Today I will not analyze, nor report, nor tell stories or joke around. I will simply think of nature, its beauty and determination, its invariable beginnings and ends. These images were photographed yesterday. Pause and reflect.

Wild Currant

Pussy Willow

Hellebore

Edgeworthia

Scilla

I have a pretty set route in the afternoons, an enjoyable hour and 15 minutes if the puppy behaves. IF.

It is a loop through our neighborhood which contains numerous landmarks defined by good taste, bad taste, mysterious taste and plain old wonderful nature.

Photos were taken with iPhone in pouring rain, just so you understand the hazy quality…..

What used to be a single rubber duck on a tree stump right down the street is now an ever growing bestiary.

Entering the park, you are immediately among old growth trees, many toppled by this winter’s deluge and wind.

The playground, a new addition to the park, has little tile figures through out and sports signs “Kids only.” Since my dog can’t yet read we are often in forbidden territory….

Dog Catcher

The stream waxes and wanes according to the weather, was raging today, beautiful and noisy, both.

Eventually you come by a tree house that seems to have permanent additions or renovations going on, have yet to see a kid in there.

Then you pass number of artful and art-filledmaster gardens, shining with snowdrop and croci this week, all defying the weather.

Some have things jumping out of bushes, though….

Last stop is a little old lady’s house who sells used books out of her garage and decorates her apple tree differently for each season – of which there are approximately 17 since she has so much stuff to put up. Right now it is obviously St. Patricks Day season.

Did I mention it rained?

I am one of these people who cry at airports. Not when someone is departing, mind you, but when they are arriving. Tears start to trickle before the plane even touches down.  I don’t exactly know why that is, and can only assume it has to do with having missed someone horribly and now, finally, being able to embrace them again. That was certainly true when one of my parents came in their rare visits to the US, or when my kids came home from college.

I hate to admit it, but I also had tears in my eyes when I reunited with our puppy after my recent trip. Really, I’m getting ditzy in my dotage. I’ve never quite connected (hah, I knew I could make the link to the theme)  to our various animals, regardless of my joy in photographing some of them out in nature, but this young fellow has won my heart.

“He is just happy all the time,” I hear someone muttering faintly from the study, and since we could all use some happiness here are pictures I took the day before yesterday while walking on Sauvie with floppy ears.

Pure J o y.

Can we take this stick home? 

Or this?

Or This? 

One last swim?

I caught a sponge!

Not depicted is my panic when he took off from the beach to the woods and startled a massive coyote. Luckily their speeds weren’t matched.  Geese were unperturbed.

We stayed until the light went low and our shared bag of Fritos was empty.  Days can still be good, if you manage to get away from the news…..

I woke up around 3 am – (jet lag, I despise you) – having this urge to get out the power washer in the morning morning. It would feel good to attack the cement decks with that rumbling, sharp, energetic stream to clean away the grime and phantasize about it not being a cement deck but you know who. Realized later that all the garden hoses are stored, the water pipes wrapped, so it might have to wait until the next frost is gone. Nonetheless, it was nice to think that there is the adult equivalent of hitting a pillow….

I was a bit demoralized after yesterday’s walk; it is not just our political universe that is going to pieces; the weather has reeked havoc with nature as well. Two of my favorite walks have been impacted: Tryon Creek looks like several bombs went off, and many of the paths and one of the bridges are un-passable because there is not enough man power to remove the fallen trees, giants all. Oaks bottom has free paths, but the old growth trees tumbled left and right, making the familiar scene unfamiliar and telling tales of destruction. Of course the one tree that was not affected is the one at the outlook over the lake, which is growing fast and will be obstructing the view in no time. (All the photographs are taken with I Phone at different times of the yer at that outlook – I walk there once a week with my dog who makes it hard to keep my hand steady since he’s eager to pursue the water fowl, squirrels and other delectable creatures.)

This afternoon I am thinking how earth has weathered so much upheaval through the millennia, how change is actually healthy for forests, through flooding or fire, how extreme situations help us focus on what really matters. If I had to pick the one area that requires relentless, coordinated resistance it is the preservation of our planet for future generations. Unbridled capitalism, with its willing defiance of ways to halt or delay climate change, hurts the entire world, not just a nation that caved in to populist snake oil sales men. Change on a small geographic scale might be natural; change that comes with a destruction of the atmosphere will be catastrophic. (Can’t bring myself to use the word carnage since it’s been in the orange cheat’s mouth too often….)

Hm, for some reason this post disappeared. Even thought it went out on the automatic email and presumably into your inboxes.  Sorry if publishing it again doubles your daily load.

There is so much going on, obfuscated by the twitter dramas and the sham claqueurs.

One of the things is the passage REINS Act, pushed by the Koch Brothers and many other partisans of the billionaire classes. I thought it would be interesting to read what the National Resource Defense Council has to say about it. Written by a Republican, no less, who as a former congressional staffer knows the powers and limitations of Congress. It explains what the act is all about and what the possible implications will be, in clear language, easily understood.

https://www.nrdc.org/experts/david-goldston/reins-act-why-congress-should-hold-its-horses

It is hair raising, actually frightening what that act can and perhaps will do. It’s all about getting rid of regulatory protection, in all areas of life. It’ll potentially push us back into the ice ages…. so I thought some wintry landscapes are the appropriate accompaniment.

I first came to New York in 1978. A time were I was still able (and willing) to jump turnstiles in moments of utter need having forgotten my tokens (remember those?)

Yesterday I arrived at Newark and a friendly agent saw me at the ticket vending machine. “hey Lady, you over 62! Get the senior discount!”  Next I stand in line at the gate to the air train. Another friendly agent waves to me and opens the wheelchair  door. I think I need to change my hair color.

It took 4.5 hours to fly from PDX to Newark. It took 2.5. hours to get to Brooklyn, on the subway.

But I was greeted by Biggi small,

curly fries

and LOVE. 

Off to a cold morning…..

Hm. Will it be true? This story will at least make us laugh:https://vimeo.com/196277011

In any case, togetherness trumps loneliness.  So for this last day of zoo week, we’ll parade the pairs.  And one lonely bat marking the spot so his paramour can find him….

It sort of feels inappropriate to write about zoo animals at a time when this election concluded the way it did and the rest of world is a place of violence and heartbreak as well. Nontheless, I am in agreement with Grace Paley: Let us go forth with fear and courage and rage to save the world. And if that includes having a few moments of pleasure looking at extraordinary beings, so be it.

Here are facts you always wanted to know about giraffes  😉

Baby Giraffes can stand within half an hour and after only 10 hours can actually run alongside their family. (Just think of how much that saves your back when not carrying offspring around for 3 years….)

Giraffes spend most of their lives standing up; they even sleep and give birth standing up. I guess folding those legs requires too much effort….)

Giraffes only spend between 10 minutes and two hours asleep per day. They have one of the shortest sleep requirements of any mammal. (That is something I envy, needing between 9-10 hours to be an approximately tolerable human being in the morning…)

I think mascara ads should use giraffes, personally.

And none of their spots are ever alike: