Being a city-dweller my entire life, I wasn’t prepared for the sheer scale and variety of wildlife out here on what I, jokingly, call the edge of civilization. It seems that every square centimeter of this place is alive.
When we moved in last November I had no idea of how different life would become. Being away from the buzz of the city can feel a little isolating but, during the warmer months especially, the abundance of animals more than makes up for the lack of human companionship.
I found this little guy on our deck the other day. Mind you, our deck is ten feet off the ground and there’s no stairs to it. My best guess is he must’ve escaped from the beak of a bird. Thankfully, I was able to scoop him up in a cup and re-home him down by one of the ponds on the property.
The migratory birds have started their long journey south to warmer and more hospitable places. I snapped a photo of this blue heron during my walk on the nature trail yesterday.
Autumn is coming for us quickly now and I’m never ready for it. Summer in Minnesota is just a mere blink here and winter—an eternity.
I attempted my third spatchcock chicken on the Ninja Woodfire Grill. This is my first grill with an integrated thermometer so it took me a while to just trust it instead of fussing over whether it was fully cooked or not. This was some of the best chicken I’ve had in my life. It was seasoned with Old Bay, garlic, black pepper, and cayenne. The juices literally bursted from it when I cut into it. I’d say this grill was probably the best purchase we made this summer.
My brother, Curt, is flying in later next week for a very short, whirlwind visit. He’s never ridden in a Tesla before so I plan on subscribing to Full-Self Driving for a month ($100 per month/$3.33 per day) so he can have the full experience. Shenanigans, I’m sure, will ensue as they typically do any time two Waltons get together.
With any luck the V14 version of FSD will drop before my one month subscription is up in September. This newer version of the autonomous driving software is supposed to be a huge upgrade from V13, I’ve heard it drives so well it feels sentient. I can’t wait.
All for now. Thanks for reading.
