Goose, Gander, Goslings

For quite some time, 
the goose was on the loose 
in the bay across the way.

The situation called for investigation.

"Well, what's going on here?"

As the kayak-borne investigator moved in for a gander,
the gander charged, squawking threateningly.
A few paddle-generated splashes slowed his approach.

Circling the kayak, he let his displeasure be known with a tongue-out stare,
the goose equivalent of certain human hand gestures.

After careful consideration, the gander realized
that the buffoon in the kayak was not much of a threat,
and adopted a policy of peaceful coexistence.

Photos of the nest were tolerated.

Look closely to see mama looking back.

Soon the photo session was over,
and the gander went back to sentry duty.

That night, a great cacophony rose up from the bay.  Unseen, there was a crescendo of goose and gander yowling and caterwauling until sudden silence.

The next day, there were no geese to be found.
The nest was empty.

It appeared that someone had enjoyed a raw omelette.

It could well have been this guy,
captured on a neighbor's security camera*.

Though he enjoyed the porch,
he didn't knock.

Although one family did not flourish, there are others.  There will be no shortage of new geese to grease our lawns.  

What do you call a group of resting goslings?

A fuzzy pile.

"Really, Mom?  We have to get up and go?"

And off they went.

On another fine family outing.

*Thanks to Roger A. for providing barely acceptable images.

Paddling the Shallows

After exploring the Stewarts Landing channel adjacent to our camp and connected lakes for the 5th time, a friend once said, "You know, I really enjoy paddling here, but it begins to become monotonous."

Even with admitted bias, I disagree.  Every voyage is one of discovery.  No two treks are quite the same.  And it's not just that the waterscape changes with the seasons as the cycle of plant life changes, and different migratory birds appear.  It's much more that with eyes open, one notices something new, every time.

This is particularly apparent in the shallows, where only human powered craft may go.

Swamp flowers are quite beautiful,
but easily overlooked.

Who is watching whom?

The fleet of female hooded mergansers don't care if it rains.
They are ducks, after all.
For humans, paddling under a poncho is quite peaceful.

Having no poncho, the loon shakes off the rain.
Unlikely.
Shaking off water seems unnecessary for one constantly diving.
Much more likely that he or she is just stretching.

On an unusually sunny day,
the loon's band of teal is evident,
along with streams of droplets
from the most recent dive.

The geese are forever leaving their calling cards.

Here is one calling-card-leaver
checking out the passing common merganser.
"What are you doing on Goose Turf?"

Striped shoots escape submergence.

The shallows provide one of the better
rock and mountain perspectives.

The distinctive male Red-winged Blackbird poses amidst the leatherleaf blossoms.
"Females, on the other hand, are drab, mutely colored creatures"
according to a Smithsonian.com article.

An unfair characterization, don't you think?

Eggs on a rock just under the surface.
There was no label attributing them to a particular critter,
but they could be nascent frogs.

No one would be so crude as to not put their detritus in the proper receptacle.
However, sometimes it blows off the deck accidentally.
Those visiting the shallows have ample opportunity to remove it for disposal,
or to add to one's personal collection.

Thus ensuring that the cattails
will be observed without inorganic distraction.

No Photos! (And good health)

A letter arrived, saying, “It’s time for your colonoscopy!”  The way it was worded, it seemed very much like, “It’s time to go to the amusement park!”  Even though it was unlikely any amusement would be directed my way, the appointment was made, and the prescription was issued.  Hey, occasionally one needs to endure aggravation for the sake of better health, right?

At the pharmacy, the $129 kit appeared on the counter.  “Huh?” I blurted. “The last time I had this done, it was about ten dollars of over the counter stuff.  Is this kit guaranteed to give me a healthy colon?”

“No sir.  Would you like the less expensive and marginally more painful option?”

“Well, how are you measuring painfulness?  One hundred dollars more painful?”

“I’ll get you the low cost option.”

Regardless of the cost of the prep, the drill was the same.  Don’t eat anything and stay within a 4 second run of the toilet.  Be at the hospital in the morning.

Of course, the procedure was great fun.  Routine check behind me, I forgot all about it.

Until six months later, when the Colonoscopy Bill arrived.  It provided pertinent facts.

Responsible Party - John R Fredlund

Patient ID# - 1234567    Excellus Member ID - VYU M911911911 (Because I’m old, I had the pleasure of changing to Medicare in April of 2018)

Statement Date - 7/10/2018    Due Date - 8/7/18

Payment Due $565.28

Aren’t routine procedures covered?  It was time for a phone call. Or two.  After hanging up dissatisfied, it became time to draft a letter to the hospital.

Dear Sirs,

Upon receiving this bill, I was unable to understand the charges.

Customer service (6-AUG-18) for both Rochester Regional Health and Excellus was contacted to try to determine the reason for the charges for a routine colonoscopy.  As the result of these calls, I learned that during the procedure, when I wasn’t paying full attention, and sometime after the good Doctor informed me that I had a nice young-looking anus, he determined that there were abnormalities that deserved further investigation.  Thus at this point, what I thought was to be a routine preventive colonoscopy changed to become a diagnostic procedure.

This may be somewhat plausible, though it minimizes the definition of "preventive."  It appears that the preventive procedure is free as long as it really doesn’t need to prevent anything.  Even so, it makes sense that the Doctor would augment the procedure without my knowledge to provide the best care possible.  To disagree would confirm the doctor’s previous observation on a less literal basis. That there might be additional charges due to the diagnostic augmentation is understood, if not fully embraced.

So a little over 6 months after the procedure, a bill is generated stating that payment is due in less than 30 days.  Surprise! Though the timing and subsequent deadline is not exactly equitable, this is not the subject of this communication.

What I wish to know is how the $565.28 figure was calculated.  By looking at the bill from Rochester Regional Health, it is impossible to tell, even with the 10 lines of itemization.  I am unable to make any combination of the numbers tally to $565.28.

Can you please let me know how this number was determined?  Neither the Rochester Regional Health support person or the Excellus support person was able to tell me.

The issue is not that the bill should be paid.  The issue is that determination of the amount is not transparent.  It is difficult to put pen to check for an amount that appears arbitrary.  Currently, I envision an employee with a tall conical cap and long robe waving a magic wand over his monitor to make a number rise from the bubbling pot beside him.

Can you provide figures that will dispel this image?

Thank you for your help.  I look forward to your reply.

John Fredlund

Weeks later, I received a call from the hospital.  Essentially, the voicemail said, “We have no idea how they came up with that number.  Call the Insurance company.”

As instructed, the call was placed and another conversation ensued which supported the notion that for this and probably many other colonoscopies, they had pulled the uncovered amount out of their asses.

But another call yielded slightly better results.  The new bill received, though still less than satisfactory, was much closer to answering my questions.  I even received an email with somewhat less cryptic line items.

After one more call with the intent of understanding the descriptions of more granular charges, I realized that further investigation would very likely result in little benefit and also much additional aggravation. So I paid the bill.

Why?  Because further combat with the healthcare industry was likely to negatively affect my health.

And yes, that was the actual letter, and thankfully, the tests were negative.

The Great Memorial

In Normandie, as the French spell it, there are many memorials to those who fought and died in the Allied invasion during June and July of 1944.  One of these is the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, on a bluff above what English speakers call the English Channel.  

It seems appropriate that the largest seaborne invasion in history would take place in the area of France conquered by earlier seafaring invaders.  But the scale was quite different.

The remains of almost 10,000 souls are interred here, resting under rows of monuments installed with impeccable precision.  That the memorial is emotionally powerful is an understatement.

The names, rank, unit, and date of death of each are inscribed on the headstones.  The lives ended prematurely either on the beaches or nearby are predominantly short.  They gave up not only their lives, but future families, children, and grandchildren not even imagined.  

Michael Wess
PVT   325 GLI INF  82 ABN DIV
ILLINOIS   June 12, 1944

Sam Sandrowitz
PVT  120 INF  30 DIV  NY
June 15, 1944

And there are those unidentified.  Not granted even the small solace of recorded names, they lie there with all the others.

