Now that Bob is working full-time, the local squirrels are back on the gravy train, or should I say sunflower seed train, and once again have a full belly for the winter. They have been going without for the last couple of years as many others have had to do in this economy. Anyway, I looked out at the squirrels and saw this cool bird. Washington birds are not very colorful to start with and I've never seen one of these before so I spent an hour trying to figure out what it was. Although I tried to be self-sufficient, I finally gave up and texted Chris to ask what it was. He too had to look it up, albeit much faster than I did and was back to me in a few minutes with the answer. It's a "varied thrush" that usually hangs out in the mountains and comes to the lowlands during the winter.
I want to point out that before I met Chris' dad, birds were only found at the grocery store meat counter and cages at the zoo with nice labels in front of them.They did not even appear as a blip on my radar. Since I've met Dave I actually notice birds and want to know what they are called but I just don't have the memory to remember what the markings are or the patience to look 'em up if I could remember them. Thanks Dave. I really needed one more thing to distract my attention from the machinations of life.
As all the locals know, we have been under an impressive--or should I say oppressive--layer of fog for several days. Even for the Pacific Northwest, this weather is a bit melodramatic.
Last week you will recall I was wondering why the fog wasn't freezing all over everything if the temperature has been below freezing for several days now. Well this week's edition of "The Next Chapter of The Book" will answer that nagging question. Let me see...if mixed snow and rain is "snain", then is frozen fog called "frog"?
Here the hedge out front is covered in white frozen fog particles.
As is the lavender bush at the top of the driveway. Notice the grey, dreary, hanging fog in the background.
More frozen fog on the cedar tree in the front yard. The amazing part is that the fog crystals were only on one side of everything. Kind of like sideways snow.
This weed is fully encrusted in frozen fog, the air is 28 degrees, yet plants around the weed have no frozen fog on them.
Here the fog piled up on one side of the branch. As you can see, ice crystal formations fascinate me. These crystals were about a half-inch deep. It's a good example of the one-sided-ness of freezing fog.
Backyard branches covered with a thin layer of frozen fog. This isn't really frost or ice. It's really different looking from either of those and gave me something to stalk on a cold inauguration morning. The neighbors looked at me funny creeping around the yard in my flip flops taking pictures of nothing of note.
The tendrils under the cedar tree were iced over, but the branches above it were not. I found these inconsistencies very interesting. It's like a secret grotto for winter lawn gnomes.
Fr-ogged out weeds.
Ice edging the holly leaves. This go-to holly tree is always guaranteed to net a beautiful photo in any season.
Super Fog. Even though the neighbor's house is 1/2 acre away, his TV is so large I can see what he is watching even in daylight. Creepy, huh? Today the fog is so heavy that I can barely see their house, let alone that he watches KOMOTV news first thing in the morning.
I was well on my way to work today when I heard a substantial "thump" on the roof of my car. Since my car was made during the heydays of 1956 Detroit while Elvis was still making girls swoon with "You Ain't Nothing But a Hound Dog", it has a hearty roof. I was out in the open and couldn't figure out what could have hit my roof. A bird that died in the air and froze as he plummeted to the ground? A meteor? A poop-sicle from an airplane? At least I know it wasn't from a Boeing 787 since they've all been ordered to the for now.
After pulling off the road in front of the fire station, I noticed my much-loved and shattered Dickey's BBQ cup carcass laying dead in the road. Each morning I bring a large iced tea in my Dickey's cup to drink on my way to work to wake me up. Somehow this cup of tea survived on the slick roof of my car through pulling out of my driveway and several turns after. Once it fell over, in the few seconds it took to stop my car I found my iced tea frozen in a thin layer on the roof of my car. Darn. I really count on my iced tea to get my tummy revved up each morning. I guess I'll have to settle for a nice Americano w/cream from the coffee stand in front of me.
The urban legend is that Himalayan salt lamps de-ionize and reduce allergens in the air. Sure they do, and I have some swamp land to sell you too. I had heard from a couple of friends that these salt lamps really did work despite their cynical attitude toward this outcome so I ordered a giant Himalayan salt rock lamp from Amazon.com. We put it in our room to maximize the effect of the negative ion delivery this bad boy was touted to deliver.
After a couple of mornings we each got up test-sniffed our sinuses and tentatively admitted to each other that it really did seem to be delivering on it's reputation. I have to say, however, it is a bit like sleeping too close to the sun since it puts out a bright orange glow. The first night we had it on I went upstairs only to think our room was on fire because of the bright orange glow being emitted from our room.
This weekend the chaos train came to town for Chris' drill duty at McChord Air Force Base. Carissa and I ran errands and finished off the afternoon by taking Bear to the Morrill Meadows Dog Park in Kent. Although Bear had been there many times, Carissa had never been. I take Bear there if he's been good while I run my errands on East Hill when he stays with us while the kids are on vacations. Here's Bear showing Carissa how he's King of Morrill Meadows...as long at the Dalmatian that is there doesn't see him...
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