Friday, July 5, 2013

Post Holiday Musings


My sweet little hummingbirds are gone. 

This is probably the last shot I took of one and that was about two weeks ago. 

For a while they were going through 4 of these feeders in just a few hours. 

I had a bumper crop of little ones. Two varieties, Rufous and Anna's. They were so numerous that you had to watch where you walked on the deck or you would run into one! 

And now they are gone. 

The parents are not tied to their nests any longer and the young ones are off to seek their own little place in the world. 

Talk about an empty nest. 


I managed to take a photo of our 'Super Moon' a while back. 

What do you think? Sort of spooky or rather artistic like a van Gogh painting? 

It was a beautiful, warm night with a soft, fragrant breeze. 

Maybe that will help you decide. 


Mt. Rainier has been glowing pink nearly every evening that it is clear. 

The Western Sun sets along the Cascade Crest and we have long, lingering evenings filled with afterglow. 

We each have a pair of binoculars and we enjoy being able to see all of the glaciers highlighted by the slanting light. 

From here to Mt. Rainier are miles of uninhabited forest. 

Once, I saw an elk grazing in an open field, but other than birds, we rarely see any sign of life. 

Occasionally a small plane or helicopter comes by and if we are really lucky, we will see one of those motorized para-sails. I have no idea what you call them. The person sits in a basket that hangs beneath these colorful 'wings' made of parachute cloth and he putt-putts around. 

Wouldn't that be fun? No? You don't like putting your life on the line in a little basket with one tiny motor keeping you aloft while you float over vast uninhabited forest? With Bears. And Cougars? No? 

Me neither. 

Still......if somebody offered me the chance......


So what did you do on the 4th? 

We relaxed at home with our loyal companions. 

They are terrified of the 'booms'. 

My big, brave guard dogs that would very happily chase a 500 lb bear up a tree, are afraid of the revelry. 

So, because they so willingly guard us and protect us every single day, we stayed home with them, in the house, with every fan going to drown out the sounds. 

Everyone was happy. 

We even saw some pretty fireworks from a distant hillside. 


As we watch people struggle this very moment for Democracy and Freedom around the world, 

let us take a moment to reflect upon the great fortune we all share here in America. 

It is easy to take our freedom for granted if we are always looking for what is wrong with this country. 

We can only remain strong if we join together to proclaim what is right. 

We need to work together to find positive solutions. 

We must meet in the middle. 

And set an example for developing nations. 

And leave this world a better place for our children and grandchildren. 

xoxo

12 comments:

  1. mt. rainier steals the show today! wow!!!!!

    i stayed in with my 4 dogs, although several of our neighbors were shooting off fireworks all around. still, they are calmer if they can be inside. :)

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  2. Oh Karen I love that second shot I have no idea why it intrigues me.
    Mt Rainier of course is always striking. It sounds like you had the perfect 4th of July. On Canada Day July 1st My Hero and I heard banging so we hopped out of bed even though we were tired and looked out to see fireworks about 20 miles away we live on a hill so we pulled up a chair and watched from out kitchen window with binoculars. Perfect with no bugs and in my PJ's :) B

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  3. Sorry about your bird Ms. Karen. I love the pictures that you captured at night. and I like you thoughts about your country...we should have this in our mind :)

    Have a good day and blessing to you.

    Hugs.

    Delvalina

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  4. Hi Karen,
    I love love the very Van Gogh, very dreamy and a little Halloweenish. We did the same with our brave beasts, fans on high, jazz on high, tv, anything and everything, one of the little girls in terrified the other could care less, when it really gets going the old man of the group who's hearing is bad starts to hear or feel them, it's sad :-( The hummers are fewer here too, till fall, too many yummy natural food to taste I guess, haha!!
    Have a great weekend:-0
    Hugs,
    Bella

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  5. Dearest Karen,
    We came home by about 2:15 PM in the rain, from our lunch at a home on the river with friends. Our cats felt safe with us around as it scares all pets I guess if those fireworks go off.
    Today we had more afternoon rain and thunder; we grow tired of it.
    Tomorrow we will gather at our best friends' place for a huge 4th of July (yes, on the 6th) celebration with both family sides. They adopted us as family long time ago. Let's hope it stays dry tomorrow for a change!
    Hugs to you,
    Mariette

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  6. Love the picture of your little hummer. Sorry they are gone. I only saw a few at my feeder this year and took it down awhile ago because it was just attracting flies
    I think your photo of Super Moon looks like a van Gogh painting. Always love seeing photos of Mt. Rainier.

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  7. I would so love to see hummingbirds in my garden! The best I can do right now are some rifleman birds that are very tiny and very flitty. I will see what I can do to capture them in the next few months. Your supermoon is just amazing! And the mountain is just beautiful in the sunset.

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  8. I haven't seen any hummingbirds yet this year. We don't seem to get them as much here. I've always been curious, can you ever see climbers on Mt. Ranier from your vantage point?

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  9. The moon - the mountain - the hummingbird - it is all so wonderful. We had complete clouds for the super moon - so no photos for me this time. I'll enjoy what others have done.

    We had a nice 4th - bbq with our daughters' families - fun with the grandsons - a lot of booming and popping after we got home - but it quieted down around midnight. Next year a complete ban (it was partial this year) on fireworks on the 4th and New Year's Eve in Bellingham - and I can't say I'm sorry to see it happen. But we had a grand day - and wonderful weekend.

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  10. Great photos of the supermoon and Mt. Rainier! I wonder why the hummingbirds didn't stay...seems they would have for a while yet. I had to take my feeders down because they were completely taken over by the bees. I love the bees, but I can't have them being such little piggies at the expense of the hummingbirds, so I have decided to try to plant more flowers, instead. That should make them BOTH happy!

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  11. You do live in a pretty place, sad the little bird families have moved on don't worry they will be back next year.
    Merle................

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Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are important to me and are very much appreciated. xx Karen

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