Labor Day weekend cookout

We must acknowledge the changing of the seasons, even before the weather confirms it.  I was taking one day at a time over Friday (by-passed the trainer session), then Saturday (by-passed the work-retiree reunion)... but woke Sunday morning clear headed at last!

So I put together the Greek salad (with a side trip to the grocery to get a new red onion because the one I bought last week turned out to have a "problem" when I cut it open).  And went to a late afternoon into the evening gather with the "flock" (birds), "pack" (dog), and family (humans).

Lacey's folks got there before I did for a change, and they kept Carl out in the back yard long enough for me to safely bring the salad in and get up the stairs before the usual enthusiastic canine greeting.  

Carl was ecstatically happy to have all the attention, of course.

The birds came out and we whistled back and forth through their cage bars.  Now, one must understand, that normally the birds under Lacey's and her folks' care have the run (or flight, as the case may be) of the house at least parts of the day.  But being as the doors were opening and closing and the canine was loose, we limited the conversation to birds in their cages, being hung in the kitchen or taken out onto the deck.  In the end, out on the deck, I got a call and response going with Scout or Kiwi (I honestly cannot tell the cockatiels apart).

Ollie, the lineated parrot, is younger and a bit more shy about voicing his songs.  He is besotted with Lacey's mom.

Carl had a grand old time barking at the squirrel that vexes him by eating the fruit on the trees in the yard.

Nobody went home hungry and there was plenty of conversation time. We got stories of childhood mischiefs (from the older generation as well as the younger) and how we scared ourselves into being wiser as we aged, and managed to survive things like night-time adventures on the high school field with flashlights, or bonfires in the woods.  We got imaginations and Google searches related to M&M's and their manufacture, as well as quirky opinions about sorting M&M's by color and the proper order of consumption.  In short, it was a light-hearted and happy family gather.

The M&M's conversation was started by a local craft beer that tastes like Skittles candy, by the way... a single can was split four ways for opinions about the brew.

The grillmaster experimented with a new burger mix, and also the classic Fairbury brand hot dogs, in "go big red".

After an appropriate digestion period, the "pup cups" came out.  Carl got a special one, of course, but we humans got ours... strawberry short cakes with both ice cream and whipped cream, and it was awesome.  Donna (Lacey's mom) had been assigned dessert, and she always does a great job.

To top off the evening, I drove home in the gathering dusk and felt wonderful because I could 👀see  the bicyclists riding on the path beside the road, and I was not blinded by oncoming headlights.

Anybody still waiting to get cataract surgery?  Like all my friends here, I am a definite fan!

Wishing a Happy Labor/Labour Day to all!

Life is good.  Spark on!