Quack

I was surprised to wake up later than usual this morning, and still feeling quite sleepy. Hmm....I procrastinated about actually typing that, avoiding 'I woke up and felt a little sleepy,' for obvious reasons.

Kevin is already down in Blaine, Washington State. For the most part it's I who keep him awake with my snoring, so I wondered whether maybe he keeps me awake with his, just that I'd never noticed before.

Yep, wondered for about five minutes before I realised that the temperature had been cool enough to close the window last night, so in fact I wasn't awakened by enthusiastic birdsong and even more enthusiastic neighbours going to work.

The birds at the Nature Park are all following some kind of curriculum just like their human counterparts. They have all sprogged, or chicked or some such and now they are teaching their little, or in some cases quite large offspring to do stuff.

Yesterday they all seemed to be learning to talk. The chickadees, the towhees, the robins, the juncos, they were all at it.
Today, it was flying, or in the case of the ducks, swimming.
The ducks were launching themselves into the pond behind their mum, the birds were fussing around on various branches until they could half fly, half plummet and then soar.

And what a day they all had for it. The rain poured so hard this morning, we were all waterlogged even before we ventured into the coyote tunnel, afterwards we might as well have all gone swimming with the ducks.
Tis on such a day that we discover jeans are not a good option. My cotton trews dried out quickly, Rob had to sit around in his drenched denim all day.

We had older kids in today, almost secondary age. There are days, and many of them, when I worry about teaching Canadians about Canada. Not today though.
'What animals might you expect to find in a pond here?'
'Alligators,'
'O....K....in a pond in Canada,'
'Oh.....crocodiles,'
'Hmmm, I'm thinking more.....mammals.......and in CANADA.....our national animal.......'
'Oh...OH! OH....um....I know....caymans!'
'Not so much, no....beavers?????Maybe???? Have you heard of them...ok good. Well, you might expect to find them, but we don't have any....BUT.....what's the animal that looks very like a beaver only smaller?'
Yep, I could still be waiting for the answer to that one.

I haven't watched any TV for two days, well except the French channels, and that doesn't really count. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. It's certainly strange.

Tomorrow I'll be going to attempt to cross the border after work.
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
Well, Monday's breakfast anyway.