It was an "odd critter" day

...among other things

After getting Brian's car to the mechanic (once again), I hustled Karl to a different sort of meeting with his new staff support person.

His newest CLS affiliate thought it would be a neat idea to wander the campus of MSU and to see what life is like for a college student away from home. I am not certain his interest was piqued as much as we both hoped, but it was a good comparison for him to take note of. The expectations of large "full time" college life versus his own current arrangement. It's making for a good way to begin conversations regarding college classes and future planning - something Karl does not/can not let himself be lead into.

While I know Karl was bummed by the fact he was away from his beloved computer for the day, he did seem to enjoy some of the day - more than I think he would ever readily admit to. For instance:

Friendly MSU squirrel



He did actually take time to look at some of the exhibit pieces and make appropriate comments in the on-campus museum (which I never knew existed...very cool), and he took an interest in the botanical garden as well. Without prompting, he read several of the descriptive tags and looked at several of the plants on his own, away from Barb and me.

When we stopped to watch the Freshmen marching band practice on the field, though, he reverted to an old behavior which I thought was long gone.

He certainly got the idea that there was a lot of walking involved at MSU.

Thank you for the neat tour, Barb!

Today, Brian will get his car back and be on the road once again. His maintenance costs are hopefully where they should be for his cars' age and condition. If he continues to keep an eye on everything, he will have the car well after it's paid off. Please, God, let this be so, for his sake.

Discovered early in the day yesterday that the smell I thought (feared) was a decomposing mouse in a wall, was actually a dead bird in the flowerbed out front. Very sad. Juxtapose that with the sight of a lovely American Goldfinch in the back bed, feeding on the seed heads of my fading Echinacea and flitting about between two of the hydrangeas. 

Hobbes having a catnip craving



Because of the screen and the angle of the sun, the photos are poor quality, but still, I get a smile when I think that the flowerbed is doing "business" with the bird population, as I hoped it would. (Sorry, photo would not stop juming around the page as I placed it - so it is not here.)

Anyway, it's time to step away from the keyboard for a little while and enjoy more of the weather and get a little laundry done. More later.



This last photo is apropos of nothing, other than it was funny.