Visitors!

 

My neighbor has several bird cages outside and I thought they all contained pigeons. Yesterday, thanks to Offspring #2's very curious hound dog, I noticed one cage has ten bobwhite hens inside. Next time I see this neighbor I have to ask her about her birds.

Yesterday Offspring #2, her hound dog, and I explored downtown Duluth. We had brunch at Sara's Table at Chester Creek. We walked the short distance to the restaurant and had our meal on the patio where I had a good view of Lake Superior. I ordered something I never cook for myself which is pancakes. Buttermilk pancakes with almonds and maple syrup were delicious. I could only eat one of them and I ate the second one this morning for breakfast. She had a vegan BLT and we bought a loaf of their famous wild rice/cranberry bread to take home. After walking home and playing a great game of scrabble (which I won! This leaves me with a record of 12 losses and 1 win) we drove to the Rose Garden to smell the roses. We walked the Lakewalk toward Canal Park. The wind was blowing strong and magnificent waves were crashing on the shore and sending lake spray into our faces. The dog enjoyed meeting new people and hamming it up to get petted. She also enjoyed meeting and smelling all the other dogs. I got a little nervous when we approached a husky. Offspring #2's dog both loves and is scared of huskies so her reaction can be extreme. This husky was wearing a black muzzle and the owner used crutches. The black muzzle gave us pause. The owner wore a military hat so I guessed she might be a veteran. She saw us coming and sat on the short wall on the Lakewalk so her dog wouldn't pull her off her feet. She invited us to meet her dog and said her dog wears the muzzle to prevent overeating of food out in public. So the dogs met and all was fine. I guess I was nervous for no reason. We stopped at the beach to search for agates. The wind was so strong we could hardly hear each other talk. I didn't find any agates but Offspring #2 got 8 or so interesting rocks to take home. We saw no ships coming under the lift bridge today which is unusual but maybe the strong winds prevented people from going out. That evening, actually every Wednesday evening, there is a sail boat race but  I guess it was cancelled because we saw no sail boats today. In the distance, we could see people kite surfing near the 14th street beach so we vowed to drive over there before going home. We went down Superior Street for "Sidewalk Days." A band was playing and the streets were crowded with people. We saw a giant Stay Puffed Marshmallow Man. We were hungry so we walked to Canal Park Brewing. Unfortunately Canal Park Brewing is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We ended up eating at outside at Fitgers. I had the chili platter and she had a wild rice burger. The food was good. Aside from a winery in Door County, today marks the hounds first two visits to restaurant patios and I think she did very well. I have to lean my torso tight against the table so she can't get her nose into my plate but otherwise she displayed polite behavior. After a long day of walking out in the sun and the wind we were exhausted. We drove from the Rose Garden to the 14th street beach. We walked up the steps and over the dunes to the edge of the water. An elderly chihuahua was off leash and came up behind the dog to greet her. The hound dog didn't know the dog was coming and promptly smacked the tiny dog in the face with her tail knocking her back. We all had a laugh about that and the two dogs seemed to like each other. The kite surfers had had enough and were packing it in. We watched as people wearing wet suits and carrying kite surf boards walked through the sand to their cars. They looked tired. We had a fun day. Today we changed things up and hiked around the Hartley Nature Center. The Nature Center had some kids attending nature classes. Both classes were near the lake which has a dam. One of the classes had kids fishing off of a dock. The other class were listening to the instructor. We walked over the dam which has a metal grate covering the dam. I walked over the metal grate. Offspring #2 walked over the metal grate. Her dog has anxiety about walking over metal grates so Offspring #2 had to pick up her 50 pound dog and carry it over the metal grate which was about 12 feet long. We totally disrupted the nature classes. When I turned back I saw all the kids and both instructors had their eyes locked on the sight of a fox hound being carried over a metal grate.  I offered an explanation to the watching crowd. "The dog has anxiety!" I hope they understood. We walked along the lake into the tall pine forest and around the nature center. This nature center is a great place to wander around and bathe in the forest beauty. The dog is a hound and she loves to smell things. She smells rocks. She smells trees and will stare intently at a tree and we suspect she can smell that some animal climbed that tree and left a scent. She loves to smell inside culverts. She loves to smell under bridges. When she gets in hunting mode she is hard to walk with. Most times she can walk and smell but not when she is in hunting mode. I had a good time hosting company and showing off the beauty of my new town.