The Death March at Gingko Petrified Forest

I, like many people I'm sure, have a "bucket list". A list of things I want to do between now and the day I die.  My list, for the most part, is small. It consists, right now, of things that are very achievable if only they were planned and scheduled.  This "bucket list" started several years ago between Blueberry, HikerGirl and I.  We didn't get very much done in that year because Blueberry and I were training for the 3Day. Since that year, I've still not marked too many off.

Having 100 days off I knew this would be the time to check off at least a couple. 

Saturday, Blueberry and I checked off visiting Gingko Petrified Forest. Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park contains the remains of one of the most unusual fossil forests in the world. Many of the petrified logs are still in their original locations and on this "nature walk" to see them.  How hard could a nature walk be? Hah!

Blueberry, Sparky, Puck and I took off out of Redmond about 10:30am. We wanted to take the scenic route since having a convertible means you HAVE to take the scenic route. We hopped off the interstate at Cle Elum and hopped on a highway that took us through some of the most beautiful countryside in Washington.  We rounded a corner and WHAM suddenly we had windmills...Don Quixote would be busy in this part of the woods.

I've seen these beasts from the interstate before, but I never realized just how big they truly are. And there are dozens of them out here. 

We drove on and found ourselves at the Gingko Trail for the Petrified forest.  I had read about some petroglyphs here that I wanted to see and of course shoot photos of.  We realized then we hadn't purchased a park pass and so we drove the rest of the way to the Gingko Petrified Forest Museum where we could purchase our park pass.

The museum had some interesting information in it, none of which I read. Blueberry read most of it. We potty-ed and set out again to the forest.  Parked Sparky and started the "nature walk".   By this time is 2:30pm in the afternoon in Eastern Washington - which for those of you not from around here Eastern Washington's weather in the summer is usually hot, dry and HOT. Did I mention it was hot?

So water bottle in hand, camera bag over the shoulder we struck out.  The first quarter to half a mile was uphill. ALL uphill.  I was dying. It was 95F outside - breezy as Eastern Washington is - but Holy Hades it was hot.  I was dying.  I started to forget about the stupid petrified logs and just wish the death march was over.  And we had chosen the shorter of the two trails - still it was what felt like a lifetime before we started down again. 

This is a view from the trail. Do you see a "forest"? Yah me neither. The sage brush does not a forest make.  There's smoke off in the distance as there was a brush fire in Coulee City by Grand Coulee Dam.

I stopped at one point and sat while Blueberry trudged on to see the rest of these "trees".
 

All the trees/logs were in these grate like thingy's and really hard to see or photograph.  But they made a good chair for those of us who needed to stop for a breather. The stone was super hot, but it felt good to sit and catch my breath.

We drove back down to Vantage after the Death March to get some refreshments and salty snacks.  We'd sweated so much both of us were craving salt in the worst way.

Vantage is a beautiful area to me. The Columbia river is so beautiful and cuts through the landscape with such grace.

Back into Sparky we headed another highway back to Cle Elum to have dinner at the restaurant my niece works in.

All in all it was a great day. We had a blast and have some fantastic memories to recall in our later years in life.

In other news, tonight was the one year anniversary of Sunday Dinners. VERY small crowd - BigBro, Seattle Sister In Law, the Pantry Goat and Blueberry.  I made a ravioli dish and these fancy pants cupcakes that were to die for.

This week marks 4 weeks until I have to return to the work force.  I have an awful lot to do before then. I'd better get busy.

33 days...

Its hard to believe, but I only have 33 more days left of my 100 days.  Man the time sure flies!  I knew it would, but didn't think it'd be at mach 3!

I made it back from Tucson on Monday. And I did it in class.  I got to fly first class in fact.

That's right boys and girls, Puck and I flew first class. Turns out this business man wanted to swap me my seat next to his family for his seat. I figured why not!  I didn't, at the time, know it was for first class. I actually figured I'd be suck in the middle.  Turns out being nice, for a change, paid off.  Puck and I were first on the plane and enjoyed a bloody mary and some snacks ... for free! We think we'd like to request more first class please.

The last couple of days in Tucson were more of the same with the DadUnit.  He was grumpy almost every time we went to see him.  Its hard to appreciate why he'd be grumpy all the time until you're in the room with him in a nursing facility...suddenly it makes sense.  Depression = grumpy!

