MY DAILY BIKE RIDE

POST # 223

There's nothing like my daily morning bike ride here in Port Townsend, and I find I am at my happiest when I am riding.  My friend Dahr was kind enough to leave me with a wonderful bike to ride, and I've taken full advantage of it during my time here.

The weather has cooperated as well.  On most days there is a slight overcast which is great because it keeps the temperature cooler for riding, however this morning it was all sunshine and blue sky.

I roll out of the driveway usually around 9:30am and peddle down the gravel road to the highway.

On some mornings,  the neighbour's dog,  "Tank" is out in the yard so I say good morning to him as I ride on by. But today, Tank was returning from a walk with his owner, as I was coming in from my ride, so I had the opportunity to take a photo.

I enter on to the highway (Hastings Ave) just before mile marker post 4, and I'm on my way.

Soon after my entrance on to Hastings Ave, I pass by a horse boarding farm on my left.

  After I pass the horses and say hello to them, I come to a slight uphill grade, which is a good opportunity to get in the groove, and concentrate on some deep breathing to help power me to the crest of the hill.   This is followed by a coast down to Cape George Road at which point I start heading in an easterly direction towards the beach.

 A little less than two miles along this road and it's time to veer off onto the Larry Scott trail.  I stay on this magnificent tree lined trail all the way to the beach.  Here is a video of part of the trail.

https://vimeo.com/72697552  (the bench I rest at is shown at 2:53 of the video)

Somewhere along the trail, I have made friends with a local furball that comes out to greet me occasionally.  I never know when he's going to be there, but if he shows up, I always take the time to stop.  I appreciate spending a bit of time with him, and I think that he enjoys it as well.  Today, he was a no show.

Continuing on, the trail crosses underneath highway 20, and then it slowly descends the remainder of the way to the seaside.  I have my favourite bench to sit at, and it is here that I take a break, open up a book, and spend about a half hour or so, reading.

 I'm always entertained by the seagulls plucking shellfish from the shore, then flying upwards in a steep trajectory, letting go of their catch, so that it falls back to the earth, and hopefully cracks open, so that they can have a feed.  Sometimes it takes more than one try.  Once they've accomplished their task, they are immediately surrounded by a group of crows, looking for a free lunch.  The typical m/o for the crows is to surround the seagull, with one crow sneaking up from behind to nip at the seagull's tail feathers, which may or may not allow one of his buddies to then jump in and get some of the seafood.  It's always fun to watch, but I don't imagine that the seagull enjoys being ganged up on.  Aside from these feathered friends, there are always plenty of swallows around which nest in the cliff side.  They are wonderful flyers, and it is a pure joy to watch their skill as the dart and weave through the air.

After I've had a snack to eat, and a bit of a read, it's time to once again mount the trusty treadly* and begin my journey home.  The gentle outward bound downhill run to the beach is now reversed, so I get a better work out going home.

A sign by the side of the road on my journey home reminds me that there are still people out there  that think that voting actually makes any difference.

In total,  the round trip journey takes me about an hour on average,  25 minutes outbound and 35 minutes inbound.   A quick stop at the mail box which is located on the highway to check for any mail, then it's back on to the gravel road and home.

The round trip distance is 12 miles, just over 19 kilometers which is 133 kilometers/week.  It's not much but it is every day, so there's something to be said for that. When I road down the west coast from Vancouver to Los Angeles, I averaged about 100 kilometers per day.  However, that was 29 years ago.  The body seems to endure more at the age of 32 than at 61.  I guess the only way to find out if I could ride 100 kilometers/day again, is to give it a try.  I'll have to really think about that.

  Time to cool off now and have a well deserved breakfast, before I continue on with my day, which at the moment still includes some major weeding projects.

*treadly: Australian slang for bicycle


living a life of profound acceptance,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

MASTER WEEDER AND A BABY DEER

POST # 222

Two two two.  There's a number with symmetry. And a palindrome as well. I wonder if this blog will still be going at the number 333? That would be approximately two years and three months from now, give or take.  Only time will tell.

Enough of that.  A postcard arrived in the mail today, from my friend who is in Alaska at the moment, while I housesit for him.

It's a photo that includes an albino seal pup. As a funny coincidence, the photo was taken on St. Paul Island in Alaska, as shown on the postmark below.

While my friend spends his time galavanting in Alaska, I have been busy working on becoming a master weeder back here in Port Townsend.  It's now a part of my daily routine, and surprisingly I am beginning to enjoy it.  As there seems to be no end to this task, it's good that I am having fun digging in the dirt.  Here is just one of the projects currently underway, on the east side of the house.

Slowly but surely, the task is coming to completion.

It's looking better by the day.  Time to get back out there and get my hands dirty once again.
But to finish off this blog, here's another video with one of the deer babies, which I took just a few hours ago.  I get plenty of laughs from these wonderful creatures.

