Philbert here...I've been really busy and haven't written much lately. See, I have a new job as the front desk manager of the Mingo Manor Travel Bug Hotel and Mega Resort. My buddy Bob T. Fish is the bellman. It can be complicated!

Yesterday the cache had it's 100th find. They took a travel bug on into Michigan. They came an hour out of their way just to see me and the cache...I feel so honored!!

This is them..,.

Aren't the great!!

Back to work..and more to come!

Philbert

Floyd's Secret Mission

Philbert here...

My humans have FINALLY  decided to try to locate the missing member of our flock. The following is the story of Percy and Floyd. I thought you all would like to be in on the secret. This information is also found on geocaching.com if you would like to know more. Keep in mind this is all TOP SECRET!

Hello, you have intercepted our secret impostor flamingo “Floyd”.  Floyd is a member of the FBI (Fenominal Bird Investigators – birds that can't spell, just investigate).  He is on a secret mission to discover what happened to Percy de Mingo, a dearly loved member of DNRSeekers flock of feathered and not so feathered flamingos.  Percy was trying to get home after a tragic “separation” accident in Colorado back in 2012.  As a result of his accident he was headed back to meet up with his flock at cache GC543V7 (Mary's Mingo Manor Travel Bug Hotel).  All was going well on his trip for quite a while. Hew was checking in regularly.  He had nearly made it home when as suddenly as he had become separated from his flock he went MISSING!   Repeated attempts were made to contact Percy but all met with no success.  Cachers who had met Percy along his journey were interviewed.  All to no avail though.  Percy remains MIA.

The big birds at the FBI decided a new approach was needed to find Percy de Mingo and get him home.  A plan was hatched that involved sending an impostor dressed as Percy to retrace his steps/flaps on the journey to Mingo Manor from Colorado.  The personnel files were preened, I mean combed, for just the right bird to fill the bill.  In the end Floyd Flamingo was chosen.  Floyd is a bird of few words.  He rarely speaks at all actually.  None the less he is a real sleuth (not sloth) in the field of bird recovery.  He will be wearing a disguise that looks nearly identical to Percy de Mingo himself.  Our impostor Floyd will even be wearing the same ID tag as that of Percy.  With this plan in motion we hope clues can be discovered as to Percy's whereabouts!

Our impostor must look and act exactly as Percy did so with this in mind we are unable to equip our impostor with a cell phone to keep us informed as to clues he may discover along his journey or even his whereabouts as he travels.  We are hoping you can help Floyd check in and relay clues and whereabouts during his mission.  Please move Floyd along towards Indiana unless he has gotten wind of clues concerning the whereabouts of Percy.  In that case please help him to get to wherever he needs to go to gather more information that could lead to the recovery of Percy. 

Floyd's mission will end when he is able to return to us and personally revel his findings of his espionage and adventure.  Our flock is anxiously awaiting this news so the sooner the better.  We are all gathered at GC543V7 (Mary's Mingo Manor Travel Bug Hotel). Please send Floyd on that way as soon as he is ready.   Do not revel Floyd’s secret mission to those not familiar with the intricacies of trackable movements and logging.   And  keep in mind he is not the real bird Percy de Mingo who looks and answers to the same tag.  He is just a secret agent bird trying to retrace Percy’s flight home and find the missing bird.

 I sure hope it works!!

This is the original Percy De'Mingo. This is the last known picture of him before his tragic accident.

Getting together with friends on the plane. Percy (left), Arnold Piggywinkle - (a seasoned travel bug with whom Percy became good friends. He is in the center with the big nose), and Philbert (right) get together on the seat back tray table and await the arrival of the infamous "bag of peanuts" on the flight out west with Diane (not pictured).

Floyd Flamingo Private Eye-Investigator Extraordinaire!

Floyd and some friends searching for Percy.

Floyd after another relentless day of searching.

Yes, exhaustion has over come him (or perhaps it was the pint of ale that his friend the moose shared with him? - "Flamingos can't handle their ale too whale" were his last words....)

Stay tuned--I'll keep you updated on Percy, Floyd and their humans.

The Missing Bird...

Sorry I've been M.I.A.  My humans bought a new nest and worked and worked and worked to get it phlock ready. It's really a pretty nice habitat. There's even a geocache on the premises…and another within flying distance. For you non-flying humans, you can canoe or kayak out to the second geocache.

