Return to Millbrook Marsh / LGK and Tuxie!

It was a day with a few surprises in it. Good ones! My husband and I had agreed we'd go out to a late lunch at Hoss's for the soup and salad bar. I am a big fan of their chicken noodle soup; I don't know of any better at any local restaurant. So we got ourselves together and went into town and did that.

As we were leaving, my husband asked, Did I want to go to Ocean State for that Labor Day sale? Well, yes, I did. I had seen the ad and bathing suits were on sale 30% off; the sale continued through this coming Wednesday. So we agreed to head over to Benner Pike to check it out.

But on the way there, we were on Park Ave., and he asked, "Does this road to the right go down to College Ave.?" It was the road to Millbrook Marsh. "Yes, it does," I replied; "It goes straight down to Millbrook Marsh. You go to the T-stop sign and turn right; that goes right over to College Ave." He asked if I'd like to stop at the marsh for a short walk, while he went and ran another errand. WOULD I!!????

Millbrook Marsh is one of my all-time favorite places in town but I had not been there in several years. It is a tiny patch of wildness tucked right in the middle of everything. It is conveniently located about 5 minutes from the Outreach Building where I used to work; if I had a half-hour to spare in my work day, I'd run over to the marsh to see what was happening. 

So he dropped me off there and I spent about a half-hour at the marsh! It was the first time I'd been back in a while, and what a delight it was to be there. The wooden boardwalk is still closed over the spring run, and they've been doing some work to bolster the stream bank. They've also put in some gorgeous restrooms near the parking lot, a far cry from that old blue porta-potty tucked down behind the barn!

I walked as fast and as far as I could, just like I used to, back in the old days when I worked full-time, trying to fit everything good into the tiny in-between spaces in my life. It was good practice, though! I walked most of the boardwalk and took a bunch of fun photos. Above is a shot of the water. Isn't it just lovely there?

And then he met me at the end of the boardwalk and we got in the car and went over to Ocean State, where I did indeed find two bathing suits I liked, for the very nice price of just $7 each. Oh, and the last time we were there, we returned an expired bag of nuts we'd bought; they apologized, told us they'd check if they could give us a gift card for our disappointment, but we'd never heard back.

The assistant manager was there, and he checked, and there was no official word, but he said, unofficially, he could give us $5 off our purchases. As we checked out, he showed up at the cash register. "Give them $5 off one of those bathing suits!" he said. 

And so it was that I got a $42 teal Tempt Me suit and a $30 black Cupshe suit for the low, low price of (7 x 2) minus 5!!! Yep, that's $9!!! What a sweet deal! The black one has lace, and looks like something a 1950s movie starlet would wear; I must wear it soon!

I also found a pair of Muk Luk sandals for my husband, selling for $5, marked down to $3.50. So he got a good deal too, plus a bunch of neat snacks, which is the sort of thing we always buy there.

We went home and unloaded our purchases, and LGK the neighbor kitty showed up in the evening. But he was not alone. There was a little black and white, skinny tuxedo cat who was sort of hanging around with LGK. The tuxie has a collar so it belongs to somebody; I don't know who. I'm not sure the two kitties are friends yet, but it looks like they are working on it. (Photo in the extras.)

LGK was on the porch with us, and the little tuxie wanted up on the porch in the worst possible way. They sat and stared at each other in several locations. If Tuxie got a little too close, LGK would sort of hoss his girth up and throw it at the other kitty. 

There was some trash talk, I'll admit it, but it was kept to a minimum. As my husband and I went back inside to start our evening entertainments, the little tuxie was already on the porch; BOTH cats were. My husband had set up some towels on two of the front porch chairs, one for each kitty. I do hope they will become friends!

We've got two photos and I've got two soundtrack songs. For my return to the marsh, I have to say that it felt like coming home! So here are REO Speedwagon, with Find Your Own Way Home. And for my second photo, of the two kitties standing their ground, I've got War, with Why Can't We Be Friends?

Below are links to a few of my favorite Millbrook Marsh-related postings:
Millbrook After Five Inches of Fresh Snow (2/27/15)
Green Woods and Waters, Into Which I Tumbled (5/31/17)
Millbrook Selfie: A Very Silly Girl (3/23/17)
Golden Morning Light, Millbrook Marsh (3/11/15)
Millbrook: Frost Mist Rising in the Morning Sun (1/30/14)
Pictures (Including One of Mine!) at an Exhibition (7/9/14)
Millbrook Marsh, Dressed in Winter White (1/22/20)