Life with Andrea

One of the wonders of the place where we live is the sky. I am sure that in Big Sky Country, people love the sky, and I have heard that in Hawaii, people love to watch the evening sky. But here, too, it is splendid.

When the sun sets, on a day with no rain (don’t tell me there are no such days, I’ve seen some!), you can watch the fall of night. Many of these days have a surreal, Maxfield Parrish type of light - pink and yellow, and backlit from no one knows where. Even when the sky is not yet pink, the buildings develop a pinkish hue. And, in the east, the sky is dark as night. In the west, there is daylight to be seen. One stands in the cusp of time. Here, you can see as the chariot of night rides across the sky. Perhaps the Greeks were right - the Gods control such wonder as we are allowed to see.

This is a picture of Caity's - after the fall of night.

September 8, 2006

This week, so hectic, included a trip to Salmon Creek. Soren takes his wonderful Kung Fu there, from Mark Moy’s academy, but when he is in class I have the opportunity to be bored. Foregoing that opportunity, I went for a walk in the Salmon Creek Greenway.

I was hoping to see BUNNIES, as it was twilight, around 8 PM. But, no bunnies graced the path. Some dumb birds (robins) did, however. They hopped around as if they were squirrels - not flying, just hopping. I watched the creek for a beaver, as there is a beaver dam and others have told me they’ve seen a beaver. But I saw none.

I walked for about 1 ½ miles, and had to turn around, as I could barely see the path under my feet. I kept hoping for animals and birds. In the past, I have seen osprey - there is an osprey nest above the creek in one area. (They sound squeaky - reep, reep, reep - not raptorish. But it can make you nervous all the same if you are underneath the nest and the parents are REEPing at you). And, I think there were bats on Wednesday. And, when I was nearly back, I noticed the moon. A huge, round, orange moon, just the kind one would write about. Just the kind you see in those pictures of Halloween, although the Halloween nights without rain or snow are few and far between. A huge round orange moon.

I thought, wouldn’t it be great if there were an owl or bat flying across it. But no witch came, no bat, no owl. There was, however, a misshapen tree, which had some sort of growth on one of the limbs. It would be cool if that were an owl, but of course, it’s too civilized in Vancouver to find one of those. And then, the lump took off. It straightened out, and unfolded sideways, rose and dove, and whispered off, after a bat, I have no doubt. So, perhaps there are owls in Vancouver, if you know how to look and are patient.

So this is me on a good day. In Sequim. Which is where everyone should have at least one good day.