Last night was the first time in over 3 weeks that I slept in a bed with no check-out time and I took advantage to catch-up on lost sleep. After watching the Giant’s beat the Dodgers and then posting my Blog, I hit the rack around 4:00 a.m. with ear plugs and emerged from my dark cave at 2:00. It was storming and I really enjoyed sitting in the kitchen chatting with my uncle Ernie and Aunt Louise, while watching the birds at the many feeders, the raging storm and freighter ships steaming down the St. Lawrence Seaway. Fortunately for me, it was a great day to rest, relax and enjoy telling and listening to lots of fantastic stories; unfortunately for you, it was a lousy day to go out and ride around taking pictures to post.
As I ate my bagel with delicious melted extra sharp Vermont cheddar cheese, we watched the birds and Uncle Erie identified each one by name, sex and whether they were adult or juvenile. We saw bright yellow eastern gold finches, chickadees, wood-peckers and numerous other birds, squirrels and chipmunks in and around his many feeders. Uncle Ernie’s bird feeders are squirrel-proof; one has a motor in it that causes the feeder to spin when a squirrel steps on it; another one closes the feed access ports on the squirrels. Once a squirrel is flung-off a spinning bird feeder, it quickly learns to scrounge for scraps on the ground.
For dinner we enjoyed wonderful grilled top sirloin steaks, baked potatoes, sweet corn on the cob, and a green salad. I was tempted to grill the steaks on the Weber, but the storm was unrelenting and I cooked them on their indoor Jenn-Air grill and they turned-out pretty good. After dinner we resumed telling numerous stories about friends and family. My favorite story was Uncle Ernie’s recount of a visit to the River by a distant relative who is somehow related by marriage to a Mob Boss that was murdered in NYC. This guy was a butcher in the Bronx and he had a customer who wanted a freshly butchered rabbit. A few days later, she came back and complained that the rabbit tasted awful. He promised to make-up for the transgression, so he went back into the meat locker and butchered the owner’s cat for her. Apparently, the woman came back and told the butcher that the second rabbit was the best one she ever ate. The owner of the store never knew what happened to his cat until the butcher came to visit him in retirement at his home in Italy.
Tomorrow we are planning to visit the Frederick Remington art museum at his historical home, which is filled with his realistic art that he made during the late 1800’s.
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