Pretty nice, eh? Of course, the place looks much better now. It even has a name…are you ready for it? It is...

Isn't that the greatest? My humans love me so much they named their nest after me. And had a sign made up special and had it shipped from England. 

So when they aren't slaving away on the nest, the humans have done some traveling. I've gotten to see a lot of the United States…places like Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, MIssissippi, New Mexico, and Arizona, Utah, Colorado (I even got to sit on the Four Corners!) and Michigan. For a big trip, I even flew across the pond to Scotland!  I tried to get into Eilean Donan Castle, but the gate keeper wasn't too keen on my being there...

 So I've been having adventures, just not telling you all about them. I'll try to do better.

Yesterday the humans went on a geocaching expedition. They were in search of trackables. It seems they are difficult to find in Indiana as the humans don't know how to keep track of them. Tracking trackables? I guess it's on of those easier said than done things. But they sent one on it's way…

And do you notice the swag they sent along? Yup. A bendable me. 

Flying off to figure out how to hide more caches, set up more waymarks, and keep on traveling.

Philbert

Just some pics

As promised, here are some photos from our recent adventures...

Indiana has a town named Moscow! They have a covered bridge, lots of cats roaming around, and this lovely Christian church. A few years ago a tornado came through and really wreaked havoc...it still looks like a war zone just outside of town. But the bridge has been rebuilt and is ready for business!

This is Thing 2. He is a trackable that came from a trackable hotel in Florida with a goal of seeing as many places as possible. We dropped him off at a nearby cache.

He might have grown up in Dayton, Ohio, but Wilbur Wright was born in Indiana. A great museum and memorial is in east Central Indiana.

We like finding small post offices. They are a travel directory of where we have been. Here I am outside the Carthage, Indiana post office.

And this one is outside the Yoder, Indiana post office.

And then there are the bridges...

Cousin Philberto on a Steek...

 in Rush County

(under cover...do you think anyone will know it is me?)

Peering over the edge...this was one shaky bridge!

 We've been having fun...and with summer and warm weather coming, more is to come! The Phlock and I will see you later.

Philbert

 

Lessons Learned While Geocaching

I have to admit I have been hiding out. Ever since those humans of mine dropped me face first in the snow, I've been afraid of the cold. Winter seems to have gone on and on and on. But I am cautiously optimistic, and feel that perhaps spring is finally here in Indiana.

To catch you up on what my humans have been doing, I must say they have been neglecting me somewhat. Diane has been tending her mother and had to say goodbye to her forever. That was hard on all of us, but we know we shall see her again. And then those humans started hunting for a new nest. They seem to want to find a place with water around it...and of course, we the Philbert Phlock of Phlamingos would like this very much. Not just a flood zone, but an actual lake or something similar.

But in the midst of all of this, we set out to do some waymarking and geocaching. I'd like to share some thoughts and lessons I have personally learned watching my humans do these crazy activities.

1.  Geocaching can take you to some really neat places that can be waymarked! For example, we found some covered bridges that we would never have located if we had not heard there was a geocache nearby.

2.  Things are not always what they seem. Even ordinary objects may be hiding a secret.

3.  Forget lesson number two. Sometimes things are exactly as they seem and you have over thought the obvious.

4.  Humans should not drink large amount of diet soft drinks before going out to geocache.

5.  Learn from the experience of others. They will often leave clues if you know how to look for them.

6.  Noah had the right idea. Going two by two into the world of caching is not a bad idea.

7.  Small things can have big payoffs.

8.  Large things can also have big payoffs.

9.  Keep a walking stick nearby.

10. It is important to have fun and remember that caching and waymarking are just hobbies.

Catch ya later with some pics!

Philbert

Just a quick update

GREAT NEWS! FANTASTIC NEWS! According to the humans, my dear friend and (former) phlock member Percy de'Mingo has recently been spotted winging his way back to Emerald Springs! He was lost with the D of dnrseekers was geocaching in some place called Colorado. Geocachers have responded to the call, and he is now northeastern Iowa--not too far from some other place called Illinois. Spring is coming--maybe the cachers will be out soon and Percy will make it home.

In some not so good news...D has been sidelined by something called caregiving duties. I'm not completely sure what this means, other than she is is not able to go waymarking or geocaching as much as the phlock would like. She started a blog of her own at www.confesesionsofabasketcase.blogspot.com.   Maybe that will explain it better.

More to come as the weather improves and the phlock is back to phrolicking!

Philbert

Humans and Flight

Hi friends...Philbert here in the land of the frozen tundra. Last we talked, I was heading "southwest" to Florida, which was so confusing. There is more confusion. Did you know humans don't really fly? If a bird flies, we flap our wings and propel ourselves through the air. Sometimes we catch a wind current and soar. But humans? They go to a place called an "airport".  The airport is an interesting place. There are places to shop, get food, pick up some light reading materials, and even get shoes shined. There are items of "local interest"...like in Indianapolis, there was a race car. They stand in lines...I even had to be x-rayed after standing in a line. Then they get in a big tube, sit down, and then this "airplane" thing goes into the air. A couple hours later, the process is reversed, the big tube goes back down to the ground, and off we go.




Once we got back on the ground, it was so nice and warm! I was able to fan out my feathers and relax a bit. I saw my cousin a Harry the Heron from a distance, but wasn't able to catch up to him. Maybe another time.

Our biggest adventure was going to the Land of the Mouse. We started in a place that had a lot to do with movies. There was talk of a mouse, but this didn't seem to be the biggest deal. My humans found old friends...they had some funny names. They weren't human either. They saw Kermit, Miss Piggy Gonzo and Fozzy Bear. That Miss Piggy character was hanging out in a fountain...but she sure made the humans laugh! Uncle Philbert took time to pose by the fountain.

Yup--that's Miss Piggy in the background. They were so excited by her! They even had to go watch a movie that she was in.

Because my humans really don't know how to fly, they took a train to go to this place where a mouse is in charge. A mouse! A four legged mammal! I don't get it. But there were lots and lots of people there interested in that dang thing. I may even have to grow ears. That's the only thing it has that I don't, as far as I can tell. Although there was one critter with disturbingly big ears...but Baby Philbert became a good friend.

There was a lot of talk about "Disney"...and Baby Philbert posed in front of Mr. Disney and the mouse...lots of people were calling him Mickey.

I'm a Tropical Bird! Really!

The problem with living with humans who waymark in Indiana, is the weather. It gets COLD in Indiana in the winter. Now some of you who have visited this fine state in 2012 might find this difficult to believe. It was a freakishly warm winter last year. But now it's January, 2013, and it is COLD!

Now this wouldn't be so bad if I could hibernate in my nest. Or in my travel bag. But no. Those intrepid waymarkers, Rick and Diane, tore out of their warm home yesterday to do some exploring. The entire phlock had to go along because the bag got thrown into the back seat. I took the lead and warned all my phlock to keep quiet--perhaps they wouldn't remember we were there.

This plan appeared to work. They explored Henry County--just to the east of where they live. They found abandoned cemeteries and places where old pictures had been taken. They found places of which they had read where long ago people lived and died. Rick was in and out of the car, taking pictures in the same location and same view. To think that trains called "Interurbans" actually ran between towns!

The light was fading. It started to snow. Rick and Diane stopped for human fortifications and I thought the phlock and I were safe. But then it almost happened. Rick had one more place he wanted to compare an old photograph to a current place. (You see, there is this waymarking category of Photos Then and Now. Pretty self explanatory.) It had an address--based on the grid system. Easy to find. So off we went. To be fair to Rick, it was on the way home. To give you an idea of what this is like, here is the "then" photo.

And here is the "now" photo. With snow flying...

Do you see me in this photo? No. I am not in this photo. I am snug in the backseat of the car, safely hidden in my traveling bag. So off we went again, heading for home where there is a fireplace. I was so excited. We were going to make it! We were going to stay warm and tropical.

But through the snow and in the dusk, Diane spots an Indiana Historical Sign. Out of her mouth comes the words "That's already a waymark!" I was done for. Posing on signs is my specialty, especially since the wire surgery. Diane pulls over, Rick selects me from the bag as I knew he would, and out into the biting cold we went. I am a dedicated bird, but I was freezing. Rick placed me on top of the sign, but he didn't secure the wire. Down I went. Face first. Into the snow. Rick plucks me out and puts me back on the sign.
At least he moved quickly. Picture taken, off we went.

So here I am...

This one shot logged the dnrseekers team three visits. This sign has to do with nine Indians being massacred. White people actually were tried and convicted and hung for the crime. Pretty sad piece of history!

Well, Rick and Diane assure me I home going to the tropics next week. They say we are flying down..by flying Southwest. Clearly Florida is South EAST! I sure hope we actually make it. Humans flying? Should I be afraid? This could be one messed up trip. I've seen how they drive. I can only imagine how they fly.  Regardless, this bird has snow on his feet and its time for the feel of sand between my toes.

Florida here I come!

Philbert

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

My humans have been celebrating the holidays and have been staying pretty close to home. So for the New Year, I thought I would share with you their profile as listed on waymarking.com. It kind of explains how I came to be....

Why play Where's Waldo Waymarker when you have pink flamingos to fill the world? Doesn't make sense to you??? Well read on...

Rick and Diane enjoy exploring and finding the odd and unusual. Both of us are somewhat camera shy, so we've allowed Philbert to adopt us and stand in to verify we were actually at all the places we say we were. Philbert is a "phlamingo"...actually, an entire "phlock" of "phlamingos" available for photo opportunities of all sorts. You will find him either obviously, or not so obviously in most of our visits and many of our own waymarks. It all depends on the setting as to which Philbert has his photo taken. It's great fun and he has turned out to be a inspiration for us to keep waymarking. We have turned it into a game to find new ways and poses to slip him into our photos. 

The only down side to all this frolic is our friends (the few we have left...) seriously question our sanity. With our ever handy bag full of pink flamingos ready to be pulled out at moments notice the raised eyebrows seem to grow exponentially. None the less while most think our capacities have flown the coop we think we have only begun to tap the potential of this most admirable pink avian creature. They are undoubtedly destined to replace those silly white geese and their outfits adorning everyone's front lawns if given half a chance. 

Yes, given the direction our country is headed its only a matter of time before everyone is able to realize the American dream of owning their very own pink plastic flamingo and joy of placing it in the front yard as a symbol of their undying patriotism. It is with abundant gratitude that through waymarking we, dnrseekers, are able to introduce this amazing pink bird to noteworthy sites throughout the world and share the love! (It's hard to believe some people don't take this waymarking thing seriously isn't it???)


My resolution for the new year is to look as phabulous as I possible can and to not fall off of signs when I am put there. I would say it is to blog more regularly, but I have to rely on either Rick or Diane for that. 

Happy New Year!

Philbert--the newest phlock members and me...the uncle

Look Who Came to Visit!

It's Christmas time! Ah, the chill of the 50 degree weather, the rain falling gently on the pavement...WAIT! This is Indiana! It's supposed to be cold and snowy. Oh well, I'm sure it's coming.

With all the Christmas lights and activities going on, my humans haven't been out way marking or geocaching much. They've been busy decking the halls.

To ring in the season, Diane and Rick have welcomed Santa Mingo and his Rein Mingos led by Rudolph the Red Nosed Rein Mingo to their home. If you want to come by and honk, I'll wave a feather to you. And they will leave the glow of electric sex from the leg lamp in the upstairs window on for you.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Philbert

Bibliophiles Unite!

I'll be you never suspected that I, Philbert, Pink Phlamingo Extraordinaire, Leader of the Phlamingo Phlock, is also an avid reader. I get this from the D half of the dnrseekers, who loves to read. To be fair, the R is a library lover, but he is not as into the reading as D and I are.

So. In the course of our geocaching and waymarking, we found "Bookcrossing Zones". A book crossing is a place where people have dropped off their previously read tomes so that someone else can pick it up, take it home, read it, and then pass it along. It's not exactly hopping with popularity. But it's still a fun way to go.

Bookcrossing has its own vocabulary. Placing a book isn't called "laying a book", which is what I would have called it. Placing a book is called "releasing it into the wild". Finding a book is called "catching" a book. I've had to get used to this vocabulary. As a bird, being released into the wild conjures up thoughts of NO MORE FREE MEALS! Getting caught is eerily reminiscent of a bird cage and BECOMING SOMEONE ELSE'S FREE MEAL! But Diane and Rick have assured me that this is not the case.

It is fun for me to release a book into the wild...or "lay a book" as I would have called it. Just today we dropped one off at a local sporting goods store...someone had left one there before. So we logged it as a waymark visit since someone else said it was a waymark, and logged it on the Bookcrossingzone.com website. It will be interesting to see if anyone picks it up and logs it in as found.

I've never known anyone to release an ebook into the wild. Wouldn't that be great? Instead of one book, it would be TONS of books! But in the meantime, what a great way to recycle and show concern for the environment. Free books...free reading...life is certainly grand. OH! And just so you know, it's not unheard of for a geocacher to leave a book hidden in a geocache. There's a little extra incentive for you to go out hunting...

