The pigeons were still looking in the window when I got up at five, but they left before Roy got up two hours later. Sure glad of that. They left mementos of their visit that Roy had the fun of cleaning up.
We wanted to go back to the National Park today (where we went on Monday). From the ferry dock to the National Park Visitor Center is a two or three mile walk in the hot sun, so we decided to paddle over instead of taking the ferry. The river's about a mile and a half across here, so it didn't take long. However, there's no beach to pull up on, so we pulled up on the slanted cement wall that was built 90 years ago to prevent further erosion.
We walked around, looking at the remains of foundations and listening to the tapes. Then we joined a group that was listening to a woman who was dressed like a servant of 1621. She did a terrific impersonation and was very amusing.
At 12:30, we went on a tour led by a guy who was dressed like a man of 1907. We felt sorry for him, wearing wool trousers, wool vest, a heavy wool coat, and a felt hat. The day was overcast and somewhat cooler than yesterday but still plenty hot and humid.
When we returned to the boat around 3:45, the pigeons had returned! I couldn't believe it. I was afraid they were homing pigeons and would follow us wherever we went. Roy reached the boat about five minutes before I did. He was on the deck, trying to chase them away. They'd fly up in the air, circle around, and come back down on the boat. It was hilarious. After 15 or 20 minutes, they finally left. We pulled up the anchor and took off. We could picture the pigeons, flying around in circles where the boat had been, crying, "Our beautiful new home has disappeared! Where, oh, where has it gone? What shall we do?"
We motored down the river for three hours and dropped anchor just north of Newport News. Would you believe, two more birds landed on the TV antenna! What is this? Why has our boat suddenly become a magnet for birds and insects? Fortunately, these two didn't hang around long.
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