Dave and Maren gave us the game, Wingspan, which is both a birder’s dream game and was created in Saint Louis. So, it is a natural win-win for us. It is a complicated game, which over the past two years we’ve only played a few times. This summer though, both Anne and I have done some studying of the game (mainly Anne), and we are becoming more proficient at playing it. We still regularly come in third and fourth, but we are getting better. Yesterday, was my birthday. Maren made a blueberry crumb cake for us. In the neighboring Hiawatha National Forest there is an informational placard that describes the twin golds found near there during the depression, green gold and blue gold. In the national forest the green gold were the trees that could be harvested for lumber, but following that clear cutting, in the following two years, a bounty of blueberries could also be harvested, the so-called blue gold that was well represented with Maren’s cake. It was a beach day today, until it wasn’t. A few brief storms invaded us and then drove us inside. I made my chicken Pad Thai recipe for dinner, which I still have more difficulty saying than cooking. I routinely call it Tai Pai or even worse Tide Pods. Based upon consumption, it was a success, although it tasted a bit too salty for me. After dinner, we ducked down the road for ice cream cones at the local establishment that was once known as the Tee-Pee Cone. It has now adopted a much more politically appropriate name. The ice cream was grand, and I snatched a menu for a future Mark doesn’t have to cook night. It is just after midnight and Dan and Britt are expected to arrive within the hour, so I’ll sign off here, before I fall asleep.