Category: Birding

A Hot Day and a Little Birding Afternoon

Posted on by Markman

Here’s a picture from one of last year’s outings. I plan on going back to this location real soon!

It’s been a hot couple of days here, so I’ve been trying to stay inside as much as possible, which is harder than it sounds. I still have things I need to do on various days, which means I have to go out in the heat, but I try to stay in the shade as much as possible.

While I’ve been trying to avoid the heat, I have noticed a few interesting things. My neighbors have another robin that is using the nest that a previous robin used. In fact, that nest was originally built by mourning doves and used by them for three or four clutches of chicks. It’s really cool to see that nest get used over and over.

The web software I use to run this site just got an update and I’ve applied it so hopefully everything will be fine. Just an FYI.

A Wonderful Discovery of Birding

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I just got around to trying this app called Merlin which identifies birds just by listening to them singing and tweeting. This thing is pretty sick and works awesome! The Merlin app is free from Cornell. It will record and identify birds by their calls in a matter of seconds. In under a minute, it could identify 6 different birds from the backyard!.I really like using the Sound ID function, just sitting out back with it listening and seeing the different bird species pop up that it identified. It also seems to do a great job of ignoring any background noise. How did I not know about this sooner?? Download it!

Yard Work Sunday

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Yesterday we finally got the flowers in the beds and pots. I pulled out the grill and swapped out the tanks between the heater and the grill. Saturday was Porchfest over at Earth-1 and I didn’t go because I knew it would be crazy. In fact, the band Guster really made an impact. I don’t know who they are but I guess they’re pretty well known. This was literally on my street. Drives my mom crazy. Actually a lot of the residential homeowners hate the event because a lot of people aren’t respectful of their property.

The mama robin next door has been busy feeding her babies. It’s really amazing to watch.

I went ahead and removed the glass panes from the storm doors and installed the screens. A yearly tradition but Carson likes to be able to smell the smells outside when he sits on his perch by the front door.

Typical Tuesday in Springtime

Posted on by Markman

Yesterday was a busy day for me. In started off with me doing my weekly rounds around the town and having to deal with people. You need a somewhat tough skin for the job but also to keep being nice as the public face. I think I’ve found a pretty good balance of that.

Since it was so nice yesterday but supposed to rain the rest of the week I decided to tackle mowing the back yard, first time this year. The grass was starting to get a bit long back there. I ran out of gas for the mower halfway through so I had to take a quick jaunt to the station to refill up the can but after that I finished it up nicely.. As in years prior I did not mow this patch of wild buttercups that grow in the middle of the lawn as part of helping out the back yard ecology. I do mow that down after they’re finished blooming.

As evening neared, I prepared dinner: beef bolognaise with zucchini slices. I felt it turned out fairly well. We ended the evening by finishing all of the NYPD Blue episodes available on streaming, which totaled over 200. Admittedly, I did fall asleep during some of them throughout the course of the weeks we were viewing.

Carson has been “camping” in the sun room, refusing to go to bed. The last time he did this, baby bunnies were born in the flowerpot on the terrace. The fact that he’s starting to do this again has me wondering if Mommy Bunny is returning for another round. I went out there this morning to check the pot and see if anything had changed. I did observe that the hole was covered in thatch, and when I pushed it up, I noticed what appeared to be new fur lining, but it was otherwise empty, so I believe another round will be arriving soon.

Speaking of babies, a robin has been resting in the nest above the neighbor’s garage next door, where the morning doves had all of their offspring last year. I suppose she chose to use what they had previously constructed for her eggs. Smart little lady!

My mom is having her second cataract operation this morning, this time in her other eye. The first op was quite the success so after this one her eyesight should be pretty good. I’m going over there later this afternoon.

Chimney Restoration Day

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Chimney fix day! The guy came to fix the chimney this morning, which we found out he wanted to come last night so it was pretty sudden, but it would be good to get that out of the way. It’s the same little old Italian man that was used to do all the kitchen backsplash last year during the remodel. He’s very good. We get kind of nervous that this older guy is going to climb the ladder and do the work, but he did it with aplomb and has lots of experience. It’s pays to know good people!

