Tuesday With Troy

Weather was really nice today, and Troy came over in the dune buggy. Ahead of his arrival I did a little backyard birding, and added a new species (Osprey!) to my yard list. Also spotted a couple of high-flying Anhingas, a White-eyed Vireo, and my first Yellow-billed Cuckoo of the season.

Michelle got off work early so she could go to the movies with us. It was not a day for chick flicks - our original plan was to see two horror films back-to-back, but in the end we decided to forego the remake of The Hills Have Eyes in favor of Slither, an above average sci-fi comedy about alien slugs that turn their victims into zombies.

Troy's mechanical apptitude is much higher than mine, and he's been very generous in offering us assistance with home repairs and improvements. Today he helped put together a swing that has been sitting unassembled in our garage since last spring. He also fixed the brakes on my riding mower, and made adjustments so it would cut the grass more evenly (last summer the mower blade and its housing got jacked up when I plowed into a tree root, and it hasn't worked right since then). I recently mowed our backyard for the first time since the hurricane, and when Michelle saw how the mower had gouged our lawn she said it looked like I was trying to create crop circles.

Troy and I share an appreciation for rockabilly music, and as I sit here I'm listening to Rockabilly Showdown, a compilation album that Troy downloaded to my computer today. It's a pretty good collection of songs, although I don't recognize any of the bands - all new talent. Speaking of rockabilly, later this month we look forward to seeing Southern Culture on the Skids perform at the Continental Club in Houston. Michelle and I are also planning a trip to California in June.

Yet another sign of spring - the bats have returned.