Windmill Fest 2015 (Or, my mother likes what?)
Despite everything that was going on last week, mom and I still made time for Windmill Fest. I needed the break, she needed the break, and the weather while we were there was overall pleasant, if overcast.
The only thing I really cared about was the pet parade, which if you recall got canceled last year. However, I wanted to run to the bank first, and mom wanted to look at the farmers market and didn't want to wait for me, so we took two cars. I'd let her know that the stairs from the library down to the street--it's on a hill, since the town's on a river--were torn up, so she opted to park across the river. I still parked there and discovered a sidewalk behind the library that functioned as a ramp and made it to the street sidewalk just fine. There is also construction at the adjacent strip mall, where they're finally building a new Walgreens. It's been something like a five-year ordeal. They've taken down the old building and there's a big hole there; I haven't been there to see it since the building came down. Otherwise my walk to the farmers market was uneventful.
I met up with mom soon after and we dropped off her purchases at her car, which was only a couple blocks from there. My mother goes to the farmers market and buys baked goods. Go figure. It was only a few minutes until the parade, so we crossed the pedestrian bridge and found seats under the tent. They haven't always had the tent; it was nice to have.
The parade wasn't as full as in past years, so I wonder if the year off affected things. I know some things were different--it took the emcee, who's been at this for as long as I can remember, a few animals to get back in the swing of things, and in the past they've done the 5K run the morning of the parade and used the leftover numbers for the parade contestants. They'd done the run on Friday this year and so nobody had numbers. I will say that the emcee got to pull out his favorite joke, what with the weather that canceled things last year--you know, it was raining cats and dogs, and he stepped in a poodle on the way. Groan. But it's not the pet parade until he makes that joke.
So, stupid bird, this would have been your year! The ONLY critters in the parade were dogs! She'd have been a shoo-in for Most Unusual Pet! Instead, a dog with a funny haircut won. I think it should have gone toward the dog that looked like it had the body of a lab and the legs of a corgi. There were some fun costumes but nothing really extraordinary. And, since there were about half as many contestants as normal, the whole thing didn't last that long; it was over by 11:00. It's scheduled until noon. Mom still left during the actual parade portion and checked out the craft stuff; she returned just in time for the judging results to be announced. She'd also looked around at the food booths to see what was available and noticed someone would be selling alligator on a stick. I'll try it if you do.
Just after 11, when the food booths were scheduled to open, we went to see if they were ready to serve alligator yet. No; they'd just turned the fryers on; give them a few minutes. I think we made the choice to go to mom's car to drop off something she'd gotten from the Tastefully Simple booth at the craft fair, since it was heavy--she'd gotten a bottle of syrup, a jar of preserves, and a mug in which you can make single-serving cakes. It's amazing my mother isn't more of a foodie; she just likes to eat. But when we came back, they still weren't ready. So I think it was then that we took a walk around the Riverwalk, which was under construction last year; we got to see what they'd done. They replaced all the actual wooden planks with plastic ones that resembled gray painted wood. It looks good. The two major changes were that they shortened an overlook into the pond--you could see the rocks that had been underneath the old part sticking out of the water--and they turned one part where the walkway splits into a sort of wide area where, I don't know, people could gather. This was right outside the gazebo jutting into the river. Otherwise it seemed pretty much the same, but it's nice that it's open again. (I don't remember the exact order of us walking around, just that we did do these two things at some point.)
Okay, third time's the charm. By this time one of the people recognized us and said it would be a few minutes. Mom was hungry enough that she also ordered a gyro and basically ate that while she waited. It still took probably 10 minutes, during which time we made sure we paid. However, when the alligator finally came out, and the guy who was plating it asked if we wanted fries, I'd said yes, but then the girl who'd taken the money told him we'd already paid, suggesting there was an extra cost. There were no prices around that I could see, by the way, and the sample plate on the front of the counter suggested it did come with fries. The lady who'd recognized, who (according to what I'd heard) was their mom, then said to go ahead and give us fries, likely because we'd had to wait so long. So, free fries, score. By then mom wasn't all that hungry so she only had one of the four pieces of gator, but with the breading it tasted a lot like chicken, of course! It had a slightly different texture, maybe a little tougher, but it wasn't bad. It reminded me of the chicken nuggets we get at the store.