Happy Trails,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

MURDER WITNESS IN PORT TOWNSEND

POST # 221

Let me say this first, just to clarify the title of this blog.  The murder that I witnessed wasn't actually in the town of Port Townsend, but here on the property that I am currently housesitting.

One day last week, I was at home minding my own business, when I heard an almighty racket outside in the back yard. I went out to explore what was going on.  Up in the sky there was a flock of about a dozen crows, cawing up a storm.  Now to any ornithologist worth his salt, he would recognize this flock by its most common name, a murder of crows.  In fact, there are other terms used as well, as can be seen in the following link from "The Crow Society".
http://crow.bz/main/murder.htm

Crows are just one of the many species of birds that are here, and it is always so pleasant to spend time outside, just listening to them all day long, but especially in the morning.
A new type of bird which I hadn't seen before showed up the other day. As far as I can tell, it was a Western Tanger, with a primarily yellow body, black wings and an orange head.
Of course there are plenty of robins, and sparrows, as well as my hummingbird friends, and one of my favourites, the swallow.  I guess that one of the advantages of doing a house sit without any pets, is that I am much more aware of the critters in the yard.  We humans like to think of ourselves as being very different from the bird kingdom, however, when I look at the sketch below, it seems like there are more similarities than differences.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithology#/media/File:BelonBirdSkel.jpg

We're all part of the web of life.  What a shame it is, that as a result of industrial civilization, we seem to be doing everything we can to help as many species as possible go extinct.  One day it will be our turn.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/17/un-environment-programme-_n_684562.html

Aside from the many birds here, I'm always amused by the antics of my dear, deer friends. Just this morning, I managed to get this short video.  This is my assistant gardener, helping me to keep the weeds at bay.

And finally, here is one more video to round out today's blog.  There is no picture because it was shot outside at night, but I did it in order to capture the sound of an owl in a tree.  It was quite possibly the same owl that I photographed, and added to my June 28th blog.  Turn up the volume on your computer and have a listen. It makes a sound at both the beginning, and the end of the video.  Enjoy.  I certainly did.

Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

PHOTOS AND VIDEOS

POST # 220

On my bike ride the other day, I came across the above road sign.  For those who have known me for quite a while, they would probably concur, that this would be the perfect address for the Thoughtful Wanderer.  I didn't ride down Shorts Lane, but perhaps one day I will, in order to find out if everyone that lives down there are shorts wearers like myself.

Last week I wrote about my buddy, Rusty the hummingbird.  This week I'll just fill up the blog space with photos and videos of all the other life that surrounds me here.  Enjoy.

FRESH RASPBERRIES

GARDEN FROG

OWL

This is my furball friend that comes out on the bike path occasionally to say hello.

Mother deer and her babies hanging out in the back yard.

One of the kids just having some fun.

Happy trails,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

RUSTY

POST # 219

Upon getting out of bed one morning, not long after I arrived at my current housesit, I happened to gaze out the window and notice a lone hummingbird feeding on one of the flowers.  It made me happy to see it, and so I decided to search for a hummingbird feeder so that I could maybe attract a few more of these precious little creatures.

My first stop was in town to visit a shop that I thought might sell this item.  I was unsuccessful. Oh well, at least I tried.  Later the same day I was out in the garage, and lo and behold, there on a shelf, was just what I was looking for.  In no time, I had prepared some "food" (sugar water) and had suspended the feeder on the end of a length of bamboo, just outside my back window.

Soon after, my solitary hummingbird friend was joined by three more, and they all appeared to be enjoying their new found "wealth".  It only took a few days before the feeder needed to be refilled, and so that's what I did.

Then along came a new hummingbird, one I hadn't seen before. It was rust coloured so it was very easy to distinguish it from the others.  Because of its vibrant colouring, I will make the assumption that it was a male member of the species.  From the moment he arrived on the scene, he became the king of the castle, so to speak.  Every time any of the others tried to get to the feeder for a drink, this new hummingbird, (let's call him Rusty), would flare out his tail feathers and chase away his competition.  The funny thing about it was, he didn't seem particularly interested in drinking from the feeder, himself.  But he liked to make sure that no other birds got an opportunity to drink either.

I watched this little game play out, day after day.  Occasionally, one of the others would sneak in to get a drink, but it wouldn't be long before Rusty would swoop in from some distant perch and scare the other bird(s) away.  Then he would stay close to the feeder for a while to make sure that no one else could get a drink. I would be lying if I didn't admit that I was a bit annoyed with Rusty as a result of his behavior.

It's like things had come full circle.  I had started out with one lone hummingbird, then there were four, and now I was effectively back to one, because Rusty had taken over the feeder.  I felt bad for the others, but there was nothing I could do.


And then yesterday arrived.

