CB's Zone...Blog's of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness Teaching Special Needs Kids :)

On our way to CVS this morning, Blue and I ran into the annual Fox and Hound parade in Wayne, Illinois. Wayne's finest, meaning 1 of 5 police officers in town directed all traffic to the left shoulder. I was pleased to take more photos. The parade was around 10:00 am. The weather was partly sunny, in favor of the parade and subsequent festivities. Right now, it's overcast and drizzling a little. I'm hoping to blog more, as the school year is now underway and past the real crazy beginning of the year (in special education)

We returned yesterday from a 9 day vacation to the Saugatuck/Douglas area in SW Michigan. Stayed at a women's resort for the first 6 days, then decided to stay on 3 more days closer to town and Oval Beach. On good weather days, this area is Heaven Even I did some shopping for myself Oval Beach is rated one of the best beaches in America and now I know why. It is clean, good parking, and during high tide, the waves are excellent for body surfing. You can also find some nice stones and small rocks on the shore. We had a blast Played cribbage with our coffee each morning and planned the day from there. We will definitely return again soon. It's less than 200 miles from the house and I used only a half tank of gas one way. Oh and we also went bowling and where I lack skills in cribbage, I made up in bowling for now.

Late in June of this year, my Step Mother, Lois Burton passed away from a long illness. You see, my Dad (Dean Burton) had been married to her over 30 years, give or take a few Debbie, her daughter invited my Dad, my brother Jeff and myself to a memorial party, if you will this past Saturday, the 12th. The picture you see is of a bag piper and Debbie. Lois was all Scottish and loved her heritage. The piper was awesome, and it was very emotional. Debbie and Dave made all of us feel welcome I have not seen Debbie or her family for almost 20 year, so in a way, this was a family reunion. We ate and left Matthews to go to "Bun's" bar down the road. What a great place We were in no shape to drive back to Chicago as planned, so Debbie and Dave invited us to stay at their home, and what a place They have a sheep dog named Murphy, and several cats, one of whom is 18 years old. We got up earlyish and headed back to Chicago area around 9:00am. I cannot remember the last time I had so much fun and I paid for it all day Sunday Pat and I leave for a 5 day mini-vacation to Saugatuck, Michigan tommorrow, so there is a ton to do. So for now, I'll say and hope to get up North again real soon.

Am I confusing you? This photo is Mark, The Bag Piper and Debbie

This morning at around 8:00 am, I was awakened by an unusual sound. Since we live in the country, strange sounds are common, but this one, I could not identify and it seemed rather close And OMG, I did not think about taking a photo,and posting it here I walk quietly toward the screened in porch, where in the summer, the parrots have big perches and lots of goodies to eat. My partner in crime bought the birds a food thing that is shaped like a rectangle and hangs down for them to play and eat. Ok, so I arrive at the porch (birds are still asleep in the living room btw.) Here, in plain view is a squirrel up on the screen in spread eagle position as if it were stopped on a DUI and was being searched (still mad I didn't take a photo) Apparently, squirrels can smell particular bird food and may do anything to get at it I awoke Pat, in a dead sleep and said, "you have got to see this". She gets up and witnesses the squirrel, dogs get up, bark and away "Rocky" jumped off the screen and ran up a tree Crazy start of the day, and then the Cubs get spanked by the White Sox at Sox home field

for now