When we finished, I had nothing else I really wanted to do. However, Bird is the Word is having a sidewalk sale...want to check it out? I knew they had birds there, since they breed them, and I sort of wanted to visit. Mom's always up for a sale so what the heck. I was surprised to see that what was out for the sale wasn't just bird stuff; there were random, like, clothes there. Strange. But I really just wanted to see the birds, and mom had never been in there. She seemed to like it, and soon after we discovered a sad little cockatiel by itself in a cage away from the others. A note with her said she was nervous and not to bother her, but she didn't seem especially jumpy with us. The area to the side with all the birds was open and we could just walk in, but in past visits I think they've been kind of closed off a little. Oh, so many birds. There were a few sun conures that were so young that all one did, when he saw/sensed you were near, was open its mouth for food. Sorry, I have nothing for you. I did find my way to the cockatiels pretty quickly, plus a large parakeet that didn't look like the traditional parakeets I've seen. One of the cockatiels was pretty chirpy, but only seemed to chirp when I wasn't near it for a while there. They seemed to warm up to me over time, even the one--a lutino like Kirby--who apparently was a special case. Meanwhile, their cages were near two macaws, who were out and about, and at one point they got curious about us and one was pretty close to mom, but when we noticed it was there, it retreated. After a while this teenage boy who works there started talking with us and explaining things about the birds, and he ended up letting us into the baby room where there were a number of young cockatiels. One made me laugh because it was making a familiar kind of whiny scream. He said it was the hungry sound. I know it as cockatiel swearing. It was funny to hear that again.
After we left the baby room we saw these two funny little birds called caiques. I've always thought it was pronounced like "cake" but he told us it's "ky-eek." It turned out they were seven weeks old and had just passed out of their baby phase, where apparently they just screamed all the time. Fun! There was this stuffed animal in their pen and one of them climbed on it, but the animal tipped over on top of the bird. The bird didn't care! It just laid there. Oh, wow, my bird would NOT have gone for that. It turns out that caiques actually *like* being on their backs, and the boy demonstrated that by putting them both on their backs. One of them eventually moved away but the other stayed and got its tummy rubbed. Heh. He was like that for a good five minutes! How amusing. But eventually we moved on and left the building, and as we walked back to mom's car (I was dropping her off, then walking back to my own) she exclaimed, "I just love the little cocks!"
...You love the what now?
There was this older gentleman walking behind us; I wondered if he'd heard. Now, I'm thinking she means the little cockatiels we saw, which she did seem enamored of; a lot of them are these white and gray cockatiels which look striking, though nearly all of them were already bought but too young to go to their new owners. But I have never heard my mom refer to cockatiels as cocks. Then mom described what she meant, and it was the caiques. Ky-eek, mom. Not cock. ...Oh. Oops. But that was the funniest thing I'd heard in a long time, and especially since she didn't mean it as anything improper, that's what made it hilarious. I have made a point to share it with others, which she doesn't care for, but come on. It's a good story.
As we reached her car, we felt a drop, and it started sprinkling as I walked back to mine. At least it didn't rain until after I got home, though it did rain off and on for much of the afternoon. After the week I'd had, I think I ended up napping for an hour, but it was a nice break from everything and I'm glad we were able to go.
The only thing I really cared about was the pet parade, which if you recall got canceled last year. However, I wanted to run to the bank first, and mom wanted to look at the farmers market and didn't want to wait for me, so we took two cars. I'd let her know that the stairs from the library down to the street--it's on a hill, since the town's on a river--were torn up, so she opted to park across the river. I still parked there and discovered a sidewalk behind the library that functioned as a ramp and made it to the street sidewalk just fine. There is also construction at the adjacent strip mall, where they're finally building a new Walgreens. It's been something like a five-year ordeal. They've taken down the old building and there's a big hole there; I haven't been there to see it since the building came down. Otherwise my walk to the farmers market was uneventful.
I met up with mom soon after and we dropped off her purchases at her car, which was only a couple blocks from there. My mother goes to the farmers market and buys baked goods. Go figure. It was only a few minutes until the parade, so we crossed the pedestrian bridge and found seats under the tent. They haven't always had the tent; it was nice to have.
The parade wasn't as full as in past years, so I wonder if the year off affected things. I know some things were different--it took the emcee, who's been at this for as long as I can remember, a few animals to get back in the swing of things, and in the past they've done the 5K run the morning of the parade and used the leftover numbers for the parade contestants. They'd done the run on Friday this year and so nobody had numbers. I will say that the emcee got to pull out his favorite joke, what with the weather that canceled things last year--you know, it was raining cats and dogs, and he stepped in a poodle on the way. Groan. But it's not the pet parade until he makes that joke.
So, stupid bird, this would have been your year! The ONLY critters in the parade were dogs! She'd have been a shoo-in for Most Unusual Pet! Instead, a dog with a funny haircut won. I think it should have gone toward the dog that looked like it had the body of a lab and the legs of a corgi. There were some fun costumes but nothing really extraordinary. And, since there were about half as many contestants as normal, the whole thing didn't last that long; it was over by 11:00. It's scheduled until noon. Mom still left during the actual parade portion and checked out the craft stuff; she returned just in time for the judging results to be announced. She'd also looked around at the food booths to see what was available and noticed someone would be selling alligator on a stick. I'll try it if you do.