The first part of my morning routine involves opening up the patio doors, and going outside to take in a few deep breaths of air, and for a few moments, just enjoy the wonderful nature that I am surrounded by.  But yesterday morning, something was wrong.  My little pal Rusty was lying upside down in the grass,  close to the bird feeder. He was still alive, but he didn't look well.  As the day progressed, his condition deteriorated, and by about 3pm he was dead.  This made me very sad.

There was nothing else to do now, but to make a little grave and bury him.

I buried him in the planter which sits directly below where the hummingbird feeder (which he spent the last few days of his life defending) is located.  It seemed like the most appropriate location. 

If there is a happy ending, (and doesn't our culture  always want to supply us with a happy ending), now that Rusty is dead, the hummingbird feeder again has numerous birds taking their share of the liquid food.  The other hummingbirds glance over at the sad looking human, and seem to "say" to me,  
don't fret too long about Rusty, just enjoy the fact that the rest of us are all still here.

As I write these words, the day after, I am already feeling a bit better about Rusty.  I was glad to have had the opportunity for us to share at least a few weeks together.

Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

A MEMORY FROM 1962 and POLITICIANS

POST # 218

A memory from 1962 popped into my head during this past week.  Who knows the exact reason how that works, but I imagine it is due in part to some of the information that I came across recently.
Back to the memory.  I'm standing in the kitchen at my family home with my arms resting against the kitchen counter, and directly in front of the transistor radio that used to sit on the counter top.  What was being broadcast was information related to the Cuban missile crisis.  Even though at the tender age of seven, I couldn't quite grasp the seriousness of the situation, I do recall that there was a mood of anxiety in the house.

Fast forward to now.  I came across this article (letter) which certainly isn't going to be found anywhere in the mainstream media, especially here in the USA.
http://thesaker.is/a-russian-warning/
For those of us who have been following what's REALLY going on, this information made perfect sense to me.  I even had the opportunity a few years ago to meet one of the authors, Dmitri Orlov.
In addition to the above letter, I listened to a recent podcast of an interview with Stephen Cohen.  Again, this is news that you just won't find on FOX or CNN.
https://player.fm/series/the-john-batchelor-show/anakonda-16-on-the-russian-frontier-stephen-f-cohen-nyu-princeton-eastwestaccordcom

When one combines the information from the above two links, things don't look very rosy, just like back in 1962.

So here we are in the middle of 2016.  Somehow, we've managed to not blow ourselves to smithereens just yet.  I guess if abrupt climate change doesn't do us in, then maybe a fat finger on the nuclear button will.

Still, I am grateful for the fact that I have had an additional 54 years to exist here on planet earth.  It's been quite a ride, and it's not over yet.

Mother nature is still providing the occasional rainbow to enjoy in the meantime.

And one last thing.  As I am currently living in the USA, it's almost impossible to get through a day without being inundated with information regarding the upcoming Presidential election.  The whole thing is such a farce, in my opinion.  But don't take my word for it.  Listen to what a much wiser person had to say about politicians many years ago.  This same wise individual once stated, "when you arrived into this world, you were given a ticket to the freak show, and if you arrived in the USA, you got a front row seat." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKUaqFzZLxU


Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

SETTLING IN

POST # 217

June has arrived, and if the first week is any indication, it's shaping up to be a warm month.
Here at my house sit in Port Townsend, I'm content to be an observer of the nature that surrounds me.  While out for a bike ride along the waterfront the other day I came across many wildflowers with very vivid colours, so naturally I was tempted to take a couple of photographs to add to this blog post.

There is plenty of bird life around here, and about a week ago I saw one lonely little hummingbird out in the backyard.   As luck would have it,  after a bit of scrounging around in the garage, I happened to find a hummingbird feeder, which I've rigged up just outside the back windows.  No sooner had I filled it up and the party was on.  From one lone hummingbird, I now have four of these wonderful little creatures.  I love to just sit outside and watch them as they come and go.  Perhaps I'll actually get a photo with some birds in it at some point.

It didn't take long for them to empty this first batch of sugar water, and today I must replenish the supply in order to keep my new found friends happy.  

Last night I was outside and took this photo of the interior of the house.

It's a comfortable place to be, although the last couple of nights have been rather warm, especially upstairs where the bedroom is.  There are windows that can be opened to get a bit of a breeze circulating, however they don't have screens on them, and one thing about this place is that it has an abundance of mosquitos.  If the heat continues, I may consider sleeping on the floor downstairs.

Finally, yesterday I decided to tackle the job of grass cutting which is quite a project on this 5 acre property.   The back yard is now done and today, I'll do the front yard.  I can't complain because I'm just grateful that I have two feet to walk around with, although my right ankle was a bit sore after yesterday's effort.

More news next week.  It's now time to go and water the blueberry bushes.

Happy Trails,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer 

This just in from a few moments ago. Look closely on the right hand side of the feeder.