Is this a large hawk, or a small eagle?

We see hawks more often around here, but you never know. This bird was a pretty good size.

The Canada geese are back, in huge flocks mixed with geese that are partially white.

Oh, and today when I stopped for the picture of this big fella in the treetop alongside the road, we heard frogs — lots and lots of frogs! I guess the rainy weather brought them out. The ditches being full of water, and all.

Yes, it rained today. You do not want to see the basement. But I'll show you anyway:

This was the sight that met my sore eyes when I got back from town after being gone for just over two hours. I had to vacuum for over an hour to get all the water up. Then I abandoned the job to come upstairs and make supper, and haven't been back down to the saltless ocean since.

At our local resort lake, people are being evacuated. Their cabins —year-round homes, for some—are swamped. A couple hours north of here, an entire community has been evacuated. So as I vacuum, and slosh through water, and vacuum some more, and curse a little, I remind myself that we have actually lost very few of our belongings, if any, and at least we are still in our own home.

In town I picked up a new submersible pump, since the one outside has been working sporadically (thus the water you see laying about on the cement), and then went to visit Grandma. Supper is served at 5 o'clock sharp, so at five or ten to, she heads down the hallway toward the dining room. She leaves us in the dust when it's mealtime, as well she should. It smelled damn good, whatever the kitchen was serving up tonight. That's Grandma on the right, and with her is Pearl, who lives in the room next door.

They've been good friends in our home town forever, and then they ended up side-by-side in the seniors' lodge here. Anyway, here you see Pearl stopping to check for her room key, which she worries that she's forgotten.

When Emil saw Pearl today, he exclaimed "That's a nice shirt you have on!" and Grandma said "Hmph! You didn't say that about mine!"

***

We've made the national news today:

FLOOD WATERS FORCING FISHING LAKE RESIDENTS OUT
Flood-threatened cottagers and campers at Fishing Lake near Wadena, Sask., have been told by the government to get out.
FULL STORY

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If you're wondering why you don't receive notifies like you used to, it's because -- well, don't make me explain, just sign up again: