AUTUMN WALK ON THE DIKE; Pacific Way Dike Hike

This morning, I pulled on a pair of jeans I have not been able to shimmy into since 2019: I've shed that much weight. I was stoked!.

Then, I drove into town to fill the gas tank – I’m driving to Graysriver tomorrow afternoon to spend the day with  stoked! friends, there. I’m looking forward to seeing the gals 😊

The weather was pleasant with a 65-degree temperature … and matching humidity level, so after putting the gas nozzle back in place, I decided to take a short hike along the lower end of the dike on 42^nd.

Green Day – ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ song: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5EXKDlf44M)

There was hardly anyone else on the trail; I saw maybe a total of 5 other people. I was okay with that. I saw a bird I’d never seen before – and looked it up in my Bird Book, when I got home. I saw a cute little Pomeranian: it was friendly and begged for petting, which was surprising because most poms are little barking biters. I talked with its owner for a bit, and she was friendly too 😉

Pacific Way Trail - 2 miles ‘rnd trip a third of the way; 200 calorie loss.

Clouded Autumn sky.

A fat fuzzy-wuzzy caterpillar.

Fuzzy-Wuzzy Weather Prediction:

(https://www.almanac.com/woolly-bear-caterpillars-and-weather-prediction#:~:text=When%20spring%20arrives%2C%20woolly%20bears,bear%20its%20distinctive%20striped%20appearance.)

American Bittern; a medium-sized Heron.

Free floating turtle.

‘All Creatures Of Our God and King’ Hymn:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d3gO6qDLNA)

A Great Blue Heron.

Mallard ducks.

'Lilly'. I call her 'Foxy Lady' because she has a fox face; Lilly is 13 years old.

Jimi Hendrix – ‘Foxy Lady’ song:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9kLEpvHWAw)

When I got home, I collected the mail … and instantly saw red when I read why the car licensing has gone up. WTH – Longview does not have a ferry! Longview is now charging us for driving through the city we live in; don’t they collect enough damned taxes from us already for the “privilege” of living in this shithole … meant literally, as city “council” is 100% demonrat and insists on running Longview like calimexarabia where tent cities reign, and people behave like uncivilized animals??? The ‘State Parks’ fee is laughable since the State Parks are now charging parking fees and insisting, we schedule a ‘visit registration online’ – why should I be required to pay an additional fee through the car licensing department? And why the hell should Washingtonians be forced to comply with a mandated Law to adhere to calimexarabian ‘laws’ that are nonsensical and illogical! I do not live in calimexarabia … I live in Washington. If insleeze wants to brown-nose and kiss newsom’s ass, he can move to calimexarabia.

The annual car licensing goes waaaaay beyond licensing – it has become another political tool to bludgeon The People with ☹

95% of this billing is 100% bullshit.

I needed to bring a relaxing peace vibe into the day because Shabbat Eve would quickly be arriving … so, I quickly refolded the paper and stuck it back in its envelope – and out of sight until the Due Date arrives.

I also pulled out my small stash of Jasmine tea, and used a bag – I bought this tea with Bob, and I’ve been hoarding what little is left for special occasions: today qualifies. Autumn is filled with memories of Bob; Bob was born on the cusp of Autumn’s arrival in 1949, I met him when Autumn started in 1966, our daughter was conceived the first Autumn of our first year of married life in 1974 (and her daughter was born in Autumn), our Anniversary date always heralded the arrival of Autumn … and Bob got the devine summons to 'Come Home. Son' in the Autumn of 2018.

I want to meet tonight’s Shabbat hour with peaceful thoughts 😉

There's only 5 left ...

Benefits of drinking Jasmine Tea

(https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/jasmine-tea-benefits)

BETWEEN THE RAINS

The snow that surprised our region is all but gone now (all of it should be gone tomorrow); so, needing fresh air, I went for an early morning walk this morning.

Rain showers was in the forecast some time today, so I plugged my ears with cotton to ward off ‘swimmer’s ear’: I have to be careful not to get excess water in my ear canal … or breezy winds in my ear canal. So, inside, I immediately wick my ear canals with Q-tips after washing my hair/showering (and I avoid swimming) – and outside, I protect my ears with a dab of cotton.

Snow mostly gone. Walking from the church end of the Trail.

Snow-less Trail.

Winter sun, this morning ...

Early morning; not another person on the Trail. Cotton in my ears

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g7ZvXo-qtA)

Some cinnamon-brown-headed ducks caught my attention, right off 😊

They were very striking – the pictures do not do them justice; but I did try to get some good ones 😉

Common Goldeneye Ducks; females.

Cinnamon headed ducks - Common Goldeneye, females.

The little cavorting Bufflehead duck, doing its perfect swan-dive had me chuckling.

Bufflehead Duck; female.

Swan-diving Bufflehead Duck; female.

I tried to get a shot of a Merganser Duck pair … but they were skittish and kept flying off …

Flying Hooded Merganser Ducks.

When I was finally able to get close enough for a good frame set – the male was absent.

Hooded Merganser Duck; female.

