Do I Look Homeless To You????

I was early getting into Kirkland by bus, and Ellen had forgotten her phone. It had been raining hard when I'd left Duvall early Monday morning and so I'd wrapped a trash bag around my backpack, which was stuffed full for 2 days at Ellen's. I had noticed that when the Kifaru pack gets wet, it smells a bit.

I'd picked up some cookies for the party and had found my Mom's birthday present at a Barnes and Noble store in Bellevue, so I also had a large plastic bag that I was trying to hang on to as I tracked the otter and then a Yorkshire Terrier on Juanita Beach. The cold wind was blowing in off the water. I was wearing my fleece camo hunting cap to keep my ears warm, and some really dirty wool gloves I'd found in my pockets. I guess I did look a bit - ragged.

I suppose it's even possible that I was behaving strangly...by city norms, anyway. Still, I was a bit taken aback when the gentleman approached me in the parking lot. "Are you OK?", he asked. "I've been watching you wander around for a while, and it's cold out...I thought you might be one of the homeless."

Fortunatly, Ellen soon arrived and my would-be rescuer at least believed that I do have friends - but perhaps not that I'm entirely sane.

A Naturalist's Christmas Week

What a fun week I've had! My friend Ellen proved to be quite entertaining - although I'm certain she said she wasn't going to any trouble for the Monday night pre-Christmas Ship party, she set out a feast. There must have been 35 people in her house prior to all of us going down to the beach at Denny Park. The cold wind blowing across Lake Washington did not stop the festivities. A large fire kept us warm while carolers on the boats sang holiday favorites. Then we returned to Ellen's for more eggnog.

On Tuesday, after an amazing breakfast and a long walk with her dog Taz, she treated me to the Festival of Lights at the Bellevue Botanical Garden for a magical tour. Afterwards, we enjoyed margaritas with good Mexican food and girl talk.

Some highlights I'll blog about next week:

• Otter sighting in Juanita Park!
• Another dog for my tracking project
• Being mistaken for a homeless woman
• Sylvia, the largest tree in King County
• A fabulous lunch and tea near the bus stop in Redmond

Merry Christmas!

I have a week off for the holidays, and plan to watch my favorite Christmas movies with friend Shondell on Sunday - "Die Hard" and "Lethal Weapon"...popcorn and brownies are the plan.

Then I'll ride the bus into Seattle on Monday (I have 2 free passes that have to be used by the end of the year!) and I'll wind up in Kirkland to help Ellen make cookies and join her and other good friends at Denny Park to see the Christmas Ship...There will be caroling, a huge bonfire on the shore (firemen too!) and dogs, kids, the entire neighborhood...and wine. Check it out here...
http://www.argosycruises.com/themecruises/xmasSchedule.cfm

Ellen has plans for seeing Christmas lights and events on Tuesday, then I'll return on the Wednesday bus for a quiet end of week with the cat, a pile of good books, and plenty of hot chocolate.

Merry Christmas to all my friends!

Lingerie by Columbia

It's cold in the valley this week - Missouri cold, except without the wind chill. It was in the low single digits last night. I'm still walking the mile and a half to work, which I think says something about my dislike (OK, hatred) of driving. The hair inside my nose froze this morning before I'd reached the end of my block. I don't care...much...I have several sets of long underwear that allow me to get out early and walk up the hill after dark without danger of frostbite...lingerie is what you make of it. My black wool set is quite fashionable.
Leaving the water dripping in the kitchen and bathroom sinks, and the cabinet doors open underneath has kept the pipes from freezing. I have food and tea, the cat is fat and happy and will sit on my lap and purr in the evening, and there are plenty of books stacked on my stairs waiting to be read. Life is good in the valley. And the cold spell won't last nearly as long here as it will back in the midwest.

I've Seen the Tracks...Now Here Are the River Otters!

I was starting to think that otters are invisible...I've seen tracks on the sand bar near Index, on Osprey Swamp at the school land, and at several of the interesting places I've gone on field trips...but no otters. Then, the day before Thanksgiving, I needed to get my oil changed. I dropped my vehicle off at the garage and walked up hill to the trail at McCormick Park. I thought I'd walk a while until they called me to come get my car.

