THANKSGIVING 2018 ~~ A WALK AROUND THE COLLEGE ~~ A TOUR OF STARBUCKS CENTER ~~ PARTING SHOT (a personal note)

THANKSGIVING 2018

One of our most favorite things to do is go visit our relatives in the Seattle/Tacoma area. If the pass is open and there isn't too much snow, we make the trip over there on Thanksgiving. This year we lucked out and didn't have any snow to contend with, although it was definitely a possibility. We drove over on Thanksgiving morning and arrived at Emily and John's around noon. Not long after we got there I discovered that Emily has hummingbirds come to her house year-round! This was exciting as we definitely don't have hummers in Yakima during the winter. As a matter of fact, we hardly have any in the summer. They don't nest in our area, so we only get them as they pass through in early summer heading up to breeding grounds in Canada & Alaska, or in early fall when they head back down to warmer climates in Southwestern U.S. & Mexico.

You lookin' at me?

An added treat was the fact that this is a different hummingbird than the one we get in Yakima. This one is the Anna's Hummingbird (click here for an article), and the one that flies through Yakima is the Rufous Hummingbird (click here for an article). The picture above shows a juvenile male Anna's. You can tell this one is a male hummer because he has a very colorful gorget, or throat feathers (click here to learn more about this feature). Since the gorget is not completely covered in colorful feathers, this indicates that the hummer is a juvenile. The video below shows off this hummer's gorget. He is momentarily startled by another hummer, but is able to continue on with his breakfast despite the interruption. (Note: Turn your sound up on the videos if you want to hear the music)

The female of the hummingbird species is almost always a dull brown or green color. Still, they are very pretty in their own right. This article (click here) explains how to tell a male hummer from a female.

Female Anna's Hummer

I was in hog heaven with these hummers flying around. The reason Emily is able have hummers year-round is because she has a heated feeder, which keeps the hummer food from freezing. Otherwise the hummers would not come to her yard if there is no food available. Here's a nice video of a hummer visiting her feeder. You can see the light in the bottom that keeps the nectar warm.

Hummingbirds are not the only birds that Emily has coming to her yard. She also gets a lot of Northern Flickers, the Western version (link here). These birds are very large compared to the hummingbirds. The picture below shows a male Flicker, and the video below that shows a female Flicker. Notice that the male had a red mustache, sometimes referred to as a mylar.

Male Northern Flicker (red-shafted)

After much bird watching, we finally settled in to the business of the day...Thanksgiving dinner! I think everyone outdid themselves this year as the feast was absolutely delicious. Prior to eating, we all raised our glasses in a toast to Linda's Mom & Dad, as well as to my parents.

To absent family members

A family tradition that is carried out every year the day after Thanksgiving is decorating the Christmas tree. Linda and Emily usually take care of this, and are assisted by John most of the time; however, he was out of town on Friday this year. I took on the job of recording the event for posterity. Emily has some absolutely beautiful ornaments, which were all spread out on the dining room table. I think everyone probably has "special" ornaments that evoke a sweet memory whenever they are put on the tree. To me, that is the best part of putting up the Christmas tree.

Special ornaments

The decorating staff

The finished tree

All this activity was being supervised by Tabitha, also known as "Tabby," who had the best seat in the house. The best place for a kitty on a cold, rainy day in Seattle.

Tabby relaxing

A WALK AROUND THE COLLEGE

The next day, Emily took Linda and me on a walk to North Seattle Community College, which is near to where she lives. On the way over there we stopped at Licton Springs P-Patch, a community garden that still has some vegetable and flowering plants growing, as they had not had a hard freeze in this area yet. In the video below you can see some nice, big Kale plants that have quite a few leaves on them. And the red-stemmed Swiss Chard plants are just gorgeous! There is also a huge cabbage growing right in the middle of the garden. I felt a bit sad because my veggie garden has been gone for about a month and a half.

Flowering plants in the community garden

The college campus was just a couple of blocks from this garden. It was so nice to walk around and see the beautiful and creative art that was interspersed all around the campus. A lot of the art offerings were very whimsical, almost comical. Some were just a offbeat representation of something you would recognize. Some were hard to figure out. All were enjoyable!

On our way back to the house we walked along a nature trail that runs beside the college campus. This is always a good opportunity for some shots of pretty plants and trees, and the occasional out-of-the-ordinary item.

A TOUR OF STARBUCKS CENTER

After lunch we took a trip downtown to visit Starbucks Center, the world headquarters for Starbucks Coffee Company and the place where Emily works. The building was constructed in 1912 for Sears, Roebuck & Co. and was occupied by both Sears and Starbucks until recently. Sears has now moved out and Starbucks rents the entire building, except for a small section rented by  AmazonFresh Pickup. You can see the head of the Starbucks Siren at the top (click here to learn more about the Siren).

Starbucks Center

Siren Logo (top) and Mission Statement (bottom)

After our tour of the building (well, the part of it that Emily works in), we went back out through the front doors and walked right next door to the Starbucks Reserve SODO Store (click here for info) Oh my, it is coffee heaven! Wonderful, small-lot Starbucks Reserve coffee drinks, Princi bakery food (sandwiches, pastries, cakes, bread, etc), bags of coffee, coffee cups, mugs and other coffee paraphernalia was found throughout this beautiful store. It is a darn good thing we had already eaten lunch or I would have just HAD to get one of those sandwiches!

Starbucks Reserve SODO Store

Sunday we had to head back home, so after stopping off at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, we made our way back over the pass to Yakima. We had an uneventful trip, but were glad we once again had the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with family. After all, that is what Thanksgiving is all about.

PARTING SHOT  (a personal note)

Summer Girl has relinquished her Parting Shot spot this week so that I may pay tribute to my cousin, Robert Harris, who passed away on Wednesday after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. During our childhood he was the brother that my sister and I never had. Although I didn't have much contact with him in later years, my sister and he lived close to each other and were good buddies their entire lives. I credit him with getting me interested in photography when I was fresh out of college. He was a great guy who had a wonderful sense of humor. Rest in peace, dear cousin. You will be greatly missed.