On Sunday we had a heck of a monsoon. I had been waiting for one to come through and actually hit us. They had been coming over the mountains and splitting, missing us all together.  Finally, a couple of loud claps of thunder later and the sky opened up.

The wind came up and blew like the dickens.  Lightening, followed almost immediately by thunder and rain in buckets. I LOVED it. Now THAT's a storm.  By about 40 minutes later it was gone. All it left in its wake was a very wet road and some residual streams from the amount of water that came down in such a short period of time.

Other highlights this trip were...

The sunsets....

The prickly pear cacti in bloom...

And the Sonoran Hot Dog...

What's a Sonoran Hot Dog you ask? Well it's a heart attack in a bun, with a little bit of healthy on the side.  The hot dog is wrapped in bacon and grilled.  The condiments are: grilled and fresh onions, tomatoes, pinto beans (I know. I was like, "what?"), mayo, and jalapeno sauce.  Can I just say, it was pretty darn good? The bread is made fresh and was a very soft, french roll consistency.  The coke you see in the back ground is the "good kind" of coke. Real sugar in it...OMG sooo good. Puck even liked it. It was a drive to get to these, but it was worth it. 

The MomUnit and I also tasted their carne asada steak tacos...and OMG...I'd fly to Tucson just for those tacos. Sooo darn good. Reminded me of my days in Guadalajara.

So I'm home and am trying to get through my list of things to do this 100 day break. I'm running out of time that's for sure.  I need to get moving.

Holy Fried Toads on the Pavement Batman!

Its a dry heat. 

So I'm down in Tucson visiting the parentalunits.  Dad hadn't been doing very well last week and so I thought it'd be good to come on down.

This week he seems to be doing a lot LOT better.  They've moved him into a Skilled Nursing Facility - which is just a fancy name for a nursing home. Me no likey.

When I got in yesterday the MomUnit and I headed over to see dad.  We walked into the facility and at first glance all I saw were old people scooting around in wheel chairs.  The reality hit home for me that we weren't in Kansas anymore. 

We walked down to the DadUnit's room and my first thought when I saw him was "Man he looks frail."

My dad has ALWAYS been a big, strong, strapping, stubborn man. The small frail man I saw in the bed just didn't seem to be dad. 

He seems to be doing a tons better and from the sounds of it his color is better.  Being grey-ish last week to normal this week.

Today the MomUnit and I went in and sat with the DadUnit while he ate lunch. The dining room was wall to wall wheel chairs.  All the patients pushed up to their tables, some talking, many not, many attempting to feed themselves and failing horribly. It struck home again that the DadUnit wasn't in a normal hospital.  Looking around the room was difficult. It was hard to come face to face with what could potentially be your future. I know nothing about all these folks but I wondered if they had family come visit them or if they were "left" there. Heartbreaking. Truly heartbreaking.  I commend those nurses who work in those homes because I sure couldn't do it.

After that the MomUnit and I went to grab lunch and do a little shopping. It's been so dang hot down here (shocking I know) that I barely felt like shopping. Crazy.

We came home and sat to watch a monsoon come over the hill. Crazy weather today. Hotter than hades and then these big storm clouds form and come over the mountains.

This was yesterday's storm.

This was today's. We left to go see the DadUnit before this one hit us.

Tonight we had a beautiful sunset. The sun cast a crazy rose color glow on everything. It felt very strange. The air felt almost electric.

Tomorrow will be much of the same. We'll get up go visit the DadUnit (assuming he's not grouchy like he was tonight). Then off to get a Sonoran Hot Dog (more on that tomorrow or the next day).Then back to visit the DadUnit. 

For doing almost nothing, I'm pooped. And hot.

So you wanna know...

I know you're dying to know how Sparky did on her first "big" road trip...so sit back and relax and I'll share with you our trip to Bellingham. 

I left Friday to the sun shining high in the sky. It was a beautiful day and promised to be sunny all the way to Bellingham. Instead of going directly there via I5 I wanted to travel the lesser traveled roads.  I had printed out maps and directions and I was off.

Turns out that it gets very windy in a convertible when the top is down. Somewhere between Kirkland and Marysville are my "maps".  I knew vaguely how to go and had my phone should I get overly lost so I figured it was the Mustang Gods telling me to go forth and have an adventure.

I got off the freeway in Marysville and promptly turned right.  About 2 miles heading east I realized the road that ran along the coast would most definitely be to the WEST where the water was. So I flipped a bitch and headed west. Stopped to get a diet coke and we were once again off.

Puck was riding shot guy in the speedometer well. Its a blurry photo because it's hard to focus a camera and drive at the same time.

Puck and I found Marine Drive and we headed north.  It was beautiful. Anyone who knows the Pacific Northwest knows that when the suns out the area is truly breath taking. Tall pine trees all around casting beautiful shade along the road.  I couldn't see the water from the road, but it was cool enough that I knew I was pretty close to sea level.

One of my main purposes of going the long route was to go to La Conner and go to this little store called Good Kitty Bad Kitty and pick up Pookie his crack drenched catnip canary. So I knew that Marine drive would, hopefully, end up just outside LaConner.  I stopped to snap the above photo and check the phone for a route to make sure I was on the right path.  Turns out I was.  So I kept driving. The "directions" on the phone said in about 11 miles I would be turning onto another road.  At 15 miles I still hadn't seen that road but came upon some road crew guys.  The flag guy stopped me for a truck crossing the road and I asked him if I was on the right road and how to get to LaConner from there.  He gave me typical country directions like, "turn right at the second fir tree on the road".  We started to head out and he said, "BTW, nice car!"

Sparky and I wound our way through the woods and ended up in La Conner.  Found a parking place quite quickly and set off to find the cat store.  Turns out the store closed just a couple of months ago. Bummer. No crack drenched canary for Pookie. Instead I had lunch at what used to be the Fat Cat Cafe but is now the Waterfront Cafe. Good food, good service and a helluva view.

I could have headed back the way I came and hopped on the freeway to my next destination, Deception Pass, but why would I do that. Instead I crossed this HUGE bridge in LaConner that's very high and not at all easy to find how to get on it.  There was a Native American festival going on that had traffic across the water slowed to a crawl.  And turns out the way I wanted to go was closed for said festival.  I swung a left following the signs that said "detour" and we were off.  Again, beautiful country.  Eventually we dropped out of the woods into the pasture land that's up north and we were soon on the highway to Deceptions Pass.

Very windy road that would have been perfect for Sparky if I wasn't behind a truck and trailer. I was in no hurry so no need to risk life and limb to pass.  We turned the corner and we were there.

Puck needed to stretch his legs.

Height from water to roadway is about 180 feet, depending on the tide.

The water that runs below the bridge is turbulent and looks very cold to me. I don't do heights very well so I was proud of myself when I leaned slightly over to shoot this photo and then didn't throw up.

After Deception Pass, Sparky, Puck and I headed to Bellingham.  We had a couple hours until my friends up north would be home, so we took it slow and easy.

When I left Saturday from Bellingham I took the infamous Chuckanut Drive - which is another winding, two-laned road.  Some parts of the road made me very nervous in that I felt like my car was wider than the lane.  We made it and unfortunately I couldn't shoot any photos while driving cuz well that would be too dangerous.

Speaking of shooting, I may not be shooting for a bit. I spilled an entire glass of sweet tea into my camera. I had the lens off and cleaning the lens and the camera sitting up right when I reached across it and my sleeve caught the straw of my tea...it was a perfect spill. Turns out camera only can hold about 2 ounces of sweet tea.  It'll cost too much to get it fixed so I'll be on the look out for a new canon body. Craig's List here I come.

The Boys

For years I've loved dogs. Most importantly I've loved Golden Retrievers.  There's something about Goldens that just sets my heart to pitter pat.  They're beautiful dogs to me. 

I drove all the way to Bellingham to meet two new Goldens - oh and to see my friends Paul and Suzanna - but don't tell them, I really went up to see the boys.

Meet Oggy and Rowen

Now which one's which? Um the one on the left is Rowan. Now wait, that's Oggy. Rowan has a scar on his now so the one on the right is Rowan. Or is that Oggy.  Gah! All I know is there's a plastic bone sitting between them.

