Birch catkins

 

The sticker on my car said it was time to change the oil.  I really like that the new cars and synthetic oils require it only every six months.  Making an on-line appointment at the dealership's service center I discovered (1) the dealership was under new management and (2) their appointment system didn't remember me nor my car.  I'd been driving 60 miles to the dealership for oil changes because they also rotated my tires, checked a bunch of other stuff, they had an awesome waiting area, I could check out the new (or since Covid, the pre-owned) cars they had on the showroom floor, and it's a pretty drive there.  Might be, however, a good a time to switch to my local auto mechanic.  I'm certainly OK using his business.  He is very good, really nice, and pretty cute.  I dropped off my car at 8 a.m. and he said he'd have it ready for me in about a 1/2 hour.  I walked around the corner and part way down the block to the cafe for breakfast.  Only three tables were occupied - a middle table had three local guys.  I settled into my usual spot, ordered, and started playing Words With Friends on my phone.  Could hear the guy's conversation clearly.  They were discussing national news.  My ideological view on the role of government may not be the same as their's but had to agree when they joked about students protesting at Columbia, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Cornell, and others.  No wonder so many students want to attend Ivy League schools: at my college we never had time to even consider protesting anything.   Their discussion turned to local stuff.  One guy had gotten up at 4 a.m. and driven to his favorite hunting spot.  He said he won't begin hunting until next week but wanted to see what activity there was.  Three deer came out of the woods together - meant they weren't ready to drop fawns yet.  Crows were being raucus in the trees which usually starts a turkey response but he hadn't heard anything.   Might hunt somewhere else.   Breakfast done I sauntered back to the mechanics.   He asked if my idiot light had ever come on reminding me to get the oil changed.  No it hadn't.  He said he'd played around w/ it but wasn't sure he got it going.  Didn't give it a second thought til I saw the reminder sticker he'd replaced on my windshield.   It had a date only three months out.  I'll watch the level and color of the oil to decide if I visit him again in July or October.