Northwoods Journal
Friday, May 24, 2013
Mark needs one of those bumper stickers – I Brake For Garage Sales. He’s hopelessly addicted. One of the reasons we started coming up on the Thursday before Memorial Day is because Friday is Garage Sale Day in the northwoods. There is sale after sale from Hillman to Lewiston. It’s such serious business that the Tribune even publishes a Garage Sale Map with numbered listings to tell you what types of items are for sale at each one.
So, no lazing about this morning, we had to be out the door by 8:45 to get to the county fairgrounds and the big rummage sale that is held twice a year for the Elk Country Animal Shelter. The day started out cold but clear. Mark is so singularly focused on finding bargains that we even took sandwiches with us so we could eat lunch on the road. By 3 o’clock the back of the FJ was jam-packed. I have no idea how we are getting all this stuff home! I was getting cranky and ready to just sit on the porch watching the birds. Six hours of garage sales was enough for me!
The back of the FJ filled with our garage sale finds.
A car full of treasures
Not really much time for relaxing though because we were going for a cookout with friends of ours and I had to make pasta salad and brownies. While I cooked, Mark worked a bit more on the new porch and got one set of steps made. We just had time to take the dogs for a quick walk up the road toward the power lines and up to the top of the hill (on the opposite side of the road from the boggy creek). We saw a yellow-bellied sap sucker and also a robin sitting her nest. The nest was built into the V of a little maple sapling close to the road. I had forgotten my camera in my rush out the door so after returning from our walk, I grabbed it and quickly walked back to snap a photo. Unfortunately, when I stepped close to get a shot without the sun glaring in my eyes the robin flew off. I could see her not far above my head and so tried to wait quietly for her to come back down but no such luck. Running out of time and being swarmed by mosquitoes, I took my leave, hoping to get a shot tomorrow.
We had a wonderful time with our friends and enjoyed sitting around the campfire visiting as the huge full moon rose. Mark said it is called a Milk Moon but no one knew why. It was just after 10 o’clock when we headed home and as we pulled into our drive, we saw headlights behind us. Our kids had arrived! Our daughter Katy, son-in-law Pete, our two “granddoggers” and our youngest son Nathan are up for the holiday weekend. It’s a wonderful treat for me because I don’t get my kids up here very often anymore. (Our oldest is married and lives in south-central Ohio. He hasn’t been up here in nearly ten years. It never really was his thing.)
The dogs were all wound up so it took a bit to get everyone settled down and ready for bed. I got out plenty of blankets for everyone as it’s supposed to dip into the 30’s tonight. It was nearly midnight before I closed my eyes to try and sleep, listening to the song of the spring peepers.
Ruby-throated hummingbird
Birds we saw today: chickadees, white-breasted nuthatch, lots of rose-breasted grosbeaks, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, ruby-throated hummingbird, yellow-bellied sapsucker, robin, blue jays. We also had a red ground squirrel driving Ruby crazy!
45 Degrees North 