Two weeks ago I weeded the backyard. The perennials were all starting to come up. A few flowers were in bloom; lots of leaves were growing.
There were big fat leaves, little spiny leaves, fern-shaped leaves, green leaves with white borders, white leaves with green borders, clover-shaped leaves, grass leaves, and more. All in that one corner of our yard. (You can see it better if you click on the picture.)
They held me close against her chest and taught me how to cuddle, They sought out the most ticklish spots and attacked them until I shrieked with laugher, They showed me patiently over and over until I could tie my own shoes, They scolded, reprimanding even as they said it was only because she loves me, They cooked and cleaned and scrubbed and served and taught me to do the same, They pushed me away when we argued and held on tight when we made up, They dialed that long distance number so we could talk when I was far away, And every night, before they turned down the covers, they folded in prayer.
Thursday morning, when I turned on my laptop at work, it worked for approximately 20 minutes. Then I saw the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. I called in the problem to our computing support and was given a ticket number. So, from 8AM until 2:30PM I waited. Finally at 2:30 the repair guy showed up, but he said the repair would take another hour and a half. So, Friday morning at 9:00, my computer was fixed! The repairman said he replaced the "main board" - I don't really know what that is. Thirty minutes later my laptop died again. In frustration, I ripped it out of its docking station and drove to the closest laptop repair center, where I was told that the replacement main board had been faulty; so now I waited one more time for repairs. As I drove away from the laptop repair center, I saw a pull-out by the side of the road. So I pulled over, and discovered a nature preserve area along the river. The trails off into the woods whispered at me, branches beckoning the intrepid explorer.
I locked the car up tight and left it - hoping that either my parking spot was legal or that no patrolman would notice. As I stepped into the shade, I felt my anxiety and frustration melt away. Crouching to move through the overhanging branches, carefully bending braches back so I could slip by, I disappeared into the woods.
The trail branched, so I followed the right fork. When the path seemed to disappear, I ducked under the overhanding brush and came crouching out to the edge of the greenery. To my surprise, I was not alone. There was a whole family resting out on the shore of the river. They were a little shy - I only caught a glimpse of their backsides as they waddled away.
Maybe they weren't shy after all; maybe it was the allure of cold puddles and tasty snacks on a hot spring afternoon.
Turning to the left, I could see more birds walking in the mud, walking half-in the river, and swimming. It was so hot that I was almost ready to join them!
Having seen all I could see from this vantage point, and getting a little stiff from all the crouching, I headed back up the trail to explore the left-hand fork. It led to an open area surrounded by pussy-willows. From here I could clearly see that the river was at low tide. Yes, the river was at low tide, since this is only a short distance from where it flows into the Puget Sound. A big muddy patch was left; kind of an eyesore if you're looking for beauty. I watched one hungry bird hunt and peck through the mud for a mid-afternoon snack, and then a flurry erupted and every bird seemed to take off at the same time, leaving the open shore and flying into the woods.
Clearly I don't have the instincts of the wild birds - I had no idea why they all took off until I saw the eagle circling overhead. Sorry that he's so far away in the video - that's just how high he flies!
I backed into the woods and crept through the underbrush until I saw a glint of reflection from my windshield. Leaving behind bent twigs and squishy footprints, I drove away, rolling down the windows and turning up the volume while I listened to the Harry Potter book on CD.
The threatened rain didn't materialize Saturday, so we unpacked our new inflatable kayak and headed down to Lake Washington with Dan's brother and his wife. We found a sandy entrance to the water, so we brought out the kayaks down to the shore. Inflation was a bit trickier than it sounded - but eventually we were ready to go. The girls climbed in the backs of the kayaks while the boys held them steady, and then they climbed in the fronts. We started to head away from the shore. Within about 7 seconds Dan & I were grabbing the sides and hoping we didn't capsize! We wiggled around and settled ourselves more firmly and them pressed on with our adventure. It took a minute or two to follow the other kayak out beyond the signs; from the lake we could read the "no boating" signs just fine. Oops.
So we followed the shore for a half mile or so, looking for a public beach where we would be allowed to kayak in the future. Unfortunately all we saw were bigger and fancier houses the further we went. For a while I thought it was raining, until I realized that was just my paddle dripping on me when I raised it up over my head. I wish we could've taken pictures, but my camera is definitely not waterproof. We made it back safely and packed up our kayaks. Next time we'll look for a beach where boating is allowed.
Shhhh. If you're quiet now I can take you with me for a walk today. Where? Oh, just a walk around the parking lot. Maybe, if we're very quiet, we'll see a bunny.
Look - over there! It's so cute. I think it's eating lunch.
Oh - I think it noticed us.
There it goes - a quick dash into the brush along the riverbank. I think that's where they live. It won't come back out as long as we're standing here. We might as well keep going. The path goes on for almost a mile - there will be more to see.
Huh? Where?
Oh, I see it now. Wow - they really blend in when they freeze like that. Sometimes I don't even notice them until I'm within a few yards, and then they just dash faster than thought into the safety of those thorny branches.
There's things to see if you look up too.
So how was your morning? Oh good - mine was fine. I look forward to lunchtime though, when I can get away. It's fun to watch out for all the animals that live around here. Sometimes I think they watch me too.
Other times I can tell they're hoping I won't notice them.
Oh - look there - this one's not as shy as some of the others.
Well, it's time to turn around and head back - I can't take too long on my break. Oh - good eyes! Let's see how close he'll let us come.
How many bunnies are there? Hmmm... I'm not sure. I usually see five or six along the stretch by the river, and sometimes I see two at once. No, they're not all the same one - several of them look quite different.
It's okay to talk a little louder now - we're back near the buildings, and the bunnies don't usually come down he-oh! Did you see that? Where'd it go? I think it ran the wrong way - now it's trapped. Oh, that poor bunny.
I guess we should continue on - maybe it will come back out when we're gone. There's one more thing I want to show you. For a couple of weeks, I keep seeing an eagle in the trees. I looked in all the trees up and down the river, but I couldn't find a nest. Then one day, as I was getting in my car, I found this.
Thanks for coming with me. I hope you had fun; I get to do this almost every day.
