WWII Vet

Joy and I went to the casino last Friday where I saw an old man playing the slots. He was small and thin with a hawk like nose, and was probably 85 or so. He wore a cap that said "WWII Veteran". I walked by thinking to myself that I should be thanking this man. I turned around and did just that. "Sir," I said, "I noticed your cap, and I just wanted to shake your hand and say Thank you". He looked a little confused at first but returned my handshake enthusiastically. I went and told Joy about him, and she went back and did the same.

Sand Hill Crane

Steve and I saw a Sand Hill Crane at our usual kayaking spot yesterday. I spotted him from afar and luckily had my binoculars. Sightings of this bird in our area are quite rare. He was quite majestic... 4 feet tall and powerful looking, with a red cap and long black bill. Under the red cap was a white patch around his eyes that blended into a greenish slate colored neck. The slate continued onto his body where it mingled with mottled patches of a soft rust color, and his tail turned downward at the end. His long thin legs were jet black. We watched him for quite a while, and he showed no fear of us. Eventually we worked our way nearer to him to see if we could invoke some sort of response. At about 50 feet, he became concerned, and lifted his head from feeding in the shallow stream to peer at us. He spread his wings and jumped, lifting his feet in the air in front of him, then started squawking at us. His call was very loud, and echoed off the surrounding trees. When we got back to Steve's, we checked the bird book, and quickly identified him. Unfortunately we had no camera with us, but I'm hoping we'll see him next week. Don't even ask me where we saw him.....