My Seagull

Every one needs a seagull for their yard.

This cement seabird is currently sitting in my front garden.  We found him on Marblehead on our first full day in Sandusky.  There is actually a piling that goes with him so he will be looking comfortable when he is permanently located in the back yard.

I actually have a back story as to why I have a cement seagull.  He is not my first gull.  Years ago, my mom and dad bought one while they were on vacation, I think in Galveston.  He was smaller and my dad had to make a wood piling to perch him on.  He lived in my parents yard for years.  Then when my dad and stepmother moved, he went with them until the last move when I said I wanted him and he came to live with us. More years have passed and the little cement gull started to seriously deteriorate.  I think he was more than thirty years old.  Finally this spring, we had to admit that he was beyond salvation and he was gone.

I did miss him a lot.  So, last week when we were driving around the lake, I mentioned that Sandusky would be a good place to buy a new gull.  That started the four of us on a search.  I finally remembered that I had seen a yard art place on our way in.  We went back and sure enough, there this guy was.  I liked the look in his eye.  The man at the shop asked me that and told me that he cast them all and painted them by hand.  The bird looks real, he does a good job. 

However, folks up along Lake Erie were sort of baffled by why I wanted a seagull.  They are viewed as nuisances.  But they were a lot more tolerant when I told them we were from Kansas, and we were replacing an old bird.  I think we will enjoy him for a lot of years in the future.