Frogs and Bridges

This time of year, a clear sunny day at about 45 degrees is all one can ask for. In the "heat" of the afternoon, I went to Le Parc de Comeau to search out those large birds that have been often lately the subject of blog photos. They also can be the source of a pretty good pate (there is no accent ague(?) in this font). There were gaggles of them taking up space on the golf course and littering the fairways behind them. Apparently, when we thought up golf courses we designed the perfect dining area for Canada geese. I didn't go close enough to photograph them today, but I walked aound about ten of the holes on the course and they've been everywhere. I wonder what the strategy is to rid the course of their curse.

It was the latter part of the afternoon and the wind was calm. The lighting gets pretty interesting this time of day, too, There is a reflecting pool in front of the Conservatory that I've photographed many times before, but the late afternoon lighting made this frog pretty attractive. [I think that Santini has a collection of frogs that has one like this guy. Or is that toads? No matter]. This will be my primary photo of the day.


There is a lot of road and sidewalk work going on at the park this week. They have removed most of Kaufman Road and changed it into a parking area. They have also put in a lot of tarmac bike paths and concrete walkways. I'm not sure what the city fathers have against green areas and semi-solitude, but they have laid down about a million dollars worth of new pathways. Since I pay taxes in this fair city, and because I suspect that the full cost of these "improvements" are tax payer funded, I am ready to accept everyone's gratitude. However. I just received my estimate of next year's property tax bill, and it has gone up 9% for next year, actually a smaller increase than the last few years. I did not get a 9% raise in pay this year. It almost makes me want to vote Republican next time an election occurs.

Another photo from today. I like old bridges. This one is likely much older than the 35W bridge that fell into the Mississippi on August 1. It looks pretty steady. And of course it wouldn't take 497 million dollars to replace. With all the talk of bridge replacements and lack of maintenance of current bridges, I'm less and less confident of our current state government's competence. I think I'll be forced to vote for a Democrat next time election fever breaks out.


News from the Mixed doubles nationals in Las Vegas. Jerry's 7.0 team lost their first two matches, both scores were the same: two matches to one. In each case, the sole victory for the team was gained by Jerry and Becky. Becky is one of the hardcore girls from Thursday night dubbs. Good going, guys. They remain undefeated in 7.0 matches for the year. They have one more match tomorrow, but won't move on to the take-out part of the competition.