He came with another old guy this time so they could work in tandem. They basically had to take down a bit from the top down to the roof line essentially and then recement the brickwork and build it back up. The final part was putting a cap on the top. Strangely it never seemed to have a cap or if it did it disappeared before we got here.

The whole impetus for getting this done in the first place is to stop the possibility of birds getting trapped in there and ending up getting trapped in the fireplace. It’s happened twice over the years, the last one being quite terrible and sad. Hopefully this will fix all of that and the bonus being we could actually start using the fireplace again, although someday might do an insert instead.

A Couple of Real Close Calls!

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Yesterday driving home a red tailed hawk swooped right down in front of my car as I was driving down the street. It stopped on the curb of the sidewalk and I stopped to look at it, as we both looked at each other for a couple of seconds. Then the hawk dug it’s beak into the grass and pulled out what appeared to be either a small field mouse or a vole or something. Then it just threw it neck back three times and swallowed it whole and alive. I’d never seen anything like that and so close to me to. It flew off right after before I had a chance to catch any snaps. We’ve also been hearing what appears to be an owl hooting at night nearby as we go to bed.

Last night while watching tv we heard a pop and then running water. I started freaking out, did the sink just decide to turn itself on full blast. I raced upstairs from where I heard the noise and into the bathroom. Water was covering the floor and a bit of spatter on the walls but I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. I quickly closed the valve on the floor to shut the water off and then I saw it. Apparently the connection from the wall to the tank somehow just blew. Thank God we were home to stop it, could you imagine if no one was here and it just kept running? It would have flooded the house and run down the stairs and everything. The plumber came today and fixed it though so we all good now, thankfully.

Oh, I’m Just Going to Hang Out for a Spell

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Woke up to see this creature just hanging out on the back patio this morning!

I’m really digging my new Samsung Smartwatch. It’s really cool how it integrates so seamlessly with the phone. I suppose it’s similar to what the Apple Watch does with the iPhone.

Been playing around with some more AI image generation tools. Here’s a cute thing of Carson I was playing around with.

Couldn’t Save the Bird in the Fireplace

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We heard sounds this afternoon of something flapping around in the fireplace. This had happened once before years ago and it was a crazy time with a bird flying through the house in a panic, smashing into windows and scaring the cat as I hit the floor as not to be divebombed. We tried calling various agencies but they were pretty much useless. By the time we decided how to go about trapping the bird, getting Carson squared away, and trying to figure out our plans it became too late. When I opened the grate to access the fireplace (which we don’t use and am pretty sure the flume is closed), I saw the little bird stuck underneath the metal thing that holds the logs. I scooped it out and it was breathing but it didn’t look good. We put it outside and I cleaned it off but the bird basically was a goner in a few minutes. At least I was there as it took it’s last breaths and I petted it’s little head (I was wearing gloves of course) so at least it didn’t die alone. We feel terrible but that’s the way of the world sometimes. I ended up burying it and saying a prayer.

Kitchen Cooking and Free Pizza

Posted on by Markman

I finally got to use the new kitchen and cook my first meal since it’s been over a month. Been trying to keep the countertops clear of things and everything nice and neat. Just did a simple shrimp and rice dish. I’ll be cooking up a ricotta stuffed meatloaf dish tonight. Get to break in some new kitchen pots and pans and baking sheets, etc. Hopefully I haven’t been making too much of a mess and horrifying LD – lol). I shot a new video of the finished kitchen but I’m not sure if I’ll just leave it in production for our personal use.

I did hit the center of town late this afternoon for the National Night Out, where you get to meet the local police and all. I ate two slices of pizza and got the see the newest recruit to the force, a puppy named Sally. I knew a lot of the officers there since I work along side them these days. Looked like a very nice time. (Confession: It’s true, I mostly went for the free pizza).

I noticed the mourning doves next door must have had their babies. I saw one hanging with it’s mother in the nest, although by this point it looks about half the size of the parent and is fully formed and all that. Coloring looks like the juveniles we saw before. I’m not sure if these birds use the same nest over and over but it appears that this couple does.