These two boys were delightful. They're about 18 months and still very much puppy.

When I arrived at the boys house on Friday evening, Oggy was being grounded. Apparently he decided that while he was left in this beautiful house all day he'd chew up the wall.

Yes, you read that correctly, he chewed up the wall.  Paul and Suzanna were furious with him and scolded him to no end. All night Paul kept telling Oggy he was going to the pound in the morning.  We knew he'd never do that to sweet Oggy.  It is a good thing they're so darn cute though, or he may have.  Meanwhile Rowan just sat with his gorgeous innocent looking face.

This morning I was nursing a wee hang-over when Paul took the dogs out back for the morning, um, "meditation" well say.

He came back in shaking his head and said, "I'll be damned." I pressed for more information than an "I'll be damned."  Turns out poop does not lie.  ROWAN had paint chips and wood in his - um - meditation materials.  Paul just shook his head and laughed at how he chastised poor Oggy over night and it turns out Rowan was the chewer.  Although Oggy wasn't completely innocent since there were paint chips in his mouth when they discovered their new all decor.

Oh and Oggy thinks he's a lap dog.  I sat on the couch and within seconds he was sitting on my lap and almost asleep.  I melted and wanted to smuggle him out of the house and into the waiting car outside.

These two boys are certainly a handful, but such beautiful and good dogs.  They fight and play with each other all ... the... time...so darn cute.

And as I was leaving, both of them stared out the window begging me to take them.  If only Pookie would understand, and if only they didn't shed so much, and if only I would have let them ride in Sparky.

85 to 65 in 24 hours

I've been told I am not allowed to complain about Seattle's "cool" weather considering how half the nation is boiling. 

However, being from Seattle, I'm going to at least comment that it baffles the mind that we've yet to see a summer that lasts longer than two days.  Yesterday Sparky's thermometer read 85 around 5pm.  Today, at about 7:30am it read 62.  And we have thunder! Crazy Seattle weather. Of which I wouldn't trade anything for it. 

They say nothings more beautiful than Seattle on a sunny day.

Its possible that it's true.

Let's see, what's happened since the last blog entry.

The DadUnit is still in the hospital and is not doing overly well. We had problems with his blood sugar crashing last week, concerns his blood pressure was too low and he's  not eating that much.  The MomUnit, understandably, is concerned. She put the call out to us kids and is allowing us to make the decision is we want to come see the DadUnit or not.  She's concerned about crying wolf that these may be his final days, but she'd hate herself if she didn't. I think she made the right call. Even if the DadUnit lives for another 10 years, I see nothing wrong with his kids spending more time with him.

I leave for Tucson Aug 4.

Yesterday was the monthly PhotoGods outing. I chose Seattle skyline at sunset as this months theme.  I learned I'm not patient when it comes to the sun going down.  But when it goes down in Seattle, it does take it's time.

This week will be full of a whole lot of lunch dates, coffee dates, and a trip to Bellingham to end the week.  Yesterday was half way through this 100 day break. Can you believe it? I'm on the downward slope back to work.

Ho - SPIT - Al

When I was in the 4th grade, I couldn't spell "hospital" for the life of me.  My reading/writing teacher, Mrs. Butts (Yes her  name was Mrs. Butts.  As 4th graders, with 4th grade humor we found her name amusing to say the least. Even more amusing to us was when we discovered our other teacher's name, Mr. Holstein, really mean cow) used to work with me on spelling hospital.  It wasn't like it was the only word I had issues with, it was just one that stuck in my mind.  Kinda like bad 80's songs, but I digress.

Mrs. Butts broke the word out for me:

Ho

Spit

Al

And since my dad's name is "Al" it did the trick.  So even to this day when I spell "hospital" I say, "HO - SPIT - AL".  Its a dark, winding maze in my brain.

The DadUnit is in the ho-spit-al again.  His back has really been bothering him, and he's been in significant pain.  Finally today he couldn't get out of bed, and the MomUnit(with her back problems) couldn't get him out of bed.

The MomUnit dialed 911 and her favorite firemen came to her rescue again.

After an X-ray and then an MRI it was determined that the DadUnit's L3 vertebrae is fractured. The doc says he really couldn't say what caused the fracture, but made an educated guess that brittle bones and a tired joint is what did the fracturing.

I called the MomUnit tonight to see how she was. She sounded exhausted. And no big surprise, but she is.  They just got back from a driving trip to Washington and then Montana. The MomUnit doing all the driving of their huge truck and 5th wheel, as well as taking care of the DadUnit and his 2YO tantrums.  She has a right to be exhausted. I'm tired just thinking about it.

I love my dad. I do. But him being in the ho-spit-al is, in a way, a blessing for the MomUnit.  While she hates to see her husband in pain and in a sterile room, she won't have to care for him 24X7 while he's being cared for by experts.  She won't have to get up 3 times a night to help him to the bathroom. She won't have to worry nonstop that he may fall getting out of the chair to go get a glass of water. 

She worries about him, and I worry about her.  In a weird way, the ho-spit-al will be a vacation for mom. And she deserves it.  The DadUnit will recover, though we don't know for sure if that recovery includes a surgery or not, but either way, he'll have to stay until he's better. 

Sweet Sixteen

That's right! PookieSnackenBurger is Sweet Sixteen.

My wittle puddy tat turned 16 today. He got a little tuna a a tweat this morning too. He's a wittle spoiled. I thought for his birthday I'd outline some of personality, we'll call them "quirks".

He was such a sweet little kitten when I brought him home.  He had this ring around his neck of grey hair, that disappeared rather quickly.  Now he's mostly black. In the right sun he has a dark, chocolate color to his fur.  As a kitten he was COVERED in fleas when I brought him home. Blueberry and I sat and picked off 30+ fleas off this little kittens body.  Shortly after he got a flea dip at the V-E-T. Then after that I found this mouse stuff that you work into their fur to help kill the eggs. To this day if you even reach for a bottle of anything that looks like mousse he's gone.

He's very mouthy too. He talks like its no body's business.  He and I have great conversations daily.  I swear he knows the answer to world peace, but since I don't speak cat I can't translate.  He wasn't always mouthy.  After we moved into an apartment on our own with no other cats, then he suddenly found his voice. And there's no mute button.

He likes to "help" me too. Whenever I'm in the office working on whatever, he has to sit on the desk between me and the keyboard.  Oddly enough as I type that sentence he isn't in here. He must be taking one of his MANY naps of today.

He's always been a very clean kitty.  If he's not mouthing off, or running from the mousse can, or "helping" me, or napping, or eating, then he's likely taking a bath.  He has a bad habit of needing to take a bath at night now as he lays next to me in bed. Argh. 

At the end of the day, I love all his quirks. Every single on of them. He's given me many hours of laughter at his "issues" and his "looks" he gives me.  He's gone by many names too.  DJ, Pookie, Poop-N-Snack, Snacken-Poop, Big Blast Beast of Burden, El Gatito Bonito, El Gatito Gordo - and most recently Bubba.

Happy Birthday Pookie!

biddi-biddi-biddi

In May 1987, Captain William Anthony "Buck" Rogers, a NASA pilot who commands Ranger 3, launched a space shuttle.  The story goes on to say that due to a life support malfunction, he's suspended in space for 504 years. He's later awaken to find Earth in the year 2481. 

Oh Buck Rogers, how I loved that show.  It ran from 1979 - 1981, short lived, but it was the most extreme story telling my 10 year old mind had seen.

On March 8, 1979, we woke to another sunny day in southern California.  There was an electricity in the air though. Excitement could be felt as we sat and ate our breakfast cereal. 

At 6:30 Grandma Spaid grabbed the camera and said to me, "Let's go!" in a way only Grandma Spaid could. (God I miss her.) She grabbed he Polaroid camera - (which was all the rage in 1979. I mean photos that developed right in front of your eyes. So cool! So we thought.) We walked pass a house next to us and stood on the corner of J-3 and 10th Street East.

At 6:45 we saw this:

According to my grandmother's impeccable documentation on any photo, we saw this at 6:55:

Then at 7am, we stood and looked up in wonder at the sight that was before us.  I remember it being quiet and a whole lot of "ooo's" and "ahhhh's" going on.

Once it passed, we walked the short distance to our house.  We sat at the table and looked at the pictures and talked about how totally rad it was to see something so space agey in front of us.  We speculated on whether it'd actually make it to space. 

