They're Baaaacckk!

The Cormorants are back. I awoke this morning to see maybe 20 Cormorants scattered about The Lake. They were busy diving and presumably eating MY FISH! But I guess I can forgive them because they are such a delight to watch.

Last year there were as many as one or two hundred of them busily diving and reappearing individually, and sometimes in unison, all over The Lake. I expect to see many more in the days to come, these 20 may just be the vanguard - testing the waters, so to speak!

Perhaps if they find no significant numbers of fish they will go elsewhere? Obviously my feelings are divided in this area. If they remain and eat fish, that will mean there are a lot of fish here, which would be good for fishing, but on the other hand if there are 200 Cormorants eating MY FISH will there be any left for me to fish for? A conundrum indeed.

Meanwhile I will enjoy their antics.

Unfortunately I will be working at a Home Show for Highs in the Washington DC area for the next three days so I will miss seeing them. But I'll be back on Monday and doubtless they will still be here for my enjoyment. If the eating of MY FISH is the payment for watching their antics, then I have decided that it is worth the sacrifice.

There's a Dinosaur on the end of my pier!

What's that you say? What kind of a Dinosaur? Well a Pterodactyl of course. Specifically it is a Great Blue Pterodactyl - otherwise known nowadays as a Great Blue Heron - but I can assure you that it is in fact a Pterodactyl. If you don't believe me just come down here and watch that monster, a beautiful monster to be sure, but none the less a monster, flying, no flying is too much of a lame word, maybe cruising would be better, no not that either. Soaring? Again no, maybe we don't have any modern words to describe this amazing creature from the past. But it is certainly dramatic as it flies easily, and beautifully, across The Lake, it's huge wings hardly seem to move at all, but when they do it is very lazily, and the tips of the outsize wings almost touch the water with each idle flap. Floating, I think that best describes it's movement, it floats just a foot or so above the water. I particularly love to watch them in the early morning or at sunset. I think it is my favorite bird, oops Pterosaurus I mean, on The Lake.

Would you like sheets with that?

For some reason or other I was reminded of an embarrasing happening in our lives. It was about 30 years ago when our daughter was about 7 or 8 years old. Some friends - who will remain nameless, to save them from embarrasment too - were visiting for the weekend. They had a daughter of the same age.

Julia was about to make up the bed for our friends when Sarah said "Can we do it?". The other daughter nodded and said "Please". (A word that you may be unfamiliar with, but which was used occasionally 30 years ago!)

So, Julia being pleased with the initiative they were showing, and probably anxious to get on with making herself beautiful, a task that required only a few seconds, because as you all know Julia was, and still is, the most beautiful woman in the World, said "Yes, thank you."

Later, after we had all retired for the night, there was a timid knock on our bedroom door and our lady guest asked with some trepidation it seemed to me, "Could we have a sheet please? Just one for the bottom would be OK."

Julia, horrified, went into their bedroom and sure enough the girls had made the bed up very neatly, but without any sheets!