Currently reading: The Royal Art of Poison: Filthy Palaces, Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicine, and Murder Most Foul.

It’s a 7-11 Kind of Day

Posted on by Markman

It appears that those mourning doves that had babies a few weeks ago are reusing that nest again. Could it be that more babies are on the way? That would be pretty cool. Also, on the topic of birds, I’ve noticed quite an abundance of cardinals and blue jays this year.

This week, the backsplash for the kitchen renovation has finally started to go up on the walls. This appears to be absolutely fantastic and SICK looking! I bought the whitest grout they had available at the tile store, which would really make the blue stand out. It pops as it is right now. This will only improve it. It’s good to see that everything is finally coming to an end. Taking a little longer than projected and costing a little more than anticipated, but that’s only to be expected. The mason doing the work is a real character! A little cranky but generally a good guy and more importantly, he knows his stuff.

I moved my “office” out of the kitchen area where I was stationed starting during the pandemic. I have moved all my computers and stuff to another room upstairs finally. It was time.

Baby Mourning Dove Sighting!

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We saw this couple of baby mourning doves just chilling against the fence in the driveway as we were planting things this afternoon! Guess they are trying out their wings and trying to leave the nest! Although they don’t seem particularly afraid of me.

Just before this we had a nice afternoon at a BBQ hosted by LD’s old landlady and her husband, and we got to meet another nice couple there and chat. Also her granddaughter came by who I hadn’t seen in forever and the upstairs tenant was moving out. There was a lot of activity going on there!

Of Birds and Kitchen Remodeling

Posted on by Markman

I just happened to notice today a couple of mourning doves nesting over behind a basketball hoop in the neighbor’s driveway. I had never seen a mourning dove nest before, so watching this is actually pretty cool.

The kitchen remodel is moving along really quickly. Yesterday all the old cabinets and countertop and sink and so on were removed and today was some more of that along with getting some more of the flooring squared away and getting ready for the new bottom cabinets to be placed, etc.

For lunch today I decided to hit the local BK and try out that new promotion they’re having with a tie in to the Spiderman Spider verse movie. Essentially a whopper with a red and black bun. It was pretty much just a Whopper.

With a red bun.

I did like it. I just wanted to get in on the novelty.

Currently Reading: On to Book #26 of the year that I’ve read so far. Decided to take it back to the Victorian Era once again this time around. The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper. They were more than just names of victims, they were real people and they deserve to have their dignity. These women’s lives had value regardless of their circumstances in life and their life stories are worth being told.

Purple Skies for Sunset

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Been kind of busy over the last couple of days so updates here have been a little slim. Bit if you’re interested in what’s been happening here’s areal quick rundown. Hosting a BBQ over the weekend, getting plants from a farm for the containers and the gardening, getting some free flowers from a MD day promotion at Lowe’s, hanging out with my mom and sis on MD and watching the Celtics put the smack down on the Sixers in a Game 7 extravaganza!

We’ve been watching a Baltimore Oriole flying around here lately. We think it might have made a nest in a tree in the back yard, which I find pretty cool.

Currently Reading: Another one on the docket! Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues.

First of the Spring Things

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Things I finally got around to yesterday afternoon:

  • Planted the various tubers in the ground that I had stored in the basement over the winter
  • Moved the potted plants outside that had been living in the house over the winter
  • Got out my gravity chair and almost fell asleep in it for a few
  • Tilled the raised beds
  • Fired up the grill and did some dogs, chicken and steak tips (very meaty dinner you cold say)

Things I plan to get to this week

  • Replacing the glass panes in the doors with the screens
  • Probably some more cleaning out of the cabinets and the basement
  • mowing the lawn (even though it’s No Mow May I at least need to do the front)
  • mulch the beds and patio and other areas
  • get some birdseed for the feeder

Gametime: The Pigeon Post Principle – I found this game pretty fun!

Enjoying a Lazy Restful Sunday

Posted on by Markman
The last one to leave the nest. Uncertain about the future but must go on nonetheless and make its own path..

