July 5, 2012

Well, I was right. Our friends (Glasgow/Wright, Helsings, Courtneys, Posiks and Harris) joined us on Sunday and we had a party. Brenda and Lonnie Jenkins joined us on Monday with their yellow Labrador, Dillon. Dillon and Dusty are best friends.

The river is calm enough for Dusty and Dillon to play in the water. They’ve been in several times chasing sticks. Dusty has been thoroughly exhausted. He’s not used to so much exercise.

Yesterday was the parade in DuBois. We sent our chairs down ahead of time so we could be assured of a spot, 14 of them. Lonnie drove them down in his truck with Jim Posik placing them on the shady side of the street in the shade of a tree. The main street through town was closed off about 1:00 for a 2:00 start time. Most of the businesses closed down, except, of course, the bars. Drinking was allowed on the street for the duration of the parade. It started with a single flag bearer and when he got to the end of the parade the parade halted for the Pledge of Allegiance, something I’ve never seen done at a parade. A soloist then sang the National Anthem. We could barely hear either, but we remained standing because everyone else was and the parade wasn’t moving. Just about ever service business had an entry…septic cleaner, cement mixer (spraying the crowd with water), backhoe on a trailer (swinging his arm around over the heads of children scurrying to gather up the candy that was being thrown-could never do that in CA). There was an outhouse being pulled along, Smokey the Bear, the Shriners, one group of horses (all beautiful Buckskins from a local ranch), EMS, and all the town’s fire engines. The firemen delighted in spraying everyone along the route with their hoses. Fortunately, they were at the end of the parade. Unfortunately, so were we and the parade stalled towards the end. The firemen kept spraying and we were all soaked. All except Bobbi Helsing who thought to bring an umbrella. There were also other assorted cars, wagons, groups participating.

Rob’s been fishing a couple of times in the river right in front of the coach, but hasn’t caught anything yet. Some kids in the park have done better.

Some of our group went to a local spot today with a guide. We’ll see if they did any better when they return.

Our bird count has increased. There is usually a hatch of insects in the morning and again in the afternoon. A flock of 20-30 Nighthawks entertained us along with the Red-Naped Sapsucker, Tree and Violet Green Swallows, Gray Catbirds, and even Robins soaring over the river snatching bugs out of the air.  Bobbi spotted a Nighthawk resting on a branch in the tree right in front of the Courtney’s coach. It looks just like part of the tree and was very hard to spot even with binoculars. The eagle has been back several times. It seems to have a favorite perch just on the other side of the river.