Five hours later, I got the call...still, I felt like I'd had a great day, and I would not have seen this pair if it had only taken the hour I expected. The River Otter (Lontra canadensis) is a member of the mustelidae family. They are both playful and wicked carnivores - kind of like me!

This pair seemed to enjoy looking at me as much as I enjoyed watching them...they hung around for about 20 minutes while I shot pictures until my camera battery ran down. I'm really glad that I got to see these beautiful animals - the trail is just 2 blocks from Highway 203, and the trail is used by walkers (with or without dogs), bikers, and the occassional horseback rider. Who would guess that otters would live so close to such an active trail?

Book Club Naturalists

Alexia's duck seemed to think we'd lost our minds. The big female Muskovy (Cairina moschata) kept looking in the glass pane of the door - sometimes she'd even peck at the glass with her beak as if she wanted in to see what we were doing.
Really, now, is it so surprising that 8 natruralists (and one cat) would gather on the floor in front of the fireplace to look at moss through microscopes and with hand lenses? Our November book club selection was "Gathering Moss:A Natural and Cultural History" by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
We gathered, shared a wonderful harvest potluck, then spent a couple of hours on the floor enchanted by the tiny mossy "forests" and the inhabitants thereof. Miniscule transparent worms, teeny unidentified beings...what an amazing amount of life in a handful of moss.

Where Does the Time Go???

I can't believe that it's been so long since I've posted anything here...and why can't I make my letters pretty? Yikes, the time gets away when you're having...fun.

Work is a little crazy just now - getting ready for an audit in December, so lots more paperwork for me! Should go well, but just the word "audit" is scary. And I bet the auditor is worried, too. Wilderness Awareness School is not like her usual gig...We are...unique.

The lovely fall weather continues with lots of rain and enough wind to drop a tree across the road just around the corner from my little apartment. When I came to work this morning the road was clear, but lots of debris still on the road. Missouri trees are quite a lot shorter than Washington trees. I never used to worry about getting hit by a tree except during tornado weather.

If the rain keeps coming in from the coast I don't know if I'll go tracking on Saturday. The sandbar may not be accessible. Of course, post flood tracking is really awesome...not that I'm hoping for floods.

I hit 2 King County Library used book sales a couple of weeks ago, so I have lots of good reading material to keep me company if I can't go tracking. With a cup of hot tea and a purring cat on my lap, it's all good!

Aquarium Clowns

My favorite part of the Aquarium was the outdoor otter exhibit. The Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris) seemed to enjoy entertaining us. I got a number of photos of otter tails and the backs of otter heads as they swam past...I think they did it on purpose. Note the wicked canine teeth - all otters are ferocious carnivores of the mustelidae family which includes weasels, mink, and wolverines!

The River Otters (Lontra canadensis) spent more time under the water, and released streams of air bubbles from their fur! It helps kssp them warm in cold water. They appeared to be about half the size of their sea-going cousins. Otters always look like they are having fun!

Birds at the Seattle Aquarium

I believe that this is a Long-Billed Curlew (Numenius americanus), who was fun to watch as it poked it's long beak into the sand...as a tracker, I should know that the resulting holes -behind the bird, at the edge of the greenery - was feeding sign, but I would not immediately think of this bird. Many birds feed this way. Trackers have to be aware of the local species when looking at sign (and tracks).

This is a Golden Plover- Pacific, I believe (Pluvailis fulva). It was a quiet bird, hardly moving from this spot. I liked the bright yellow and black markings.

I took better photos of this Black Oystercatcher (Haemotopus bochmani), but this is the only one that shows his bright orange beak and his pink feet. What a mismatched bird! I'd love to have seen the tracks it would leave, but it seemed to favor the rocks. Those toes look like they would leave some awesome tracks!

Alien Life Forms

The best way to describe the amazing creatures at the Seattle Aquarium is to simply say that my Missouri eyes were overwhelmed by color, form and variety! I felt as if I'd landed on a distant planet, surrounded by the unusual, the beautiful, the downright odd...often as I admired something pretty, I'd suddenly become aware that it was moving! The pile of sticks above is actually a sea star!

