Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Point no Point in Washington

We thought we got up on time for Sunday School. Both Ray and I were dragging. Too sick to even watch TV last Sunday we wanted to be there this week. By the time we were both dressed and ready Church was three-quarters over. Maybe if we just got out and did something we would start feeling better. Point no Point on the inside thumb of Washington's peninsula is always refreshing. With a full thermos of coffee and a jacket on Rudy and we were off.


Our favorite January bird, the Scoter, was dining on mollusks that clung to the pier at the Edmond's ferry landing. It seemed like a good start to the day. I think we both fell asleep on the boat ride even though we had a "window seat". Beautiful views for such a gray day.

Like all the beautiful places in Washington, Point no Point has become thick with expensive homes. Day trippers like us are lucky that no one has figured out how to get expensive houses on the beach or bluff...yet. There is still a lonely feeling walking the shore, though it isn't like it was even just a few years ago. We could see many couples and their dogs doing the same thing we were. The one exception we noted with disgust is that most dog owners are not inclined to pick up after their dogs. Yuck. It isn't that difficult.


Even on a gray day the water tends to run a deep crystalline aqua green. Like most western states, Washington has been overwhelmed with rain this winter. We suspect that there has been so much run-off that the inland waters are thick with runoff. I cannot remember a time when gray was such a dominant color, even with the gray sandy beach.



You cannot see it here but Seattle is just across the water. The clouds eventually rolled away to reveal small boats scattered everywhere, drifting in the current with families jigging for black mouth. A man and a young boy were walking the beach with a bucket and shovel gathering shrimp and beach worms for bait. Right on the point they had placed comfy folding chairs and were casting from shore for black mouth.




For the most part our birding days are behind us. We cannot convince Rudy that birds are only for looking at. Monika, the photographer extraordinaire and author of "Orca Watcher" (her link is on my side-bar. SJI is San Juan Island), already has one hundred birds on her list for 2011. I read her with envy. She lives the life that Ray and I used to dream about. We are trying to stay content with Scoters spotted on the Ferry. On this trip we also saw Red Breasted Mergansers, Golden Eyes and Cormorants. Birds that everyone easily overlooks. They are everywhere. There might have been a Grebe by the Port Townsend Ferry landing. It was this seagull with his prize starfish that gave us pause. We have seen seagulls toting all kinds of things but this was the first time we have seen one swimming with a starfish. It must not be too rare. There was a second gull down the beach doing the same thing.


I don't know if Ray slept on the Ferry ride home or not. We both crashed once we got home. Our spirits felt a lot better though.





7 comments:

  1. That shore looks like a very nice place to walk. How lucky that is so near your house! I love living by the water too!

    Saw your message on my Seed Envelope post. Yes sure, please feel free to share the link.

    Re: Purple Artichokes, I've never grown them before but would be interested. Are there any seeds that you are looking for trading? I have some seeds I could share.

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  2. Hi! and thank you!

    This tediously long address is for my face book page. If you want those seeds to try send me your address in a PM.

    Your nycb blog is beautiful (and I have only seen it in winter!)

    http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=100000033072905

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  3. What a nice place for a walk! Hope you're both feeling better now.

    I love the name of your blog. I tried months ago to convince my husband that this farm needed a name - Rainsong Farm! ;-) He wasn't convinced.

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  4. Awww, thanks Dianne. The name of the garden is "The Toy Box" Rainsong is just my blog name. Dovesong was taken. The varied thrush that sang in the trees outside my bedroom window when it would rain in summer gave me the idea for the name.

    The Toy Box came because an e-friend of mine gardens in Texas and tells me that her 50 x 50 French intensive garden is a "small" garden. My square-foot-garden was no more than a toy box in comparison to her "small" garden. The name stuck. We all call it that now.

    That is kewl that you were going to call your farm Rainsong!

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  5. Such beautiful photos. I have a brother that lives in Ridgefield, he moved down from Seattle many years ago when the real estate prices SOARED. I always loved visiting that area-but imagine it's hard to get away from the crowds by now. It must be wonderful to hop a ferry and visit so many diffferent places. Sorry the birdwatching isn't going so well. Hubby and I are heading to Nebraska in a few weeks to catch the spring migration of snow geese. We caught it last year and words can't describe how amazing it is to see tens of thousands flying around you. I imagine you see some pretty amazing sights right where you are!

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  6. Hello Sue. I wouldn't mind a road trip to Nebraska, but since I cannot make it that far East, Elohim sends swarms of snow geese just north of us in Skagit. Somewhere on this blog there are homey little photos of the sky growing dark with geese as the field undulates with grazing birds. Whoosh does not adequately describe the sound when they suddenly decide to take to the air.

    We try to make it to Ridgefield three or four times a year for the birds. Hoping to get to Fort Casey State Park during February. We also like San Juan Island in February, birds are just one of the reasons.

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  7. Sounds like a pleasant day. I'm not a real birder but I've tagged along on a few bird walks and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

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