2025

Everything about DOGE -- from it's creation to it's actions -- is illegal.

Completely and utterly unconstitutional.

And just plain wrong.

∞ Elon Musk's gutting of US agencies is illegal, experts say. How do you muzzle Doge? World's richest man has unleashed a flurry of moves ranging from compromising Americans' private data to nearly upending USAid. Where does it stop?

And I really REALLY wish that government agencies would STOP following the directions of DOGE!

DOGE can't actually fire anyone! They don't have the authority! They can't dismantle any government agencies! They can't defund any government grants!

and yet... there they go again.

The US is so screwed.

Knotty? and the rubbish. blah.

Yep, I'm still being a sucker for the Crocuses!

Oh look! It's warm enough to wake up a Honey Bee!

Haha! Honey Bee doesn't appear to be quite awake! Needs Coffee! Um, Dearheart? Licking that petal will do nothing for you... You gotta lick somewhere else!

I stop to admire the Cherry Blossoms again.

Aw! There's a Bumblebee working these flowers too... and doing a better job of it! *laughs*

She's got a red butt... Makes her easy to identify!

She's a Red Form Black Tail Bumblebee and they are widely distributed across western North America, from the Pacific to the Rocky Mountains, and from Alaska to Baja California.

The Red Forms are found primarily in higher latitudes of Oregon and points north, and in the Mountain West whereas the Dark Colour Forms are most common in California and southern Oregon

Nice! I'm glad we get the more colourful variety! *laughs*

Oregon has 25 species of Bumblebees!!! We are awesome! Check this site:

∞ Bumble Bee Field Guide (for North America)

You can filter the bees by your own state or province, and if you mouse-over you can see the different forms!

So cute and precious!

Bye!

Ha. All the flowers called Roses that aren't Roses! Lenten Roses above, and here are Primroses!

And this guy, an Anna Hummingbird, who flew away before I could see about decent photography! ha.

I'm at the Community Garden today, to murder some invasive Lesser Celandine for my required volunteer time!

But first I'm going to wander about and look at the flowers!

Hm. I don't know what this stuff is...

Ah ha! It's Rosemary! *laughs* another Rose that isn't a Rose. :)

It's a pretty plant, but this is another example of people, who aren't me, getting away with breaking the rules. We aren't supposed to have woody plants.

It is nice tho... I wonder if I should grow some. The internets say it will thrive in a Mediterranean climate, which is what we have here!

I've wandered around to my plot. The big clump of crocuses is still blooming!

And there are a couple more blooms here and there!

And my Columbine is peeking thru!

The leaves are so pretty!

What the heck?

Uh. Yeah, I have no idea??!

Seriously, what is that???

A little monster watching me from under the leaves! ha.

Okay. I have to get some work done here!

I dig up the couple more sprouts of Lesser Celandine from the west side neighbor's plot. And then I get started on some clumps in the pathway to the north of my plot.

It's a major pain to try to dig in the grass. But I get the small bag filled up.

I double bag it and stuff it into the small backpack to haul home. I'll toss it in the trash there.

As I'm walking around the garden, to get back to the bike path... A Bluebird of Happiness! He's preening...

um. Excuse me? Could you just look normal for a minute?

Oh! Thanks! You are so Floofy!

The female is over here on the apple tree, but she's not interested in photography and flies away!

Henrietta and the rubbish. Sighs.

The Creek really needs some clean up!

All the crap the wildlife has to deal with from humans. Ugh.

Oh, hey! Is that some nice soft moss for your drey?

Birds only build nests for their babies. But squirrels build their dreys to sleep in!

We are having some maintenance done in the house today... and the shower problem had befuddled the one guy so he called in the plumbing expert.

So now there's two guys, coming and going, all thru the afternoon! Pretty disruptive... Especially when our expert guy says they may have to break some tiles in the shower to get to the problem with the pipes! ACK!

But they got it done without breaking tiles. And plus we now have nicer faucets - that don't leak! - in both bathrooms and the kitchen.

And the water pressure in the shower is wonderful again! Yay!

I was heading for the Community Garden again today, with my backpack to murder some invasives. But when I got there, there was a car in the parking lot, and a human walking in the garden.

ugh. I don't feel like dealing with humans today. So I walked right on by!

The linear leaves in the background are Camas Lilies... they won't bloom until May or so, and the Daffodils will be long gone.

There's still a couple Snowdrops blooming...