Along the walk, I spotted a lethargic fuzzy-wuzzy, sluggishly moving across my pathway. I was surprised to see it had survived the snow that was dumped on us this past week <:-O

I did some research on them after I got back home, and was equally surprised to read that they survive winter’s chill very well because their bodies have been designed to produce their own antifreeze enzyme; in this way, their body cells won’t rupture in freezing weather!

I am constantly awed by all the ways Creator Yeshua designed life on Earth 😊

Lethargic Fuzzy-Wuzzy caterpillar.

Weather patterns this morning.

Throughout the walk, I saw more Goldeneye ducks than any other; they were all up and down the short length of trail (from beginning to end) that I walked this morning:

Common Goldeneye Duck; female.

Mallard Pair.

Goldeneye Duck; female.

Goldeneye Duck Pair - male in the lead; female Merganser in the tail end.

Ring-neck Duck; Male. Blue bill, & bright yellow eyes.

When I reached the gate at the far end of the short portion of trail, I walked this morning – it was tempting to cross the street, and push on further; but it was beginning to drizzle, and I have been dealing with a cold this past week, so I reined myself in 😉

Reached the end of this portion of the trail with a few sprinkles, and I’m heading home. I don’t want to get sicker.

When I got back home, I checked my mail; and thought I’d get to it after I painted my fingernails.

When my nail were dried, I started going through envelopes and opening the important ones – setting the junk mail aside to be shredded.

As I pulled a statement from one envelope, I instantly saw red.

And reached for my phone.

What I read from the hospital billing department had steam rolling from my ears: my mood matched my red fingernails.

They were claiming they had not received payment and was ready to sic a collection agency on me.

I was directed to 5 different departments (all hospital related!) to try to get the snafu sorted and corrected – the bill had been paid January 13^th, 2021: I have documentation on my end to prove that fact.

The hospital drones need to get it straight on their end: it is not my problem that the post office has delayed the receiving of payment. It is not my problem that they are short-handed and may not have gotten to my payment yet. It is not my problem that they are jumping the gun with a threatening notice …

I told them I had mailed their payment off to them January 13^th – with a receipt of payment from the P.O. – and that “they should have received it well before needlessly sending their bullying statement, which I do not appreciate”.

(https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2021/01/chaotic-day.html)

3 hours later (and no closer to getting a direct answer from anyone), I was ready to slam heads together.

Hospital Office Drones!

Instead, I singed a few ears (and bared my teeth a few times) and ended up driving into town (between rains), to the post office – to repeat the same process I had done a little over a month ago: and this time, I better not get another shitty letter … or another BS-run-around >:-P

I was frustrated. I was angry.

I don’t feel good – I have a cold; it has me coughing and sneezing periodically: I do not need to be coughing and sneezing in a busy P.O., where I will be getting dirty looks from masked people living in fear that every damned thing is covid related.

People/businesses have gone covid crazy.

Seriously.

And they are picking a fight with a woman who isn’t afraid to fight back.

Covid is a convenient excuse …

River Walk

A few weeks back we took a drive to the next county where we used to live and noticed that there was now a raised walking dike in the Skamokawa (sounds like: skaw-moc-aw-way – the Name of the historic Indian Chief of this region) Game Refuge there. So this morning we decided to go back and take a walk along the mighty Columbia River. The walking area used to be Hornstra's Dairy Farm before the State stole the land from the farmers in the 1970's and designated it to become a Game Refuge. We didn’t see any animals at all today, probably because they know that the greedy river is eroding the shoreline away and creeping in:

This watery area used to be filled with a pretty white ranch-style farmhouse surrounded by a large dairy farm. Today it is filled with the overflow of the turbulent Columbia River that rushes by in the fore. And a tug boat plodded down the river as we leisurely walked upriver …

Tug on the Columbia River

Game Refuge Walk

I have a real phobia of water, so I was not happy to see that the river seepage was so close at hand:

The River seriously eroded the road away and is creeping in. The school bus used to drive right there.

The county road used to run by the river where water now runs. The Columbia River ate the road away a few years back, so the Game Refuge cannot be visited in one long continuous drive anymore …

The road is no longer connected. To get to the road where the car sits, we would have to backtrack back to our 4x and backtrack down the road to the main highway and then drive down the highway another 15 minutes to come in at the other end: a half hour trip to get to where we are now from the other end; I hope that wasn’t too confusing.

After I saw how the river was eating more and more land away, I was nervous the entire walk. The Columbia River is a dangerous river and it is a greedy river. Today was the only time I will ever walk that River Walk again. The treacherous river was just too close for my comfort:

On the way back to the pickup, I almost stepped on a fuzzy-wuzzy caterpillar …

It is kinda hard to determine what its stripes are trying to convey. Lore has it that if the rusty stripe is wide, winter will be mild; but if the black is more than the rust, winter will be more severe. To me, it appears to be pretty much “even-steven”, so I’m going to hazard a guess that winter will soon end and we can start getting sufficient sunshine and warmth to chase the gray doldrums away ;-)