Spent yesterday up in Georgetown visiting some friends and making hats of all things in honor of the Kentucky Derby festivities. Today was all about yard work, at least a little. I finally got around the trimming back one of the rosebushes but mostly so I could get at some errant weed that became somewhat of a tree over the years. I finally hacked that down. I also tilled the raised beds and did a bunch of cleaning up of the various pots around that we’ll need to fill up with some new flowers and other plant life. I still need to plant the various tubers that I’ve stored and a bunch of other things but I think I’m just going to do a little fire pit tonight and get some relaxation in, I was so tired from the visit yesterday that I ended up sleeping for quite a long time, longer than I usually do. My body needs a chance to recuperate and get ready for the week.

There Goes the Sun This Weekend

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Osprey nest!
Sunset
Bunny eating phlox!
The “Map Chest!”

Not too much sun this weekend, there it goes down below the horizon. I’ve had this shot just laying around for a while, figured I might as well put it up. Also decided to put up this shot again that I took of an Osprey nest, just because it’s pretty cool.

Yesterday was a nice day though, took a trip out to Franklin to pick up a surprise. LD got me a solid wooden chest that is surrounded with an old map of the Earth motif, because of my map making heritage years. Now I just need to decide where to place it in the home and what to actually store in it. It’s not really a chest, although it looks like one, more like a cabinet on stands, rather interesting piece actually. Guess the folks who were getting rid of it are moving to Texas so the less stuff they have to bring with them, the more economically feasible. Their loss, our gain.

Before that though we took a quick trip to the kitchen cabinet place. Pretty cool how you can see a three dimensional rendering of what the update will look like. Looks like this is going to happen!

This morning we couldn’t help noticing one of the bunnies eating some of the phlox we have growing in a pot on the patio. Cute, but destructive little creatures.

Did you ever hear of your former coworkers passing away? Seems to be I’m starting to hear this a little more and more lately. Within in the three years now I’ve heard of two. Sad. They were great people too.

I need to stay up till after midnight tonight to get in on some Lowe’s deal and get my name in there for some free swag. Wish me luck.

There’s Spring in My Steps

Posted on by Markman

Saw all the birds outside this morning. Besides the usual robins and mourning doves, I also saw grackles for the first time this year. Mostly because I heard a crash at the front door. After looking out it appeared to be that one of them might have smashed into the door, but appeared to be alright and took off.

Had a good day today making the rounds, Today was a great day to be outside. Even got to talk with our Big Boss who happened to be out and about! He asked me how things were going, etc. Good dude. He said all the business owners were very pleased with our progress and to be honest, even I can see a big change since when we started. And so far it’s only been five weeks! Oh, and I also found a five dollar bill on the ground, so how often do you get a score like that?

In other news. I reconnected my Google Analytics to the site, so my counts and what not will be starting over – seeing what pages are the most popular, engagement, stuff like that – not that there’s a ton of it. I’ve been meaning to do it for months but I finally got around do it now. So there’s that.

Oh, and in today’s injury report which seems to a be a daily occurrence lately, I seem to have somewhat hyperextended my thumb. Like, wtf?

Currently reading: Have I Told You This Already? by Lauren Graham. Ah yes, one of my celeb crushes. It’s true.

AWD is back!

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Well, when I started up the car this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the AWD was back and working normally. I had googled about it yesterday and a bunch of folks said it can be caused by a bunch of things, but one thing you should try is checking the gas cap. So that’s what I did yesterday and the message still showed but this morning it was gone. I suppose it takes a little time for the sensors or whatever to “catch up.” Anyways, I’m pleased about this outcome. Let’s hope it stays this way! I also spent part of the afternoon filling up my tires using this portable USB air compressor I bought awhile ago. It works like a charm and saves me a trip to a air filling station.

Hanging out at the Yacht Club!
The framed photo that’s in the calendar.
A couple more pictures from the other day.

