Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Sparty!



Well, what can I say? I must be getting older as I bought a budgie, also known as a parakeet, 3 months ago. I waited to post as I wasn't sure how he would adapt. So of course I am jinxing it now. A month or so after the painful decision to give back Sage, I was still in need of some sort of pet. I actually did what I considered extensive research for about a month. Of course, you hear good and bad tales to everything. After much reading, and some hesitation, I decided to get one. I was skeptical for a week after the purchase, but then my skepticism quickly faded. He is actually very fun and entertaining to watch. Obviously, it is not like cuddling with a dog, but more interactive than an aquarium. Plus, much, much easier to clean and maintain then an aquarium. I have tried the aquarium route several times since living in Billings, and fish are hard to keep and tank cleaning can be cumbersome.

I named him Sparty, which is the Michigan State Spartan mascot, because of his green chest and front, and dark green back tail. The end of his tail is a dark blue. The sex of the bird is determined by the color of its cere, just above the beak and the age of the bird is determined by the number of stripes on its head.

Anyway, I have become a bitter 40 yr old that stays home and talks to his bird. He actually was mimicking me a month or so ago. He has several toys that are rotated every week or so to keep him occupied. He even now eats out of my hand and sits on my finger or shoulder at times. He loves looking at himself in the mirror and playing with those beads. But what male doesn't like to look at himself in the mirror! haha And his sounds are very cool to hear, and anytime I want to make sure he keeps quiet, I cover the cage. So far so good! I will have more pics soon.

2nd Year Survivor Anniversary/Stillwater Float

Saturday, June 23rd was my first day floating the Stillwater this summer. To make a long story short, it was awesome! I was hesitant to go on a Saturday as I try to avoid the rivers on the weekends. But with the float season expected to be short due to low water, I had to take advantage of the day off. Plus, it was suppose to be 99 degrees and the flow was about 2300cfs
which is about the fastest flow I have floated it.

But, since it was my 2nd year survivor anniversary, I wanted to get the heck out of the house. My friend and I got up to the put in point about 8am and launched about 830am. The water was "gin" clear. As it turned out, it was one of my best days on the Stillwater in 8 summers! I netted 12 nice trout, all about 14-16 inches and my friend got about the same amount. PLUS, we were the only ones on the river the whole day. I later found out their was a caddis hatch on the Upper Yellowstone River and that is where most of the fisherman went. Also, the lower Stillwater was off-color so that may have turned fisherman away, not knowing to go further upstream.

It was as if God planned my whole day for me. The weather was not as hot as forecasted, (typical meteorologists), there were clouds which is good for fishing, hardly not a breeze (rare on the Stillwater), and no one else on the river, plus lots of action. What a way to celebrate my 2 year survivor mark!