Since I don't have any photos of me actually "laying" a book, I thought I would show you some of the things I have mistaken for Phlamingo Eggs. Uncle Philbert got caught reading outside a Carnegie Library in Union City, Indiana. Here's the proof! Until next time...

Happy Reading

Philbert

(just for the record, sometimes I get confused about the difference between "on" and "in". And I just learned eggs are more oval than round. Who knew?)

Oh the Things People Hide

This geocaching things is getting out of hand. I think I've told you about this hunting for hidden treasure thing. My humans really seem to enjoy it, but I don't get to pose quite as often. But I go along for the ride. I have to say that those geocaching folks are really clever. They found a way to hook my human Diane. It was all started on a business trip. Diane did a visit, then she and Rick went to find a cache. They had already visited a lot of way marks in that particular community, so they thought they'd find a quick cache instead. And in it was a special gold coin...

Granted, it's an awful picture.

Rick was laughing at Diane for taking the picture of this, but she was THRILLED! If you are not of the literary variety, John Grisham is an author, and The Racketeer is his latest book. Diane says it's been years since she's read a Grisham book, even though she likes them, but I know what she did later. She went and ordered the ebook version. Somehow or another, geocaching and great marketing are all tied together. There are a limited number of these "trackable" coins out there. This one hadn't been incredibly far, so we took it with us. But if you asked Diane about it, her answer was something along the lines of "I don't know what you are talking about."

So on the next caching adventure, Rick and Diane took me along to observe. There was some talk about mountain goats in hints, but since I'm a bird, I figured I could fly up a hill if need be. But Diane fell...well, slipped on some wet leaves. Rick had to be chivalrous and help her up the hill. But they were successful.

If you're curious about what a cache looks like, here one is...

And that thing that Diane says we didn't have...well, it's in the upper left hand corner of the box. If you want to see it in person, go to www.geocaching.com and look up cache number GCH3DA. Who knows--that gold thing might even still be in there....

I hear Diane and Rick have two more trackables in their possession from a day of caching in Fort Wayne. One is to be heading back to Denmark...they are trying to figure out the best way to move it along closer to the goal. Since neither are planning to Denmark, and Diane was just in Ireland and not thinking about any transatlantic flights any time soon, they may have to do some big city caching. They also found Lefty...a trackable little left foot shoe that is looking for his right foot shoe...oddly enough called Righty.  Who knows. I'm just waiting to be back in the photos.

Oh--and if you've been following this blog, Percy has been picked up from the cache Diane lost him in.  We're hoping he will be able to find himself heading back to Indiana soon. Arnold has also moved on a bit. Remember--it's always good to have friends.

Until next time,

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Philbert

Good Bye Arnold!

It's always nice to make new friends. Arnold was certainly a great pig. It's wonderful to be part of a flock, but it's even better to have friends. One of my humans, Diane, took her mom to Colorado to visit her sister. Arnold, who had been discussing moving on and travel plans, had booked a flight with the travelocity gnome. Oddly enough, he ended up on the same flight as Diane, her mom and me! I've been mentoring a new "phlock" member as well...Percy. I decided to bring him on this flight also. He's not the brightest bird brain of the bird brains, and I worried he would get lost. But we started at the Indianapolis International Airport. We went to Denver, and then sat outside the house we were visiting.

It was certainly a nice place to visit. Diane took us geocaching. Sure enough, Arnold was ready to be on his way, and he went to visit a nice piney kind of place. Good bye Arnold!

And then...the unthinkable happened. Percy did get lost. Diane and her sister were out in some grassy area and Diane found the cache...and then...Percy fell right in. Diane has heard from some other nice geocachers they will try to help Percy come home. I guess every bird has to stretch his wings and fly sometime! Hope he makes it home.

So then I was alone and kind of bummed out about it. It's lonely when you are part of a phlock to find yourself alone.

But since we were in a new place, Diane took me to see some of the sights. We went to a zoo...but it was the weirdest zoo I've ever seen...I did feel better because I got to see a wiener puppy dog...

play guitar in a heavy metal rock band...

and drums

and go fishing...

All this was very well and good, but then I almost got eaten by a two headed monster.  HELP!!

Fortunately Snoopy came to rescue me...and we flew off to fight the Red Baron!

