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Saturdaze
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A hot summer Saturday and the day was simultaneously quiet and not quiet, if you know what I mean. There were no planned activities, but as the day progressed, things “happened”. People appeared, some with dogs in tow. When Fifinella and Maverick appeared, Butterfly decided it was as good a time as any for us to install the converter box to switch her TV from analog to digital.
You know what I’m talking about. You’ve heard those threatening commercials and read the advertisements: In February 2009, your regular old television set will NO LONGER WORK! Get your converter box NOW. Order your coupon from the government NOW!
Butterfly dutifully got her coupons and purchased her converter boxes some time ago. Now she just needed them installed. This took the 3 Stooges Team (me, Fifinella and Maverick) and then some. A ladder, we had to add a ladder to The Team. Plus we had to find AV cables that of course were not included in the boxes with the converters. As Fifinella and I were walking back down the hill to my house to search for said cables and ladder, she suddenly dropped to one knee by a flower and said, “I’ll catch up with you, I have to run back for my camera that I left on Grandma’s table!” This nut did not fall far from the tree. Here’s what she saw that had to be photographed right now!
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Why are you looking at me?
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I've had just about enough of you!
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Exit stage left. Or is this stage right?
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To be on the safe side, we only converted one TV, just to see how things worked. We ran through the reprogramming system and made Maverick climb to the top of the ladder to move the antenna around, searching for better reception.
Maverick would move the antenna while I held the ladder.
“Any better?” I would ask Fifinella, who was stationed inside the house at the top of the stairs.
“Grandma, is the signal any better?” she would yell down the stairs.
“38 … 40 … no, back to 30!” Butterfly would yell back, from where she was plopped on the couch, watching the meter on the screen that indicated the signal strength. We were trying to get to 70 or so, which would put us into the “green” zone.
Maverick would move the antenna once again and we would repeat the whole process.
It was all to no avail. Butterfly could not receive her beloved PBS station, and the stations she could receive faded away during the evening hours. It turned out that the next day we uninstalled the box and returned Butterfly’s TV to analog status. Since then, I’ve talked to several TV installers who have advised me to wait until closer to the end of the year and address the problem then. They told me that lots of people are having problems receiving strong signals and that more work needs to be done with the systems, so we should not be too eager to convert. Butterfly was only too happy to push the whole annoying problem aside. Unfortunately, she may be forced into going to satellite which she insists she does not want, and which is a (relatively) expensive alternative. Plus we’ve tried three (count ‘em, THREEE) times to have it installed in her house and every time they’ve arrived without the necessary equipment. Sigh.
But once again you’ve allowed me to digress. Why do you do that?
Maverick also had his camera so I knew that between the two of them (ok, three of us), there would be a lot of photography going on. As we headed for the pond, he was drawn to Butterfly’s sunflowers.
Their dogs, Romeo and Mayday, were thrilled at the prospect of going for a swim.
Mayday helped me wash off the dock. The dog is absolutely nuts about water of any kind.
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Happy dog, happy dog, I'm a happy dog!
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Wait! Romeo wants to play! He hardly ever gets to the stick first, unless Fifinella holds on to Mayday’s collar and gives him a head start. When they both have the stick, there is a lot of growling and snarling going on, but they both really love each other, deep down. Really, they do. As long as Mayday ends up with the stick.
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I'll put an end to this bickering over the stick!
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Wait! How did Lucky end up with the stick? Oh, that would be because Mayday has switched to her floating retrieving toy and abandoned the stick.
There were humans also enjoying the pond.
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If only she knew how to swim ...
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Romeo was plumb worn out after a day of fun in the sun.
His mom was not about to let him rest in peace.
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Can I go back to sleep now?
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Fifinella also chased down this orange dragonfly.
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Fifinella's favorite - a biplane!
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Half the fun is seeing what great shots you captured. It’s hard to imagine what “the good old days” were like, before digital cameras, when you had to send your film off to be developed. Then you had to either drive to the store or wait for the mailman to get your prints. Enough reminiscing.
I went chasing dragonflies myself.
The flowers that the dragonflies are lighting on are cannas. This particular kind loves to live in the water and has beautiful foliage with brilliant orange flowers.
Last but not least is my pet great blue heron.
This guy has not moved a muscle in about 15 years. That’s because I bought him out of a catalog and he’s made out of plastic. Did I fool you? I can’t tell you how many people have arrived at our house and told me, “I saw a great blue heron fishing at your pond! We stopped to watch him, but he never moved!”
Years ago some rambunctious teen-agers (I’m not going to name any names) knocked him over and broke his legs, so Butterfly repaired him with a piece of re-bar. I tried to photograph him so you couldn’t see his sorry-looking peg-leg. Poor Blue. I think, though, that all in all he’s aging rather gracefully.
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