... But most of them are trying to make seeds now.

I decide to walk by the Solidarity Garden. I like their signs! We've got some Raspberry canes, and the sapling says Italian Plum.

And over here, we've got Black Currant, Mulberry and Red Flowering Currant! The next bed down says Blueberry!

It'll be interesting to compare the Black Currant with the Red Flowering Currant, almost side by side.

Hmmm... Looking up info. The internets say Black Currant is not drought tolerant. I wonder how that's going to work out. It doesn't rain here in the summer at all... do they have access to water at this garden??

Back at home, my Tiny-Cleans are going Awesome!

When I finished the living room window, I moved on to the Porch Room. I've been cleaning 1 or 2 blind slats for a week. And now I've started working on the sliding glass door.

The houseplants are going to be an issue, once I get that far... I'll have to move them and the shelf they are on, and there's really no place to move them to! The porch room is pretty cramped.

I'll have to think about that. But I've got a while! 3 to 5 minutes of Tiny-Clean every day doesn't get much done!

But doing it every day makes it inexorable!!

And really, that's the awesome part...

If I had cleaned the living room window the usual way... with several hours at a time over one or two days?

You know how I would feel? I don't ever feel a sense of accomplishment after I clean things... that's part of the reason why I hate to clean so much.

So nope... I'd feel exhausted. I'd feel utterly disappointed because there's no way to make it perfect.

And I'd be done with cleaning for about 10 years!!

But my new Tiny-Cleans!! I just keep chugging along!

Everything is dirty enough that I can see actual progress in just 3 minutes. But 3 or 5 minutes doesn't overwhelm me, I can get it done every day!

And thus, the inexorable!

*laughs*

Gonna murder me some invasive plants at the Community Garden today for my required volunteer time.

On the way...

I mentioned a while ago that I didn't want to give names to this pair of Hooded Mergansers because I couldn't specifically recognize them.

And since then, I've come to realize there are actually at least three pairs of Hooded Mergansers hanging out here!

But one of the pairs, I might be recognizing... not this pair, but there's one male who goes around with his hood not all they way up. So maybe I could name that pair!

Okay. I'm working at the garden! This is west of my plot, a few plots away. and I'm digging Lesser Celandine out of the grassy pathway.

This garden plot has Fava growing... and it looks a lot better than the mostly dead Fava in my plot!

When my bag is full and stuffed into the backpack, I relax with a garden walkabout! Here's the Crocuses in my plot.

I wander around to the Rosemary bush in the back... Aw, there's a Honey Bee here!

Ugh, the sun is so stinkin' bright! I can't see the screen so I'm not sure how my photos are coming out!

There's Speedwell blooming. Tiny, the flowers are less than a centimeter across, but pretty!

And heading home!

Oh hey! Here's the Hooded Merganser pair I was talking about earlier. The male who doesn't hold his hood all the way up!

I think I will call them Zig and Zag! *smiles*

Dang it, Little Bird. Why you gotta be that way?

*laughs*

Okay! I'm digging up Lesser Celandine again today... this plot is right across the aisle from mine, ack!

I dig up those blooming invasives right on the border between plots. But then I realize there's a lot more coming up all around those raised beds.

Gah. I already have a lot of disdain for raised beds, and this one, spreading invasives so close to my plot... is def not helping my attitude!

Well. I finish up and load the bag of plants and dirt into my backpack to dispose of at home. And then I look to see what flowers we have today!

Some of my Crocuses are starting to die back, but this clump still looks lovely.

Hyacinths need a few more days.

*laughs* Daffodils with a garden pig!

Awww!

A cute little Seven Spot Ladybug on some Dead Nettle!

And the tiny little Speedwells.

Well. Heading home... but who's this??

Hmm. There's some European House Sparrows in this brush, could that be a female??

Hello Up There?

Oh! Haha! She's a Golden Crown Sparrow! When she looks over, I can see a bit of her Golden head...!

*laughs* You're funny, trying to trick me!

(Ha... I don't know who that is from this angle!! *laughs*)

Zag, the Hooded Merganser...

... and Zig!

Oh cool!

Red Shoulder Hawk, and not easy photography with all the sticks! Most of the photos look like this...

haha. Oh well.

I do love the stripy ones!

Yellow Rump Warbler, buried in the sticks!

Bath time for this Ruby Crown Kinglet!

Their companions must be over that way.

Splish splash!

And then we are off to preen.

I'm coming back thru the park and almost home when I hear a ruckus from the sky!

There's a hawk being mobbed! The hawk comes in for a landing in a nearby Douglas Fir...

Hm. Juvenile Cooper Hawk.

But he's looking back the way he came.

Ah! He was waiting for his friend... There's another Cooper Hawk flying this way!

Oh... they are being mobbed by some Acorn Woodpeckers!! I'm so disappointed that I didn't get their pic... but I just saw a flash of them and then they turned around and flew back home.

The other hawk flies on by and this one picks up to follow.

Wow!

I head straight for the Community Garden. I'm digging up Lesser Celandine again today for my required volunteer work.

I'm kind of wandering, digging a couple clumps here in the pathway...

Another couple clumps here at the back of someone's plot.

When the bag is full, I wrap it up and stuff it in my backpack to haul home.

And now I'm looking at flowers!

Hmm. I wonder what the white tubes are for. Whatever they are, they are messing up my photos! ha.

There's some Crows here at the Garden with me... but they are not interested in photography.

They are busy doing other things... looking for treats in the leaves!

Before I leave the Garden, I glance around for more Lesser Celandine to dig up next time. There's some in a western plot, but the plants in the pathway there are going to be tough to get out... the grass is growing tall around it.

Oh, ugh. There's some blooming here at the front, right next to the tool shed. Maybe I'll work on this next.

Also, there's some free raised beds... If you install those in your garden plot, the Garden Director will let you get away with breaking ALL the Community Garden rules! *grumble, grumble*

What the...?

Goddamnit. Someone has dug up some Lesser Celandine and just left them here. *cussing* I suppose I have to clean up after everyone.

GAH! But it won't fit in my pack today. And hey, maybe they will come back and finish the work they started. Maybe??!

*laughs* Sometimes I wish I could take photos of Chickadees! *shakes head*

A pair of Green Wing Teals at the creek catch my eye on the walk home.

The day is too dreary for decent photography, but they are still cute!

Another dreary day! It was misting first thing this morning, but the clouds moved around a little and now we are settled into some solid, grey overcast!

oh, this Flowering Quince!

Okay! Back at the garden and oh, hey. Someone has traded the raised beds that were here yesterday for some tunnel hoops. good for them.

I dig up the Lesser Celandine, and then find a good bit more growing nearby. I've filled up my bag quickly today!

And going around to see the flowers! These Irises are such a pretty colour, but why are they all messed up like this? They didn't feel like growing a long stem? ha.

The Hooded Mergansers who aren't Zig and Zag! *laughs*

Oh Cute Squirrel? Hello? If you turn around, this would be a great portrait of you with the Cherry Blossoms?

Or not. ha!

I'm not sure when the rain started last night, but rain during the night is always nice! Still sprinkling this morning, and then raining pretty good as I'm heading out for a walk!

I love to walk in the rain. It's peaceful.

Hello Zag and Zig!

This Nutria was running away, and I'm all Oh! Wait! Wait! and she did! Haha, she stopped in her tracks!

*laughs* Thank You Dear!

Yes, you are very cute!

Solar Baby? Is that you?

*laughs* Yep.

It's raining. And the wind is blowing and it's making me so cold until the walking warms me up. And then the wind dies down, and the day becomes more tolerable!

Huh. I've never seen a stray out this way. Cute face, tho!

Two nights and two days of rain, not to mention all the other extra rain we've gotten. This is a place where they let the creek spread out for flood control.

It can still handle a lot more water... but, as I suspected, the bike path is flooded under the bridge.

That's okay. I back track a bit, and go up to the road. There's a pedestrian light for the EMX stops, so I don't have to die when I cross the street! That's always nice!

There isn't a paved path to get back down to the bike path on the other side. But there's a muddy trail that goes between the railing and the fence.

And then I walk down to Stewart Ponds. Today there are Northern Shovelers on the main pond!

And some Canada Geese. The one goose is standing and you can see how shallow the temporary, Wet Prairie pond is, even with all the rain we've gotten.

I walk on up the road to the park. As I'm approaching the parking lot, I hear some raptors yelling. Oh my gosh!!

A pair of Kestrels!!

They've let me get a little bit closer, but I don't get any good photos. Oh well. It's awesome just to see them!!

The trail into the park starts out at the prairie. Up the hill are some huge old Oak Trees. But here, there's just grass... and a single shrubby spot where some Cherry trees have gotten established.