I also forgot to mention that we paid a visit to Like No Udder down in Providence RI on Friday night. We hadn’t gotten anything from there since the time of LD’s big party bash. It was delicious. It’s amazing the things they can make all vegan – you would not no the difference, they are that good. So just a plus for those guys. They are going on hiatus till February now so if you can, check them out in the spring.

Watched a beautiful flock of cardinals in the back yard frolicking around this morning. Makes me want to start photographing birds again. I’d never seen so many red birds all together all at once like that before.

Not sure why I’m all over this Amy Robach/TJ Holmes story. Maybe I should get a life? For some reason though I feel drawn to the drama. Now I heard they’ve been put on “hiatus.” I never actually watched their show, I’m just interested in all the media buzz about it, Also RIP to Kirstie Alley.

New Product Alert! For the Love of Sunsets has been added to the store! This one looks really great either as a framed print or a metal print.

Birthday Shenanigans in a Treehouse

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Nubble!
View of Piscataqua River
Hanging in the Gravity Chair
Visiting the Nubble Again
You know it!
Ladydoc is the Best!
Hanging in a treehouse
Another view of the treehouse
The treehouse as night approaches
Hanging in a tree
I’ll just be staying here for a while

Too many things to say about my birthday getaway right now. But the highlights were hanging in an Airbnb in Dover NH that had an actual treehouse overlooking the scenic Piscataqua River, watching baby robins being fed by their mother in another tree in the back yard, getting clean in the shower that had two showerheads almost opposite each other which was really cool, grabbing burgers at the BRGR Bar in downtown Portsmouth, getting some shots over at the Nubble, hanging out and swimming at Long Sands beach, eating clams at Bob’s, and getting a gravity chair that I wanted and a book about Rumi that I also wanted to read! It was really hot outside but it is Leo Season as they say! Naturally I must thank LD for making my birthday amazing and every day, as always!

I’ll need to expand upon this at a later date, but all in all, totally amazing!

“Beach, Please!”

Posted on by Markman
Skaket Sunset

Went down to the Chatham Fish Pier tonight and was greeted to quite a show as a bunch of seals including a harbor seal swam around on their backs and made us feel lucky to see them. I’ll upload a pic of them in a few days as they were captured on my DSLR and I cannot easily upload them to the site until I get back. Got some dinner in Orleans and caught a sunset at Skaket. Saw some cool whale art installation in Chatham center as well where you could also bid on the artwork. We also got to see a large heron fly over our heads which was really cool.

Whale for Sale
Sun going down
At the Pier

I Just Saved a Squirrel from the Baby Hawk

Posted on by Markman
This guy needs to eat but not on my watch! Sorry, pal!

Just what the title of this post says. I just happened to glance out the window and I see the baby hawk on the fence post out back, wings outstretched and looking rather interested at something. When I went to see what he was tracking a saw a squirrel scrambling up the fence only a foot or two away. I grabbed my camera and went out there and this distracted the bird long enough for the squirrel to hop into a nearby tree. The hawk itself meanwhile seemed to notice me and was wondering if I was a threat to it or not perhaps. As I got closer, he finally decided to fly off to the next street over. The squirrel safe, for now anyway.

Focused!
Inquisitive?

The basement is for all intents and purposes, finished! And it looks amazing. Moved things around too so that there’s more room and it flows better. For example, all the games are in their own “room” so to speak, and on the other side is the couch, chair, fireplace etc. providing a comforting space to relax. I had to do a little bit of maintenance on the Ms. Pac but it’s working like a dream. That and the jukebox are probably the best things we ever got off folks, back when we used to do those sorts of things. I then went ahead and cleaned out the firepit since we burned stuff the other day. I was going to mow the lawn but I think I’ll do tomorrow since I need to get some gas for the mower and I just wasn’t feeling it today after doing all that basement moving work. I do water all the plants every night though unless it’s raining. Like to keep them all healthy and lush.

Birding Along with a Blue Heron

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Blue Heron looking for breakfast.

Here’s one of the better photos I feel I took of that Heron yesterday. There’s also some shots of a swan family that I need to process. I do love birdwatching you know, another one of my hobbies that I started getting into a couple of years back. Of course my favorite bird of all time is the Puffin and I’ve had the pleasure of photographing them a few times. In fact, on the subject of puffins, I just learned that a new baby to a couple of them was born just the other day which you can actually catch here on YouTube.

