“This is not even close to being ready!”
“Did they know we were coming? They knew we were coming, right? Did you tell them that we were coming?”
“Oh my God. Seriously! Will you stop, please? We come every year. We don’t have to tell them.”
“Maybe they forgot. You could have reminded them.”
“Nobody needs to be reminded. Check-in time is just a ballpark figure, I suppose. It varies.”
“Ballpark? Yes, I would love to go to the ballpark and nibble at some peanut shells and hot dug buns. Let’s do that.”
“Ballpark, meaning just an estimate. It’s in the ballpark. You never heard that term before.”
“Oh, you and your terms. Just once I’d like to get through an entire migratory journey without you spewing out your similes and eponyms.”
“Oh pardon me for using expansive language. I didn’t realize it was so offensive to you. Anyway, it’s not ready. There’s still too much snow on the ground. What do you want to do? Go get lunch somewhere? Go to the ballpark and see a game? What?”
“Well, you know that there are two things I like to do in Duluth. One is go mess with the seagulls down at Canal Park. You know, poop on their food, fly by and peck at their eyes. Stuff like that.”
“Well they are obnoxious and I love doing that too, but how about something a little quieter? What’s the other thing you like?”
“I like to go to the Ballpark and get sunflower seeds.”
“The baseball season ain’t started yet. Remember? That’s why our room ain’t ready yet.”
“You mean the season hasn’t started yet and that the room isn’t ready. You tend to alternate between your treasured expansive language and intentionally bad grammar.”
“OK, whatever. How about we just go downtown and make fun of the pigeons. Have you seen how their heads move when they walk?”
“Dearest, I agree that both the gulls and the pigeons are rather hideous creatures and not at all comparable to us. However, they are both members of our avian species, so please keep that in mind. We must all stand together.”
“You mean fly together.”
“Can you please stop correcting me every time I speak?”
“See what happens when some obstacle comes up and gets in our way? We start arguing. If the place was ready, we wouldn’t be bickering like this.”
“Well then, it seems to me that we need to keep in mind what we learned at the seminar down south this winter. Do you remember?”
“You mean the part about the breathing? Concentrating on our rear air sacs?”
“Yes, that and also being aware of the things that one can and can not control. Spring is late this year and we need to accept that, not fight it.”
“It will give us more time in Duluth.”
“More time to mock the pigeons and gulls.”
“More time to eat bugs.”
“More time to watch the sunrise over the lake.”
“Oh brother. So hopelessly romantic.”
THE MOSSY BOG 