We had an evening glide at Vaughn Inlet on the Key Peninsula. It couldn't have been more tranquil, with a light breeze blowing across the water. 
Our paddle took us into a little grotto, with over- hanging trees and the calls of the Swangston thrush, our favorite. The best time for a paddle is in the early morning or evening, when the birds are singing and the colors are deep.
We paddled for about an hour, gliding under an old bridge. (You can see that the tide is down). 
These sandbags were along a cutbank, shored up with sandbags so that the tree wouldn't fall into the water.
I did some beach combing, and came across this - a little crab, barnacles on oystershells, and a mollusk shell. Among the detris are wood chips, seaweed, and sand-dollars...
and this....what a shame, when the festivities are over, that someone couldn't have picked up all their fireworks.
Cluster Meetings are a way of getting Baha'i groups together to renue bonds of friendship, and to discuss the progress of our Faith. The top photo is of Chris and Russ, performing. Most Baha'i activities, like the Ruhi Classes, are composed of small groups, which act to bond the friends together, to provide enrichment and connection. We've found that smaller, more intimate groups foster intimacy and provide greater opportunity for asking questions and exploring issues that might get lost in larger group settings.
Cluster meetings bring several groups together in a larger setting. We have music, a meal, and conversation. It is more structured, with guest speakers. Linda here, shown with George, is from Seattle, and was a guest speaker.
Study Circles, Ruhi Classes, Devotional Meetings, and Children's Classes are a routine part of the fabric of Baha'i life. 
Here, someone has put their ideas on paper, with the theme "Keeping Sacredness at the Center".
Daisy, my grand-daughter, and I spent an afternoon at Point Defiance Zoo, checking out the new exhibits. Its been a few years since we've been there, and in that time the zoo has installed a new 'Asian Forest Sanctuary' that is home to Sumatran tigers, white cheeked gibbons, miniature water buffalo, the Malayan tapir, crested porcupines, and siamangs, a large gibbon. These are vanishing species of southern Asia.The 'Asian Forest Sanctuary' is the most ambitious project ever undertaken at Point Defiance Zoo here in Tacoma. There are six exhibit areas with many viewing points, as well as a waterfall, streams, ponds, mineral licks, and a bamboo forest. I took my video camera, and taped tropical fish, then we headed over to check the elephants, artic fox, raindeer and musk ox, the beluga whales, walrus, and sea otters. There are three large acquariums here, featuring 'A Seahorse Odyssey', the 'Marine Discovery Center', and 'Around the Sound' exhibits. 
We spent the afternoon listening to lectures by trainers and naturalists in a large central plaza, the Pacific Rim plaza. Here, the purpose is education, mixed with a little fun Kids come on stage to help the parrots perform.
We walked into this little hut, where one of the zoo attendants fed a barn owl some fresh meat. She said that the barn owl was so tame that it 'talks' to her the entire time she feeds it, while it is standing on her arm. The barn owl will follow her around, due to the process of imprinting that occurred when it was hatched at the zoo. It thinks the zoo attendant is the parent.
After lunch we went to the "Kids Zone", and these are some of the photos that I snapped while Daisy played. 
She is just about too old to climb the monkey bars and swing from bars - she is 10. I figure these are some of the last photos I'll see of Daisy acting like a little kid on the playground. You see, when it was time to go on our outing, she kept me waiting, and waiting, and waiting while she 'styled' her hair in the bathroom. She also was the one to lead me around the zoo to her favorite places, reading the map as we went. 
It is amazing that in just a few short years, she's gone from a little kid needing my supervision at the zoo, to a tour guide knowing all the hot spots. I made a point of not doing zoo-shots for this post, cause elephants, tigers, and bears were more easily filmed with a zoom lens, on video, and I figured all of us have seen plenty of those.
When it was time to put my film on video-tape, I hesitated about whether or not to add the sound. But, we went ahead and included it, and in every frame, of every exhibit, there is a boisterous, overly excited 3 year old pointing out to her parents what is in front of her. Kids chatted, making animal sounds, acting like kids, mimicing each other. I realized that this is the kind of zoo life that never gets recorded. Kids at the zoo, and parents trying to keep up with them.....or, in my case, GrandMa trying to see everything through the eyes of children. I sat and watched everyone play, and looked around at all the parents, grand-parents, and family friends. These folks were just like me, taking in the show.