I don't remember how long after, this viewing, but I was in school.  We were all gathered in the cafeteria to witness it via television the landing of the Space Shuttle Discovery at Edward's AFB.  The principle was standing by the very small TV and he was saying, "Any minute we should hear the sonic boom."  He no sooner said "boom" and the cafeteria was rattled with a sonic boom so loud it scared the pee out of most of us.  Living by the AFB we were used to hearing sonic booms, but we weren't expecting that thunderous sound. 

As everyone knows, it landed safely and the Space Shuttle program went on to build several more. Some were lost to tragedy, but all of them helped to further our mission in space.  Buck Rogers would be proud!

Happy 4th of July

This morning instead of sleeping in I figured I'd get out in the sunshine and enjoy it a bit.  So Sparky, my camera and I headed out to go see the Vietnam War Traveling Dignity Wall.  I had gone there a couple of years ago - like 10 - and remember thinking how amazing, and sad, it was to see all those names of men and women who lost there lives to fight for freedom (though some would argue that the Vietnam war wasn't about any freedom for us.)

I took that photo of the little boy in 2001.  And today while I was there I was thinking, that child would be 10 years old today.  Weird how time flies.

See that blue sky? A strange sight on the 4th of July in Seattle.

I spent about 45 minutes there walking up and down the platform and reading as many names in each section as I could.  I thought about who they might have been and what their lives would have been like. And then I thought about what the lives of their loved ones had been like.  Sad, and unnecessary is all I could think.

This guy was standing in the spot when I got there and was standing in that spot when I left.  I so wanted to talk to him and ask him about his story, but I felt like I would be intruding on his "moment". 

As I sit here in the evening listening to the fireworks going off in the not so far distance I'm so thankful that so many men and women were, and are, brave enough to fight for my freedoms.  For my freedom to go and pay my respects for their ultimate sacrifice.

Sparky had to be part of the celebration too.  God I love that car!

The List

I've made a relatively good dent on my list of things to do while I'm off this summer.  I keep holding off on some of them because, well I don't want to run out of things to do.  Though knowing me, I'll hold off too long and then I'll be back at work and won't have completed the list.

You can't be surprised that I made a fancy-ish list.  I mean I have 100 days off for heaven's sake. I have time to make a fancy-ish list. I even left room to add items if need be.

As you can see I've completed a couple "easy" items.  I've wiped down all the window sills, fixed my blog photos (I deleted the folder that held all the blogger photos. I had no idea Picasa and Blogger were pals and my blog photos lived on Picasa.), Updated my PDUs for my PMP certificate (realizing I have 29 credits to fill in 13 months - ugh), and organized my brads and grommets. I know, right? Tough life. 

And on top of all of that I've managed to search for a job as required. 

Today I'm reading.  I am half way through with one of my marketing books, which surprisingly doesn't have sleeping powder in it.  And I've just finished another "easy" reading book.  So I'm on track with both of those goals. 

What I have discovered since not working every day and interacting with people, lists, jobs, etc, is that my brain is turning to mush.  When you're at work you have things that need to be done and your brain is on top of those things.  When you're not at work, your brain too, surprisingly, goes on vacation.  I have lists for my lists now. I can't even remember what day it is half the time when I wake up in the morning.  I know, such a life.  But I've gotta tell you, I'd much rather be working.

And soon enough I will be.  I miss all my work peeps and can't wait to get back into the game.  Until then, I'm working on my 100 Day list. 

I had a good title, but then forgot

Honestly! Not working has turned my brain to mush. Its amazing how when you have more things to remember/do that your brain raises to the challenge of remembering all that stuff. When you have less, the brain takes a vacation.

Friday I headed into Seattle to help SSIL get things ready for the first of our three garage sales this year. SSIL puts so much effort into these darn things.   I often wonder if they're worth all the effort.  Saturday we had a lot of traffic and most people didn't haggle with the prices.  Turns out we made just over $700 - so I guess they are worth it.

Puck got left at home on Saturday - my fault. So instead his Uncle Yuck was there to help mascot the day for us. (Yellow Duck = Uncle Yuck - get it? See first paragraph on the mind turning to mush...this will all make sense then.)

On Sunday, ChickenLady was going to be selling her sweet little glass flowers at a local plant and art sale. Turns out Sunday was SUNNY.  Sparky was itching to go for a ride.

Off we went. 

I found the littler nursery pretty easily.  Wandered through and got the lay of the land with ChickenLady then went back through and shot about 100 photos of flowers, art, and misc stuff.  These are my two favorite photos of the day. So colorful and bright.

After the nursery, I decided to drive into Issaquah (the entire other side of the lake from where I was) to go to a scrapbook store looking for black and white checkered paper for ChickenLady.  As I was driving the speed limit and enjoying the sun it dawned on me I had forgotten my sunscreen. 

On the lake road there's a new stop light. Well, most likely not new to the people who drive the lake road daily, but new to me.  I stopped at the light and glanced to my left and say this:

This little doe was just standing there on the corner watching the cars go by.  I was hoping she didn't decide to just bolt off the property into traffic. 

Once in Issaquah I realized Sparky was getting ready to click over 1,000 miles. Hard to believe I've put on 600 miles in 4 weeks, but I have. Weird how you want to drive the long, scenic route when the sun's out.  So Sparky and I headed up over Cougar mountain into Renton.  It's a nice two lane road that's mostly wooded and scenic.  I got behind an RV and was happy to just putt along.  Once into Renton I had to drive around the block a couple of times to have it click to 1,000 so I could take a picture. What? You're surprised I had to take a picture?

Today Sparky's back at the dealership getting the leak fixed.  It's supposed to rain most this week so I won't miss the convertible part of Sparky.  I'm really hoping this is the last time she has to go into the service department for a while.  I'm starting to think I got a lemon! 

This week will be full of a whole lot of nothing.  I have my unemployment worksource meeting tomorrow and then the girls are coming over to scrap on Wednesday. Otherwise, I plan on getting into the list of things to do and get a few of them done. 

Wittle Baby Ducky

I announced to my BigBro and SSIL last week that whenever I hear the word duck the following song runs through my head:

Wasn't it a bit of luck

That I was born a baby duck

With yellow socks and yellow shoes

And I may go wherever I choose.

Quack!

Quack!Quack!
Quack! Quack! Quack!
Yay Ducks

I have no idea where I learned this song, but suspect it had to do with Brownies or Girl Scouts.

Anyhow, there's a Mama Mallard out in the pond who has 9 little duckies with here.  Yesterday she lost one.

About 6pm last night I noticed a lot of "peeping" going on outside. A continue cry for help from some widdle ducky.  I know my pond out back has a out-flow to it that has been covered with chicken wire to stop any babies from being sucked in.  There's a nice guy in the neighborhood who, every year, goes and puts the chicken wire on it.  He's not allowed to since this land is government property and "sacred" wet lands, but he does anyhow. Every year. I've not seen him this year come and put chicken wire on the outflow. 

Finally the peeping got to me and I went out to investigate.  One of the baby duckies had gotten sucked in. The out-flow is a bit into the marsh of the pond and was unreachable by me. Soon I had a couple neighborhood guys/gals "helping" try to save this duck. We tried for 2 hours and couldn't reach the little ducky. We couldn't reach the out-flow directly and so were trying to rig some sort of grabber device to grab the little ducky.  Mama Mallard was "helping" by pecking at the one guys ankles every time he tried to get close.  At the end of it all we just couldn't reach it. Animal control wouldn't come out either. 

Then sometime around 9pm I didn't hear the peeping anymore.  I told Mama Mallard, and myself, that her little ducky left to go be in the circus. 

It saddens me to know that the poor little ducky was so scared.  I know, realistically, that it's the circle of life and that animals don't feel fear the way we humans do.  But to watch Mama Mallard swim away with her other 8 duckys was just heart breaking.

In other non-feather related news, I cancelled eHarmony last night.  My second three months ends tomorrow and I've gotta tell ya, what a wash.  Over $200 spent and not a very good turn out. I had sent my "questions" (which is the first step in NotSoEHarmony to 127 candidates.  One guy, Daniel, got back to me but then was never heard from again.  I'm going to take the summer off and focus on my list of things to get done in 100 days. I have my profile on a few other free sites, and should probably up date them, but don't really feel like it now.