STARTING THE YEAR OFF RIGHT ~~ LATEST PUZZLE ~~ LINDA'S NEW "TREE" ~~ PARTING SHOT

STARTING THE YEAR OFF RIGHT

You all know my love of birds, so it was only fitting that Linda and I get the new year started off right by making a visit to Yakima's jewel, the Arboretum. On January 5th we decided to take the 15-minute drive to the Arboretum for a walk and to check out the bird blind. As we approached the blind we could hear some birds squawking. We thought they were Scrub Jays, but on arriving at the blind and spreading out some bird seed, we were delighted to see that they were Steller's Jays.

Steller's Jay

Side view

These are somewhat large birds, very strikingly colored in various shades of blue. There were a couple of them nearby and as soon as they saw the seed spread out, they came right away. The smaller birds stayed over towards the other end of the line of seed so they could stay out of the Jay's way. It seemed like every time the Jay moved, the sparrows and chickadees and juncos would fly away. It was quite comical to watch, this sort of dance performed by the birds.

The Steller's Jays are always on the move, with their topknots constantly going up and down. It was a challenge to get a good still picture of them, although I did manage to get in a few shots. They were much easier to video.

At one point I counted six of the Jays at the bird blind. We had seen one or two there before, but never as many as six. There were also lots of chickadees around, and you can hear them in the video below, with their cute little "dee-dee-dee, chick-a-dee-dee" call. The background noise, I'm sorry to say, is the freeway that runs alongside the Arboretum and most of the Greenway as well. But at least you can still hear some of the bird sounds on the video.

Can you spot the bird?

After watching the birds at the blind for a while, we decided to get moving as it was quite cold out there. We took a short walk along the part of the Greenway that is located behind the Arboretum. The Yakima River, which runs along the Greenway path, is always a beautiful sight in the winter.

The Arboretum and the Greenway are not the only places we visited the first week of the year. The day before, on January 4th, we went by Randall Park and treated our duck and goose friends to a bag of cracked corn. The ducks are so cute, they come running as soon as they see us drive up. Of course I think they do that for everyone, but we can pretend that they recognize us and know we are bringing them food.

Linda deserves a huge "thank you" for her deft handling of the 20-pound bag of cracked corn all by herself so I could video. It was funny how the African Goose was going along in front of her as if leading the way. I just love the sounds the ducks make as they proceed to gobble up the corn. The little murmuring sounds they make are just like they are saying "nom nom." And there was one little guy who sounded just like a pig! Quite appropriately, I think. Once the African Goose was front and center he was about all you could hear. He sounds a lot like a donkey! So we had a lot of barnyard noises during our visit. Our goal is to take the birds at Randall Park a bag of cracked corn every month during the winter. That way we know that at least one day out of the month they can eat all they want of some good, healthy food.

LATEST PUZZLE

After doing the "Christmas Cupboard" puzzle, which we finished on January 4th, we decided to take a break and do one that wasn't quite as hard. I picked out this one below, titled "Rallenta" by San Francisco artist Rex Ray (visit his website here). I think this is one of my favorite puzzles, I just love the design and the different shapes and colors. I certainly hope we find more by this artist as I really like his vision. If you visit the website, be sure to click on the "Art" and "Design" tabs to see more of his work. He has done Rock Posters and Book Covers, too. They are all absolutely beautiful! I was saddened to find out that he passed away in 2015 from cancer. But his art lives on.

We had to do this puzzle crosswise the table because it was a couple of inches wider than our card table.

"Rallenta"

LINDA'S NEW "TREE"

One of Linda's Christmas gifts was a small, bamboo bookcase. It turns out it was the perfect size to display her entire Louise Penny collection. Louise Penny (visit her website here) is a Canadian author who has written 15 murder mystery novels about investigator Armand Gamache. We both love her books and are happy to know that she is in the process of finishing up the next book in the series. I guess Linda is going to have to get another bookcase!

The "Louise Penny Tree"

PARTING SHOT

After all the company and excitement that we had over the holidays, Summer Girl was glad to get back into her routine. She even has a contented little smile on her face, as she takes a nap on the big bed.

Back to it

That's all for this week, my friends. Join me again next week for more from the Southerner in the Northwest!