Ain't that pretty?

Feel free to add your comments to this, one of the finer things in life.

I wasn't quick enough...

So I'm sitting here checking my emails and doing a little surfing and just happened to glance out the window. This is basically what I saw circling up the lake shore...


Unfortunately this isn't my photo as I wasn't quick enough to get out the door with my camera so I thank the photographer and you can find the original photo posted HERE under "Creative Commons" license at Flickr. Good thing the neighbors cats were under cover as one of them would have made a nice lunch for this fellow.

I haven't been pulled over in weeks...

And no, I don't mean for speeding (who, me?) or any other moving violation. Could it be that my Jeep is almost identical to some "vehicle of interest" to the local constabulary?

Since the day I got it last summer I have been regularly followed by both cruisers and unmarked cars, sometimes for miles. Now tell me... if you are driving the speed limit and a police car comes up behind you how long does he stay there? As soon as you hit the first straight stretch he's gone around you right? These guys would ride my back for the longest time and you could almost hear then calling in the plate number to check me out. By the way, this never happened with my previous vehicle so I can only assume they are not looking for me personally. :-)

The other day I saw this cruiser with a motorcycle pulled over beside the road and the officer is just getting back into his vehicle. I slowed way down and moved over into the other lane as is required and the officer waved me by. A couple miles farther down the road I see him coming up behind me and yup, the lights come on. Law abiding citizen that I am I immediately put on my blinker and moved to the side of the road. The nice officer comes up to my window and says "Oh, just wondered who was driving because we couldn't see through the tinted windows." It seems to me that if they were looking for someone else then running the plate would tell them it's my Jeep and not some other persons. There could also be other differences like no cover on my spare tire and there is on his?

Anyway, it's nice to see that the local force is out there doing it's job and I'm sure I'll see them again and that we'll still be on friendly terms. Yes sir, I'd be happy to buy two tickets to the policeman's ball and thank you very much!

PS: The person in town who has the almost identical vehicle to me was nice enough to say "Thank You" later on. Anytime buddy!

I've got to sell a lot of pepper...

It's been an expensive couple weeks. First there was putting the winter tires on the van for $72.00 Then the same for one of the SX2. Now I just put four new winter ones on the Jeep to the tune of $901.49 taxes, installation, balancing and the government imposed stewardship fee. At least I saved the $3.00 per tire disposal fee as I took them to our local tire dump instead for free. I could have gotten a better deal a week or two earlier but of course I left it just a couple days too long and the less expensive models were sold out.

Anyway, I’m sure it will be worth it as the summer tires that were on the Liberty when I bought it were getting pretty bald and lately I’ve been all over the place on the gravel road to the house. This new “Arctic Claw” rubber just refuses to spin or slide at all and they will for sure save me from a ditch or two or three that I would be in this winter without them.

No snow yet but most of the leaves are on the ground around the house and the bird population has changed. The Chickadees are staring in the window full time if I haven’t put the seed out yet. The Snowbirds are circling, a couple Sparrows I haven’t seen since last spring are back along with the Purple Finches, Juncos and a Cardinal spent the day today munching on the sunflower seed I put on the table out on the deck. Even "Woody" stopped by to see what I was offering!

Haven’t seen my families of Geese or Loons for a few weeks now… come to think of it I haven’t seen the Geese since hunting season. I miss my hunting days when I used to disappear after work or for entire weekends into the bush. Sometimes I’d hunt with the rifle or shotgun and sometimes just with the camera. I don’t even have a license anymore and it’s probably not worth the trouble of getting one again. A good “sakabaun” would be really great right now though and I can just see the fat dripping off the bird twirling on a string over the campfire. That’s it…. I’m hungry, guess I’ll settle for a peanut butter sandwich for now… sigh.