I took Beatrice for a morning walk before the heat came up. As she ages, what used to be a half-an-hour 1 mile walk takes us forty-five minutes. Today we took a solid fifty minutes. The weather was pleasant and she was in fine fettle. But she liked to ensure that no sniff went unsniffed.
At 9 a.m. I took my bicycle on the Watters Branch Trail. I rode all the way to Allen Station Park and back. In the three hours I rode, I covered 18 miles, averaging a bit over only six miles an hour. I like that my bicycle affords me leisurely ways to cover ground while still being able to stop and look about.
I saw 21 species of birds. Here is my list:
Canada Goose 8
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 1
Mississippi Kite 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Killdeer 1
Mourning Dove 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Eastern Phoebe 3
Western Kingbird 1
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 3
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 3
Barn Swallow 8
Carolina Chickadee 1
Tufted Titmouse 2
Northern Mockingbird 14
European Starling 4
Northern Cardinal 5
Great-tailed Grackle 4
House Sparrow 1
I liked seeing the Mississippi Kite, which I always find to be a cool-looking customer in flight.
My wife and I went to Elke's Market for a good lunch together. We also stopped by Home Depot, where I got more shelled birdseed. I looked up in this weblog that the last package of wild birdseed lasted nearly two months. At a bit over ten dollars for a package, the cost for the seed seems more than reasonable in return for the joy I get from seeing Northern Cardinals, House Sparrows, Mourning and White-winged Doves and rarer visitors at the feeder.
I got some practical things done today--a bit of laundry and a fair bit of sorting some business matter paperwork. I was pleased to get those things done. I had taken a bit of video during my ride, so I used that video, some older video and a song I wrote in 2011 to create a music video:
My wife was not hungry for dinner as she had a huge lunch. I went myself for a quick dinner. Now we are watching an episode of Foyle's War, a series we like very well.
breakfast: erewhon cereal and skim milk
lunch: turkey sandwich and a fruit plate
dinner: two fried chicken breasts, corn on the cob and green beans with a roll.
(cross-posted to DW because life is silly)