Good news today

Quite a few of our National Wildlife Refuges support the Youth Conservation Corp.  That means every summer, high school students apply to spend about six weeks working on a refuge.  It can look good on their resumes if they plan to eventually work in the wildlife field.  Sometimes these kids work out well, and some times they don’t.  The two boys we had last summer weren’t exactly go getters.  This summer, the refuge started out with three teens; two boys and a girl.  One of the guys dropped out after about two weeks.  Tawny, the young woman, was a real worker.  Wyatt wasn’t as dedicated as she.

They finished up their stint on the refuge last Friday.  Wyatt turned out to be the only one interested in washing and waxing my rig, but he told me that he was afraid of heights.  I agreed to have his younger brother, Walker, help him out and do the roof.  They arrived today at noon to begin the chore.

This is the first time I’ve used teenagers to do this job.  I usually find a refuge intern that’s several years older.  I decided to skip mowing this afternoon so I could supervise things.  Walker turned out to be a real gem.  I’m sure glad I had him on top.  First I had them wash the whole rig with a bucket of water with Dawn in it and rinse it off with the hose.  Then everything got a second cleaning with The Solution.  At least until the next rain comes, the rig is shiny enough to see your reflection in it!  It looks brand new, and I think the boys were happy as clams to have earned $150 to split.  It was worth every penny to me.  Good news for sure.

I also got another call this morning from my youngest son, Andy.  He and the grandboys had been disappointed too that they wouldn’t be able to visit.  After thinking about it overnight, he asked if it would be all right to drive up tomorrow and stay for two nights before beginning his new job.  You know my answer!

So I’ll be adjusting my work schedule for their visit.  Made a mad dash to the store this morning to stock up on hotdogs and other things that young boys like to eat.  Little Ruby won’t be making the trip with them, but I’m thinking Joseph and Seth are going to be excited to catch some fish.

Now I’ll have some more youngsters to help me count the swans.  They seem to be coming back to the point on Flat Lake.

There were thirty some of them out there tonight when Emma and I made our drive by.  For you long time readers, it seems that Not So Flat Joey will be going with me to Flat Lake. 

And just maybe this doe will make another appearance as we drive along.  If good things like bad things come in threes, I wonder what the other good news will be…

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy