A DAY OF NATIONAL MOURNING ~~ THURSDAY MORNING WALK ~~ SPACE NEEDLE AT NIGHT ~~ PARTING SHOT

A DAY OF NATIONAL MOURNING

Today our nation says goodbye to a former President, George H.W. Bush. Right now I am watching his funeral on CNN Live and it is really impressive. The eulogy by his son, George W. Bush, was truly heart-warming and heart-breaking. I don't recall the last time I watched a Presidential funeral. I'm sure it has been a long time. But today I witnessed our nation say goodbye to a loyal, honorable, respected, and honest man who had great integrity and humility. We should all be thankful that we had a president such as this to lead us.

THURSDAY MORNING WALK

With the onset of cold weather here in Yakima, Linda and I are trying to take a walk out in nature at least once a week. During warmer weather we are outside a good bit of the day. But as the temperatures go down, it gets more difficult for us to be out in the cold. So this past Thursday we drove over to Randall Park and walked a couple of times around the pathway. The first walk around is slow so I can take pictures. The second walk around is a little bit faster so we can get something that at least resembles "exercise." We pretty much had the park to ourselves and the ducks and geese ignored us as we walked past their napping area, with only a few getting up and walking around. The trees were still holding on to a few leaves but had dropped tons of them on the ground.

A carpet of fallen leaves

As we walked past the napping area, a couple of very large geese came by, loudly honking at us. I snapped a couple of pictures to show both the male and female. I looked them up on Google and I believe these are African Geese (click here for info on this breed), although they are thought to originate in China.

Male goose, called a "gander"

Female goose, just called a "goose"

Moving on around the park, we came to the pond area. There weren't many ducks or geese out on the pond because most of them were taking their mid-morning nap on the shore. But business seemed to pick up as they spotted us over on the viewing platform.

Bibbed Domestic Mallard

Mallard couple

While on the viewing platform, we observed a Mallard couple displaying a common courtship ritual. (natural sounds on this video and the one below it).

On the shore of the pond there was a group of cattails growing in the water. The leaves on these cattails still had an autumn-like color to them.

Cattail plants

As we walked on around the park, we came to the little bridge across the creek to a wetland area. I stopped on the bridge to take a picture of some berries on a tree. I took a picture of these same berries back in October.

American Mountain Ash tree

Picture from October

High up in a tree near the bridge I spotted a huge insect nest. I don't know if this is a Yellow Jacket nest or a Hornet nest, but I do know it isn't a Paper Wasp nest because those are flat and comb-like and do not have a paper covering over them. Those pesky Paper Wasps are all over the place here in Yakima, and let me tell you from personal experience, they can really sting! Whatever kind of insect made this nest, it does not look like it is occupied now.

Hornet or Yellow Jacket nest

Along the shore of the creek is a small stand of some kind of birch tree. Since there are 30-60 kinds of birch trees (according to Google), I have no idea which one this is. All I know is that they are pretty.

Birch tress along the creek

The little creek that runs into the pond is small by comparison to Wide Hollow Creek (which is technically a "stream") on the other side of the park. I tried to find out if this little creek has a name, but apparently it doesn't. It is just a trickle at some spots, but it does supply the pond with run-off water.

As we left the creek area I put away my camera so we could take another circuit of the park without interruption. I remarked to Linda that I wished Kissel Park, near our house, was as nice as Randall Park. She reminded me that we are lucky to have a park that is just a few blocks from our house, so we can go on a walk there anytime we want. And you know what...she's right (as usual)!

SPACE NEEDLE AT NIGHT

Emily and John went to a play this past week at a theater near the Space Needle. Emily took some pictures and this shot below of the Space Needle all lit up with a Christmas tree and fountain in the foreground is just gorgeous! I can remember when I was in the sixth grade, I did a school project where we had to make a scrapbook of sights around the U.S. I remember putting a picture of the Space Needle in that scrapbook! Oh, how I wish I had it now, it would be fun to look at.

Space Needle at night

PARTING SHOT

Summer Girl has been holing up in her favorite wintertime spot lately. Guess where it is.

On the big bed

That's it for this week, my friends. Please check back again next week for another edition of "Southerner in the Northwest."