These creatures, whose identity I do not know, had florescent coloring that truly glowed...I really need to do some Kamana journaling on sea life!

These beauties are one of the many types of anemones that I got to touch in the tidepool exhibit! Kids of all ages are allowed to gently touch the critters...I was surprised to find many of them were soft and squishy! The starfish has a sandpapery feel.

Cyndi and I enjoyed the day so much! It was great fun to take a day off work and be a Seattle tourist! In order to share more pictures of our day, I will post another message tomorrow with bird pics!

A DAy Off!

I'm excited to be going to the Seattle Aquarium tomorrow! I'm taking a day off mid-week, and meeting a friend there. I have 2 free bus passes, and a buy one, get one free coupon for the tickets, so it will be an inexpensive girl's day out.
I hear it's a cool place to spend a day, and I've been wanting to go ever since I arrived here 3 years ago. It's about time...I'll take lots of pictures to share next time I post.
We intend to catch the marine mammals talk and the one on octopuses. And I hear there's a tide pool exhibit where I can touch some of the smaller critters!
Tomorrow, I play!

Urban Wild Things

Early Sunday I walked down the hill to pick up the Seattle Times, and was treated to quite an interesting array of critters! Just a couple of blocks from my apartment, I found a pair of little bucks, velvet now gone from their antlers. The larger of the pair sported a sharp pair of spikes that did not quite clear his ears...I did not realize the other was a buck until I looked at the photos I'd taken. His antlers barely showed at all.
Around the corner and near the highway, I saw a large doe and 2 smaller deer, all standing broadside as if taunting me. They were on the far side of the pasture that backs up against the Starbucks parking lot just around the way...They saw me, and all three animals watched as I continued on my way...the fog was light, but did complicate getting a good photo of the threesome.
Paper purchased, I started back up the steep hill. I hoped to see the deer again, as I'd only been 10 minutes or so in getting the paper. But they were gone...
Just at the crest of the hill where the pasture meets the brushy edge, I noticed something grey and stopped to bring my camera up and use the zoom feature to look...The coyote saw me and bounded into the brush! I only got a glimpse of it, but was happy to know that my run 0f coyote sightings is not over yet!

Coyote Song

I realized just the other day that I have not seen a coyote in a very long time...for a while, I was seeing them everywhere. I had my camera in hand and ready last Sunday when I walked down the hill to get my paper...No coyotes. I think the grass is too high in most of the fields right now for me to see them.
I know they are still around. I heard them howl just after 12:30 this morning...Since I wasn't sleeping, I was happy to hear them sing! I was trying to finish a book , "A New Earth" by Eckert Tolle, and I have to say that I was not enjoying it all that much. The coyotes were a reminder that I needed to put it down and go to sleep...but I expected to get the latest by Suzanne Arruda in the mail today and have it for the weekend. However, it did not arrive :(

Oh well, something to look forward to...and I still have to finish the Tolle book. Parts of it have been good and inspirational, but I just think he's a bit "out there". Or perhaps I was too tired to appreciate it. At any rate, another 20 pages, and I'm done. Tonight the coyotes will have to sing to themselves.

Critters!

I met these guys on a recent walk near a small pond not too far from my apartment . I heard them first, and stopped in the middle of the street to identify the noisy pair in the tall Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata).

The young raccoons (Procyon lotor) seemed as interested in me as I was in them! Raccoons are interesting critters, and I remmember them well from my Missouri childhood. They are frequent visitors to my side yard here in Washington state. Raccoon tracks of ten look like little human handprints!

Crazy Busy

Wow, life gets busy and crazy all of a sudden...end of year stuff at work, staff retreat coming up the 26th-28th, new school year about to begin...Yikes!

I keep forgetting to bring in my disk with photos from my visit with Missouri friends a couple of weeks ago. Pike's Place Market in downtown Seattle with Madonna and Dave, with lunch at Lowell's overlooking the water..then an afternoon on the deck of the B&B where they were staying.

I had a great time, enjoyed catching up with my friends, and loved the quiet of the deck after the noise and commotion of the Market. Even on a Friday it was crowded and loud!



I don't think they got the ultimate Seattle vacation...it was sunny the entire week they were visiting the Hoh Rainforest, Victoria and Seattle. It was actually hotter here than back at their St. Louis area home. They should come back in November and get the rain!

Cool Story About WAS on MSNBC!

I got a photo credit on MSNBC!!! There's a cool story written by one of our recent participants in an adult program, and one of my photos was chosen to illustrate it!
Go check it out...the link takes you to the correct story. The photo is of Laura, a fellow staff member here at WAS. She was in my Residential Program class, too.

The story is about a Walkabout - a wander across the landscape finding water, food and shelter where you can. It's quite a bit more strenuous than most of our classes...and there's no cook. It's a fun trip for the type of person who is interested in survival skills.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32089212/

Friends in the Area and No Rain

My friend Madonna (no, not that one) and her husband Dave are over on the Olympic Peninsula this week, and it's so hot and dry...who visits Seattle and does not get rained on? In the rain forest???

She sent a photo from her phone today, and the sun is shining in the Hoh Rain Forest...It's been shining for a very long time...I LIKE the rain. I miss it, and hope it comes back soon.

I've been aflicted with little migraines of late, and I'm sure it's because the sun has been shining for 2 and a half months.

I'll be taking off Friday to meet Madonna at the pig on the corner by Pike Place Market...I'm happy about that, and hope that we get some real Seattle weather, otherwise she'll think it's just like Missouri.

Waterbugs, Earthworms and Slugs

Interesting critters I've seen recently....this is a really pale Banana Slug (Ariolimax columbianus). A biiiiig worm!!

And a waterbug....with a cool shadow....I never know what I'll see when I head out for a walk.

Bounty

One of the best things about living in western Washington is the amazing bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables - the only thing I've found that we do better in Missouri are tomatoes.

Right now I'm snacking on ripe red Chelan cherries delivered to work by one of our Community School families. Some of my friends gave me a gift certificate for fresh produce and it seems I have a credit! I love the just-picked, locally grown (or just brought over the pass) goodies...Soon, the Bings, my favorites, will be ripe. The Rainiers are the most beautiful of the cherries with their yellow blushed skin, but the darker red cherries are my favorites.

Duvall has a wonderful farmer's market on Thursday afternoons, and I made a point last year to try new vegetables every week. Now I know that I like the Jerusalem artichokes, the chard, the kale...but the fresh fruits are what I crave the most...and the pie from George's Bakery in Fall City...they make pie crust almost as good as Granny did!

I love summers here...

Books, Books, Books!

I was up waaay too late last night trying to finish a book - like that's never happened before:) Now that I have a bit more free time, I've been tackling the precariously tall stack of books I've picked up at garage sales and the library used book table.

Last night I had to give up around midnight with only a hundred or so pages left in "Memoirs of a Geisha", by Arthur Golden. I'd resisted reading it for a long time because I've often found popular novels to be boring or just awful but I've been enchanted with the story. It's well told, and filled with fascinating bits of history...some of it said not to be quite true. And it's a bit depressing to be reminded of all the things women historically have had to do when men abandon them.

Tonight I'll finish those last hundred pages easily, and then it will be time to choose the next book from my stack. I wonder which one I'll choose?

Here are some recent selections I've enjoyed:

• "The Fellowship of the Ring" by JJR Tolkien - you may remember that my friend Madonna sent that one to me a while back...I'd forgotten how the books differ from the movies! It was nice to revisit Frodo and Sam and the gang.
• "High Country" by Nevada Barr - I enjoy the Anna Pigeon mysteries, each set in a different National Park. This one visited Yosemite, a park I have yet to see.
• "The Mastery of Love" by Don Miguel Ruiz _ don't ask me why I'm reading relationship books...I found it at the library used book table, and had enjoyed his "The Four Agreements" some time back.
• "The Grand Finale" by Janet Evanovich - not her best one, and pure fluff. Check out her Stephanie Plum novels for better reading.

As you can see, it's an eclectic reading list...just the kind I like.