Since I've been back from Colorado, I've had many more adventures. I'm getting writer's cramp tonight...it's not easy to write with wings!

Signing off for now...

Philbert

Discovered

I am soooo excited, I can hardly get this out. Yesterday I met a new friend. This is my first non phlamingo friend in quite some time and I just can't wait to introduce him to you. His name is Arnold PiggyWinkle and he is a Geocaching Travel Bug. My people discovered him near a church out in the woods where he had been for a few months, and decided to bring him home, feed him and move him on to another cache. In the meantime, we had a great time together. First of all, we were going to play the Wii.

The problem is, I don't have hands. And Arnold has hands, but doesn't seem to know how to work this thing. I thought he should be an expert in Wii, as I've been told he has gone Wii Wii Wii all the way home. Arnold says he's not that kind of pig.

Arnold is a British pig. And boy oh boy has he traveled! He started his travels in England and has been to places like Germany, Hawaii, Washington State and Arizona. He's not certain how long he has been in Indiana, but his log says he has gone more than 30,000 miles! He began traveling in 2003. Almost ten years of being on the road.

With all that in mind, Arnold and I decided we should make more travel plans for him. I'm thinking of going on the road myself...getting a travel tag and hitting the road. However, I'm kind of dependent on my humans and they really like to pose me in pictures for their Waymarking thing. I have overheard talk...

So while Diane and Rick weren't looking, Arnold and I highjacked Diane's computer. First we went to Travelocity, because we wanted to meet the gnome.

We got a couple of ideas there, but then we decided to do some price comparing. Arnold had heard about some guy that used to pilot a space ship, and since he hasn't been in outer space, he thought that might be a good plan. So we got to talk to William Shatner....

but it turns out that he doesn't drive a space ship anymore. He did give some travel advice on a different website. Good advice!

All that planning made us thirsty, so Arnold suggested we step outside and have a pint. We got all settled in, then realized the state of Indiana doesn't sell beer on Sunday. Not only that, neither of us had anyway to carry drinks outside.

We just chose to bask in the sun. I hear Arnold will be getting a bath soon, and plans have been made for his release back on the road. You'll have to stay tuned to get the scoop on where he goes. In the meantime, I have decided I want to meet another flamingo...my humans discovered they are not the only ones who love the pink birds...I may have kin somewhere named Vooodooo! I can hardly wait to find out if it's true.

Good talking to you all again...

Philbert

Falling for Fall

Ok...so my headline is a little trite. But after a record breaking summer drought, I am enjoying the fall! We have been fall festing like no one's business. The great thing about fall festivals is the food. Yesterday we went to the Dekalb County Fair. Most fairs are in the summer, but not this one. I had the opportunity to check out a nice looking horse...

and the we found the elephant ear stand. Mind you, this was after the pulled pork sandwich and the sirloin tips. These were enjoyed while watching the free stage entertainment. But the elephant ear...oh my oh my oh my. Talk about mm mm good! I couldn't be photographed any more yesterday. I was in a sugar induced coma and left at the side of the road.

So to celebrate the last day of September, we set off to see a bit of the southern part of Indiana. We found this great little community called Hope. Isn't that a great name for a town? Apparently they wanted to be Goshen, but that name had already been taken. But I digress...Hope was having a fall festival. We showed up for the last hour and thought perhaps we would be left with the dregs of the party. But oh no! They were going strong. A great band was playing in the Gazebo, there were a ton of people everywhere, and there were lots and lots and lots of crafts booths.

Hope has an interesting museum...located in the park and dedicated to rural mail carriers! It's kind of a "walk around museum"...as in no entrance (which means no entrance fee and no open or closed hours) and just fascinating information. Here it is...

And in the crafts booths...my crazy third cousin "Sticks" Philbert decided he was tired of being naked. So he bought a Halloween outfit made for a yard goose. Now seriously folks--does anyone know a good tailor? Yard geese are bigger than yard phlamingos. But he HAD to have the witch costume. It just hangs on him. And he's a male phlamingo...

Well, the festival was winding down after we had been there about an hour, so we went exploring. We found a waterfall that wasn't really active this time of year. (It was a drought year, after all!) but it was a beautiful park. And "Sticks Philbert" decided to model his costume. What do you think about it?

And here he is in search of trick or treaters in Hartsville, Indiana...

Wonder what next weekend will bring? Till then....

Philbert