I visited Washington DC last week and felt it important to go with my sister and grand niece to Five Guys Burgers and Fries because Michelle Obama took her staff there in February.

The First Lady got a lot more press than I did.

But I mention this here because it was about as good a hamburger and fries as I've had in a burger joint. I had a cheeseburger ($5.59) which has two patties and a choice of 15 toppings you can put on it.

(mayo, relish, onions, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, ketchup, mustard, jalapeno peppers, green peppers, A-1 sauce, bar-b-q sauce, and hot sauce)

I put relish, grilled onions, tomatoes, grilled mushrooms, ketchup and mayo on mine. The clerk at the Georgetown Five Guys, a nice man by the name of Steve, explained all this too me. Plus he kind of insisted I try their fries. Glad he did. They were about the best fries I've had anywhere.

Five Guys is expanding in the country, including two within 120 miles from Bakersfield -- Carson and Cerritos. So if you go there or one of them comes here, you might want to check it out.

Michelle Obama has pretty good taste.

A friend asked me to post this:

 
An excellent song and video. One of the best I have seen in a long time! I had to watch it three times to just begin to see what it took to put it together. A masterpiece! It's a song written by Keith Carradine and performed by artists from all over the country. It will be performed Sunday night at a Gala at  Washington 's Renaissance Hotel. It has a powerful message, just listen to (and read) the words. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
 
www.bornagainamerican.org <http://www.bornagainamerica...
 


 

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This isn't an R-rated admission on what I do on my patio. This is about doves and baby doves who have parked in a nest above a speaker box on my patio.

During the first week in May, my wife and I went on a cruise (booked for Mexico, but diverted to California because of a flu that didn't come within 400 miles of our destinations). We boarded three dogs during that week.

When we returned, we found a dove nest and a momma dove perched there keeping the eggs warm. Papa dove would fly to our fence to check in on his brood. I'm told papa also sits on the nest to give mom a break, but I can't say I've seen that.

Late last week, we saw something new. Momma dove feeding two baby doves. This is kind of a disgusting process. Momma has this milk-like substance in her throat that she shares with the babies.

Later, she goes out and swallows some seeds, brings them back up to her throat and spills the barf into the eager young mouths. Well, who knows, maybe they think us eating chicken is pretty disgusting too.

My wife is two things. She loves animals and she's a worrier. Right now, she's worried the baby doves will learn how to fly by bouncing around in our backyard within reach of the  dogs.

Two of our dogs have already proven they can fight over an adult bullfrog that thought our pool was better for him than the sump behind our house. After my wife alerted me to this lunch brawl with a blood-curdling scream worthy of any horror movie, we were able to save the frog.

We don't want the baby doves to be munchies for the dogs. So over the next few days we will be limiting their outdoor activities.

We also have limited our own mornings of reading the newspaper on the patio so the birds can eat in piece without the sounds of a birdcage liner.

I'll let you know if the birds are able to successfully fly away. We just ask that come Sept. 1, you spare our little buddies from the shotgun perils of dove season.