Just after 11, when the food booths were scheduled to open, we went to see if they were ready to serve alligator yet. No; they'd just turned the fryers on; give them a few minutes. I think we made the choice to go to mom's car to drop off something she'd gotten from the Tastefully Simple booth at the craft fair, since it was heavy--she'd gotten a bottle of syrup, a jar of preserves, and a mug in which you can make single-serving cakes. It's amazing my mother isn't more of a foodie; she just likes to eat. But when we came back, they still weren't ready. So I think it was then that we took a walk around the Riverwalk, which was under construction last year; we got to see what they'd done. They replaced all the actual wooden planks with plastic ones that resembled gray painted wood. It looks good. The two major changes were that they shortened an overlook into the pond--you could see the rocks that had been underneath the old part sticking out of the water--and they turned one part where the walkway splits into a sort of wide area where, I don't know, people could gather. This was right outside the gazebo jutting into the river. Otherwise it seemed pretty much the same, but it's nice that it's open again. (I don't remember the exact order of us walking around, just that we did do these two things at some point.)
Okay, third time's the charm. By this time one of the people recognized us and said it would be a few minutes. Mom was hungry enough that she also ordered a gyro and basically ate that while she waited. It still took probably 10 minutes, during which time we made sure we paid. However, when the alligator finally came out, and the guy who was plating it asked if we wanted fries, I'd said yes, but then the girl who'd taken the money told him we'd already paid, suggesting there was an extra cost. There were no prices around that I could see, by the way, and the sample plate on the front of the counter suggested it did come with fries. The lady who'd recognized, who (according to what I'd heard) was their mom, then said to go ahead and give us fries, likely because we'd had to wait so long. So, free fries, score. By then mom wasn't all that hungry so she only had one of the four pieces of gator, but with the breading it tasted a lot like chicken, of course! It had a slightly different texture, maybe a little tougher, but it wasn't bad. It reminded me of the chicken nuggets we get at the store.
When we finished, I had nothing else I really wanted to do. However, Bird is the Word is having a sidewalk sale...want to check it out? I knew they had birds there, since they breed them, and I sort of wanted to visit. Mom's always up for a sale so what the heck. I was surprised to see that what was out for the sale wasn't just bird stuff; there were random, like, clothes there. Strange. But I really just wanted to see the birds, and mom had never been in there. She seemed to like it, and soon after we discovered a sad little cockatiel by itself in a cage away from the others. A note with her said she was nervous and not to bother her, but she didn't seem especially jumpy with us. The area to the side with all the birds was open and we could just walk in, but in past visits I think they've been kind of closed off a little. Oh, so many birds. There were a few sun conures that were so young that all one did, when he saw/sensed you were near, was open its mouth for food. Sorry, I have nothing for you. I did find my way to the cockatiels pretty quickly, plus a large parakeet that didn't look like the traditional parakeets I've seen. One of the cockatiels was pretty chirpy, but only seemed to chirp when I wasn't near it for a while there. They seemed to warm up to me over time, even the one--a lutino like Kirby--who apparently was a special case. Meanwhile, their cages were near two macaws, who were out and about, and at one point they got curious about us and one was pretty close to mom, but when we noticed it was there, it retreated. After a while this teenage boy who works there started talking with us and explaining things about the birds, and he ended up letting us into the baby room where there were a number of young cockatiels. One made me laugh because it was making a familiar kind of whiny scream. He said it was the hungry sound. I know it as cockatiel swearing. It was funny to hear that again.
After we left the baby room we saw these two funny little birds called caiques. I've always thought it was pronounced like "cake" but he told us it's "ky-eek." It turned out they were seven weeks old and had just passed out of their baby phase, where apparently they just screamed all the time. Fun! There was this stuffed animal in their pen and one of them climbed on it, but the animal tipped over on top of the bird. The bird didn't care! It just laid there. Oh, wow, my bird would NOT have gone for that. It turns out that caiques actually *like* being on their backs, and the boy demonstrated that by putting them both on their backs. One of them eventually moved away but the other stayed and got its tummy rubbed. Heh. He was like that for a good five minutes! How amusing. But eventually we moved on and left the building, and as we walked back to mom's car (I was dropping her off, then walking back to my own) she exclaimed, "I just love the little cocks!"
...You love the what now?
There was this older gentleman walking behind us; I wondered if he'd heard. Now, I'm thinking she means the little cockatiels we saw, which she did seem enamored of; a lot of them are these white and gray cockatiels which look striking, though nearly all of them were already bought but too young to go to their new owners. But I have never heard my mom refer to cockatiels as cocks. Then mom described what she meant, and it was the caiques. Ky-eek, mom. Not cock. ...Oh. Oops. But that was the funniest thing I'd heard in a long time, and especially since she didn't mean it as anything improper, that's what made it hilarious. I have made a point to share it with others, which she doesn't care for, but come on. It's a good story.
As we reached her car, we felt a drop, and it started sprinkling as I walked back to mine. At least it didn't rain until after I got home, though it did rain off and on for much of the afternoon. After the week I'd had, I think I ended up napping for an hour, but it was a nice break from everything and I'm glad we were able to go.