We've been caring for Daisy for a few days now, as her mom, Annie, has just lost her Grandpa. He and Grandma were on a cruise to Alaska when he suffered a stroke. Annie will be driving to California for the funeral. I'm glad Daisy was able to stay with us for awhile, and that we were able to help our son, Rue and Annie at this time.
Daisy and I spent the day at the zoo, and I'll try to get some photos up on Monday. Have a great weekend, everyone.
I just happened to notice this in the bottom of my fabric box. The little bird was on an old tie from the Goodwill. All of the experi- ments that I sewed, I gave away.....
This is one of the remote backroads we took during our camping trip through Okanogan County, the Sinlahekin Wildlife Refuge, and up through Wenatche.
This area, near Fish Lake, is a favorite of ours, with expansive valleys, vista, mountains, and lakes.We set up a 'base-camp' at Lake Cooper. Our tent was pitched on the far right knoll overlooking the lake. From here we traveled in all directions, to visit seven lakes. We were able to paddle six of them.
Lake Cooper is one of those purple lakes, surrounded by abundant wildlife, especially birds.
The Department of Fish and Game has planted crops all along the Siskahekin Valley, to attract migrating birds in the spring and fall.
Temperatures were in the 90's, with clear skies, during our trip. Nobody was camping this time of year - just too darn hot. But, it cooled down at night, so much so that we used our down comforter! And, daytime, we were exploring or paddling. Of course, the mosquitos at Lake Wenatche were so bad, that George put netting over his head, and I cooked dinner while whapping mosquitos. This is the second camping trip we've made to Lake Wenatche - last time the hornets and a severe windstorm threatened to blow us away.
One of our most exquisite paddles was here, in the marsh at Lake Wenatche. We had hoped to paddle several hours, late into the evening, but it started to thunder and lightening, so we high-tailed it outta there, and got out of the water. That's the last place you want to be when a storm threatens. As it was, it only sprinkled, but the thunder was terrible throughout the night. We had a tarp over the tent, so stayed quite comfortable. That is the first time I've felt thunder while laying on the ground. It was really powerful.
I didn't take many still photos. I wanted to focus on my video-taping.( I'm able to capture the bird-sounds as a backdrop.) I was able to film mountain sheep and deer at close range. Most of our glides were in the early morning or evening, when the light was at its best.
This spot was where we sat every morning with our coffee, at Cooper Lake.
I'll post a few photos below, just a little of 'this n' that. We had a good trip. But, now I've got all that unpacking to do, cleaning, sorting, and laundry.
Reflection Lake, where we had a picnic lunch in the shade by a spillway. This is a very tiny lake, rarely visited, but quite charming never-the-less. We set up our chairs, and chatted away for awhile - it was too hot to move. Underneath the wooden slats in the walkway, a barn-swallow had built a nest, quite visable. Five little spotted eggs were inside.
Lake Wenatche, where we set up another camp for one night. We had our own private beach here, with white sand. I swam in Lake Cooper, where the water was warm, but here it was cold. George did swim and bathe here, though. 
A perfect place for a tent when it rains - underneath the tree cover. However, I didn't care for the thunder here. We had to use a down comforter here at night, as evenings up in the mountains gets quite chilly.
And, Lake Wannacut, where we paddled mid-day. There was ample shade on that far left side - that is the only way we could have done it, with temps in the 90's. Dead trees along the shoreline of this lake were sawed off at 12 feet off the ground, to provide habitat for woodpeckers and other shorebirds. I loved the foxtails blowing in the wind. We had to portage to this lake.
We had an evening glide at Vaughn Inlet on the Key Peninsula. It couldn't have been more tranquil, with a light breeze blowing across the water. 
Our paddle took us into a little grotto, with over- hanging trees and the calls of the Swangston thrush, our favorite. The best time for a paddle is in the early morning or evening, when the birds are singing and the colors are deep.
We paddled for about an hour, gliding under an old bridge. (You can see that the tide is down). 
These sandbags were along a cutbank, shored up with sandbags so that the tree wouldn't fall into the water.
I did some beach combing, and came across this - a little crab, barnacles on oystershells, and a mollusk shell. Among the detris are wood chips, seaweed, and sand-dollars...
and this....what a shame, when the festivities are over, that someone couldn't have picked up all their fireworks.
