's too windy!" "It's too sunny!" "IT'S TOO OUTDOORS!"

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Boats have started appearing on area lakes. Weather has been wonderful, in the upper 70s, sometimes higher than Florida or Arizona temperatures on a given day. I mentioned the boats to my young siding contractor the other day when he came over to write out his bid for finishing the siding for the remodel after the original guy blew me off for the last year. Being young, he whipped out his cell phone and started showing me pictures of himself fishing. Well, actualy they were of him holding fish he caught. He goes for sturgeon out of the St. Croix, fishing from shore, and his smallest fish was nearly 2 feet long. A couple were almost as long as he is!

After I accepted his bid, he offered to start the project Sunday, until I reminded him just which Sunday it was. Then he pinned himself down to purchasing materials Monday and doing the install Tuesday. What we need are filling in two spots. The small window on the north wall was replaced by two glass block windows with an air conditioner centered between. Our original contractor left us one length of blue siding matching the house back in '91, and Crid (Christopher shortened by family to "Critter", shortened to "Crid") says that will be fine to fill in there. Where the garage door was replaced by a wall with window, we'll put in white siding. The original trim around the door opening remains. and the exterior will maintain the illusion of a garage door, just like there's brick decoration on the front of the house giving the illusion of a fireplace chimney until you notice that it stops at the roof, and once inside realize that's the location of the wall between bedrooms.

Crid, although others have assured me he's a professional, trained by his father, another exacting professional, spent some time trying to assure me he knew what he was doing making his bid. He threw jargon around like I might actually know what a J-channel was. That at least was the term I can remember. I did get the gist of what the job entails, including that he has to blow out leaves from under the 2x6 at floor level and run a bead of heavy-duty caulk along it before he can start. I also learned that aluminum siding is no longer available, and he will find steel for the job. He can color-match the blue on the north wall for the trim pieces (more jargon I can't remember exactly). The white will be... white.

It all sounded good to me, but mostly I trust him because I know his mother. I know how strict she is raising her kids and the high standards she has for them. He may have left her house, but she hasn't changed, and if the job's not done right, he'll hear it from both of us!

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Campground reservations have finally all been made for this summer's trip. OUCH! Pricey! OK, not too bad in National Park campgrounds where the amenities include parking, pit toilets and a view. Throw in water, electric, and a dump station plus room to pitch a tent somewhere near the RV, and it starts to climb. Everybody's got a different policy. Some (KOA for example) require two sites, one for the RV, one for the tent. Others tell me they've got just the spot with a bit of grass next to the RV, and instead of charging two sites plus $3 a head over the two allotted for each, just charge $3 a head for over the two in the RV. But now at least we know where we're sleeping each night.

I've been saving auction pay for what'll be a year by the time we leave, so don't expect to be too in debt by the time we get back. Of course, we still haven't taken the RV out of storage and taken it to a mechanic for a check-up - belts, hoses, etc. Plus we know that the connector that plugs the water line into the toilet is needing replacement. Since it was made in 1986, I'm sure that'll be cheap. Right! I'm still hoping for a cheap estimate on draining the refrigerator coolant, now that it's leaking inside. It'll be a grand to replace the unit, which we won't do. I just want to convert it to passive storage and carry a cooler with ice along with us. I don't want to flood the RV with ammonia every time we open the door, or have it permeate whatever gets placed inside. The whole idea for getting the old RV was to make traveling cheaper than airfares, rental cars and motels. Oh yeah, and easier on bad knees than sleeping on the ground in a tent.