Spring has Sprung!

It is officially Spring here in the Pacific Northwest, although you wouldn’t know it today since it is overcast, drizzly and altogether dreary. The perfect day to be at home with a nice roaring fire, a cup of tea, and a good book (or in my case, knitting needles clacking away!). I had a good friend come to town at the last minute and we had a fabulous day at the Arboretum. We couldn’t have asked for better weather- it was sunny (yup, you read that correctly) and not too chilly. All the cherry blossom trees were in full bloom, as well as some magnolias and a bunch of other stuff that I don’t know the name of. It was gorgeous. We walked around for about 2 hours, and of course I took about eleventy-eight billion pictures of everything. I had completely forgotten to bring my tripod, which bummed me out, but I still managed to get a few good shots.

We then headed to get some lunch in the Madison Park area. It’s a very cute little neighborhood with amazingly beautiful homes. And you can actually walk down to Lake Washington and just enjoy the view, whhich is exactly what we did. We were visited by two very inquisitive, and brave, ducks. They literally came to within about 7 inches of us. It was amazing. Clearly, they were thinking we had food for them. Too bad they couldn’t read the big sign that said “Please don’t feed the ducks” or they wouldn’t have bothered. But it was cool to see them in their little ducky glory waddling around. Of course, I wanted to kiss their tummies, but I don’t think they would have let me.

And, just to make sure all you folks out there in the blogosphere know, there are some CRAZY people here. There was a man who went swimming in the lake wearing only a swim cap and his speedo. I was cold, and I was bundled up in my jacket and scarf. He was simply insane!

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In other news, I think I am about to become the official photographer for my friend’s newsletter. She is launching a Green company and since I love taking pictures anyway, it’s a good deal. As she said, I won’t get Green paper, but I will get recognition for the shots. So I am happy with that.

Ant Thoughts

You know those times when your brain is so overloaded, and you are so frazzled, that you start out to go somewhere and within .003 seconds you completely forget where you were going and why? I was walking down the hall at work the other day at Ginormo Software Co, Inc. watching someone walking in front of me. The person stopped mid stride and stood there for a second. Then started up again. And, being at Ginormo Software Co, Inc. I had an odd thought- Do ants forget where they are going and why? I mean, if you looked at my work location from space we would all look like little ants on the surface of the planet. Much like how we look down at ants carrying on their daily duties and things. But do they do it too? Say John Ant, busily heading out to find food, or water, or whatever ants are so busy doing, suddenly stops and has to stretch his antennae a bit to recall just what he was doing. Or do they always know what they are doing and why? Cuz if they do, then I think they may just be higher on the food chain than we think.

Fuzzy Catepillar

I am sure you are expecting to find a picture here of a multi-legged little insect. Nope. Sorry. It's the latest addition to my scarf collection!

My First Ferry Ride

I went on my very first ferry ride on Sunday. I took the ferry to Bainbridge Island, where Patricia and I then drove to Poulsbo, a quaint little Nordic town. The weather was great- it wasn’t blue skies, but it wasn’t raining and it got to be about 50-55 degrees, so it was warm (by Pacific NW standards, that is). The ferry ride took about 30 minutes to cross the sound, and then we drove another 15 minutes to get to Poulsbo.

We started out with lunch at JJ’s Fish, where we had the best Halibut fish and chips. Mmmmmmm. I ordered a Pyramid Hefeweizen, and actually drank 3/4s of it! I’m not sure where this new found appreciation of beer is coming from (I had a whole pint of Guinness last week), maybe I’m just a slow learner. Or, maybe it just seems like the thing to drink here. Who knows. Either way, it was very nice with the fish and chips.

We then browsed around the town, all the little boutiques and antique shops.

By the end of the day we just sat at a little park overlooking the water and watched the herons and seagulls and ducks. The view was amazing. I still can’t believe I am living in such a beautiful place.

Later in the evening we had dinner with a mutual friend who was in town on business ( Hi Harry!). We got home around 10:30 to find our neighbor’s dog greeting us at the steps. Since I haven’t formally met said pupster, I was a little concerned cuz I think she may be a pit bull mix. But she was super sweet, and just wanted to get some love. I knocked on their door but didn’t get any answer, so we brought the dog up to our place and left a note on their door letting them know where their dog was. She came inside and started sniffing and exploring, as dogs tend to do. Then she decided she wanted to play, so I chased her around a little and gave her some ear rubs. Finally, I brought her into my room and shut the door so she would calm down a bit. She snuffled at the door for a few minutes, then jumped right into bed with me. Such a love bug. She was a little restless for a while, but finally calmed down and curled up next to me and proceeded to warm my bed like an electric blanket on high power. I have never met a dog who throws off so much heat! Holy cow.

At about 2:30am, she started to bark a little, and then I heard a knock at the front door. The owner was there, very apologetic. She had no idea how her dog had got out, maybe when her boyfriend went out side the dog had slipped out and he hadn't seen her. She hadn’t heard me knocking on the door, and must have been very freaked out to wake up in the middle of the night to find that her pup was not there. They were very lucky that she stayed close to home and didn’t run off. I was happy that they were reunited, and I have officially gained a little more good karma in my karma piggy bank. Of course, I’m a little tired from not getting much sleep last night, but very happy that I could have a warm, fuzzy pupper keeping me company last night. Hmmm…. I seem to have the animal aura that my parents have- which is not a bad thing. Just not so much fun at 2:30 in the morning!