"Here lies in honored glory
a comrade in arms
known but to God."

But here, they are not forgotten.  They sacrificed so that a tyrant would not continue to impose his twisted will on France and all of Europe.

The inscription on the circular chapel in the center of the cemetery says, "These endured all and gave all that justice among nations might prevail and that mankind might enjoy freedom and inherit peace." Indeed.  But the fight continues, and will never end.

This place is both a memorial to the brave souls who died here in Normandie, 

and also to the insanity of War.

A Royal Pain

Available at fine retailers everywhere.

The most recent example of fawning over the British Royals is the reaction to the birth of a young lad.  It is all very nice that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex now have a presumably healthy baby boy. Any birth signifies new hope and is clearly worth celebrating.  However, having the world atwitter, and particularly Americans going gaga (not in a ladylike fashion) is disgusting.

A few hundred years ago, we Americans threw off the yoke of the blood-sucking Royal leeches that required our tribute.  In doing so, we established the operational fact that all men are created equal. We still struggle with application of the concept. Slavery is mostly behind us, but Pogo’s observation that “Some is more equal than others” remains true. However, we categorically denied the right, divine or otherwise, of Kings and Queens to rule us.  Not only that, the notion of equality dictates that we abolish the existence of royalty altogether.

Admittedly, the current status of the English Monarchs is royalty lite, but their existence is contingent upon funding from the state.  I’m sure their continued existence is a net positive, financially, for England, since they fuel an entire tourism industry for their properties and appearances, and also a huge speculation and conjecture business which follows their every move, but that’s not the point.  

Some insight into the British preoccupation with the Royals is provided by a chance meeting, many years ago, just prior to the State Opening of Parliament.  As usual for our brethren across the pond, a great deal of pomp was provided for the event. The Queen and much of her brood were being transported from Buckingham Palace to Parliament in fancy horse-drawn carriages.  On holiday (We vacation in the US. It’s “holiday” in England) with my own family, we blundered into the roadblock that allowed the procession to proceed, so stopped to watch.

As the gilded carriages clip-clopped past, I said to Mary, “Amazing what the accumulated tribute of hundreds of years will buy.”

My comment was overheard.  “Oh, no!” said the woman standing beside me. “They gave us everything.”

“Oh,” I replied.  Evidently, the Magna Carta and the like were just fake news.

This preoccupation with all things royal extends to us in the colonies...er ah..the United States.  It is amazing how much “news” coverage is provided to royal weddings, royal marriages, royal births, royal Halloween costumes, and so on.  

By buying into the hubbub, we Americans are buying into the notion of royalty.  “It’s OK,” we think. “It’s just the English doing their Royal thing. Fascinating to follow what they do.”

Ha!  Don’t you see it?  They’re just putting up the jolly front, waiting for the day when we the people are so fed up with representative democracy that we’ll beg them to re-establish the Ruling Monarchy.  And judging from current events, that day is not far off.

“Give us a King to lead us,” said the Elders of Israel.  “Give us a King to lead us,” cry those tired of Brexiting. “Give us a King to lead us,” demand those who lament the un-drained swamp.

But remember that he will claim all as his own.

“But anywhere has to be better than in this frying pan!”  

Pogo should have said that, too.

A Monarch worth supporting.

Another Loon Weekend in the Book

Yes, another burst of activity in the woods.  Good stuff got done.

Here the door is being nailed in place, never to open again.

Shelves in a closet!
Short ones on Gimp 1's side.

Taller on the other side.
Her Majesty approved.

Though all were quite worried he'd shoot his eye out,
No mishaps were reported,
though hearing loss was suspected.

Almost all the snow was gone.
Lefty missed the cameraman.

The lake was high.

And someone finally got the hat he's always wanted.

The effort was wrapped up with a fine bonfire,
first of the season.
While the spirit is still willing, 
the body has other ideas.
The fire was out and all were in bed by midnight!

And there were fabulous prizes.

FABULOUS PRIZES !!!