It was kind of too hot outside today to do much of anything so I was pretty much a loaf today, although I did process some billing tasks and grilled a bit as evening rolled around.

War on Women, Flex, Zookeeping and Puffins

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As mentioned before, I finally got my hands on a USB stick and used it to get Google OS Flex on that old Windows 8 laptop, essentially turning it into a Chromebook and I have to say I am very impressed. On Windows 8 that old Dell laptop ran like a dog and had awful Windows 8 on it. It screams now and is very lightweight. Since it is a Chromebook it’s very reliant on being connected to the internet to do things, but that’s okay with me. I’d recommend if you have any old laptops around to go ahead and install this – it really does breathe new life into old machines. If you want to learn more on how to do just search on YouTube, there’s tons of people showing how it’s done, it’s actually really easy.

As for the Roe overturn that happened today, it’s definitely a huge step backward. I’m not surprised it happened, we’re living in pretty f**ked up times. Where do things go from here?

For some levity here’s an arcade game that I used to love and pumped many quarters to back in the 80s. Someone went ahead and programmed a version of it for the web. Great job – just as tricky as I remembered. It’s a classic called Zookeeper.

And finally for some more levity, check out the Puffin cams! My favorite bird. Depending on when you’re watching this you might see the parents in their burrow taking care of the baby!

A Good Memorial Day Weekend All Wrapped Up

Posted on by Markman
Memorial Day

We used the day to get a bunch of work done, while also having a little down time to relax. I awoke this morning and using an awl made another hole in my belt. Am I losing any weight? It doesn’t seem so, yet the belt was getting too loose. Now I’m cinching better. We looked out the window this morning and was able to catch a mama robin feeding her baby. The baby actually didn’t look all that young to me but it was cute how it followed her around hopping. When she would find something they would run towards eachother and she would stick the morsel right down it’s gullet, it squawking at her all the while. Eventually she flew off and left it to squawk by itself for a while. Then I lost sight of them until late afternoon when I saw the baby still scrounging around in the back yard. Actually I saw a lot of different baby bird species in the yard this morning, learning their life routine. Never really ever happened like that before. Strange.

After that it was time for a quick run to Home Depot. LD wanted to get a few more herbs to put into a herb box, things that give off a scent to naturally repel bugs from the back deck where we like to sit at times. They’ll end up going near our mosquito plants on the deck. Ended up getting two basils, a rosemary, and two squash plants which I transplanted into one of the raised boxes. The herbs I transplanted into a new tiny box with extra potting soil after I had drilled some drainage holes in it’s bottom. We also got some plumber’s tape because I’m trying to address the back hose which seems to be leaking at the spout. I’m planning on watering the garden a little later tonight and adding some Miracle-Gro to the water. We also noticed the dog rose bushes have finally bloomed. We might actually end up getting rid of that, we never planted it there (thanks Ms. Creesy … NOT!) and it’s so large now but dealing with it is tough because it’s very thorny. I also finally got around to patching up the screen door to the front of the house which I had punctured a bit last summer moving some furniture inside the house.

A couple of quick showers by each of us and then it was on to the next task at hand. Cleaning out one of the upstairs closets, which had been on the to-do list for a while. Now everything in there is neat and nicely organized, and we were able to discard or give away a bunch of stuff that had been sitting there for a while doing nothing taking up space.

While I was doing a load of laundry we had left over juicy burgers on pretzel buns that I grilled the other day for lunch, and ate them on the back deck, enjoying the sunshine. Tonight I’m going to make a turkey meatball soup and prepare two ears of corn using the Instant Pot. Both I’ve made before and are very easy to cook up. And also, Go Celtics!

So a pretty full day, and there was some rest areas in between. Finally I’d like to just take a moment to recognize all the brave men and women who gave and continue to give their all so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we have and I’ll end with a quote by Lee Greenwood; “And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.”  Thank you Veterans.