It's a haven for birds, and today there's a little flock of Golden Crown Sparrows here!

Too bad we can't have some blue sky with our Cherry Blossoms... but honestly, I'd just settle for no raindrops on the camera lens! Haha!

Um... oh? Are we eating the Cherry Blossoms?

Well, that's interesting! Do they taste good?

I move on and walk thru the little patch of forest. There are little birds twittering all around, but I don't see any close enough for photos.

But then I find some sparrows just above the trail.

Oh my gosh! White Throat Sparrows!!

They are winter visitors here, just like the Golden Crowns and the White Crowns. But I hardly ever get to see the White Throats for whatever reason.

So that's really cool! This has been a spectacular walk today!!

On the way home, I notice that one of the little shops I enjoyed window shopping at... has changed hands? I get closer, and yeah, it's not a shop anymore...

It's a painting studio!

ha!

Some sprinkles today and a bit of gusty wind that the weather page said was 9mph. But the last mile or so the wind picked up, like crazy. 25mph! Sheesh, I guess we live in Kansas now!

Blazey's old spot on the bike path... Red Flowering Currant, with the Cherry tree in the background!

ha, the wind is making the photography difficult... branches waving all over the place! So I give up pretty quickly here.

Oregon Grapes are starting to bloom.

It's Zig and Zag!

Zag barely wakes up from his nap when his partner paddles upstream a little.

Oof. There's an article in the newspaper today about an 80% surge in flu patients in the ER...

∞ Riverbend converts rooms into patient care space to keep up with surging emergency room demand

This is the same hospital that closed it's downtown location, including the Emergency Room, in Dec 2023. I wonder if they regret that now.

And ever more upsetting stuff from the current regime.

∞ Arlington Cemetery website drops links for Black, Hispanic, and women veterans

No more DEI at Arlington Nat Cem! Which means we can't have women, Black people or Latinx here.

White men only. Because no one else contributes to our military or our defense.

Effing despicable.

Oh. We're doing this again, huh?

Sounds good...

∞ We're working on a short schedule here BUT: Let's do postcards

Write a postcard to that Traitor and Rapist in the White House, and put it in the mail tomorrow, 15 March. The Ides of March.

Back in 2017, I made a free printable PDF... If you have a printer, please feel free to grab this:

∞ Free Printable PFD: Two-Up Postcards to send to the White House on March 15th

And seriously. I've been having trouble taking in all the political news here lately. And I'm really down about what I do read.

The USA is no longer the Leader of the Free World.

And it's becoming increasingly obvious that America will NEVER recover.

Unfortunately, it's not just the people in American who will suffer.

People have already died from the destruction of USAID.

Medical Science has been set back by decades with the destruction of the NIH.

And then, everything that Traitor does is accelerating climate change. With the destruction of FEMA, more people will die after climate disasters.

The Sixth Mass Extinction will continue apace, or accelerate. And at some point, Nature will just break. We won't be able to grow food enough for everyone on the planet.

And at the rate we are going, not even Cockroaches will survive. A runaway greenhouse effect and the oceans will boil. The Earth will be Venus Part 2.

But let's step back to reality here. We're not dead yet!

Download this thing. If you don't have a printer, that's the address you'll write on your own postcard.

∞ Free Printable PFD: Two-Up Postcards to send to the White House on March 15th

If you do have a printer, print that on cardstock. Cut it up. Write your thoughts on the back. Put a postcard stamp on the front.

Postcard stamps are currently 56¢. If you don't have a postcard stamp, a Forever stamp will work as well.

Then drop it in the mail on Saturday!

And now... Remember! We are NOT DEAD YET!

Go cuddle your pet. Hug your human family. Spend some time in nature...

or look at some nice nature pics here!

Not my most poetical moment, perhaps... but heartfelt!

And yeah, I wrote Dear Donald! Haha, it's just automatic, I didn't even think about it! That pos is definitely NOT dear to me, or anyone.

Oh well. Maybe I'll write some more this weekend.

Pretty cathartic.

Especially the I hate you one! Ha!

Altho, I don't actually hate him or his co-president Musk. I don't care enough about them to hate. But I'm not sure how else to convey my complete and utter loathing!

The house is chilly this morning, and I turn the heat back on for a few hours before I get moving!

It's sprinkling as I leave the house, but it turns to a good rain pretty quickly.

A flood watch starts tonight. The bike path here under the bridge is just minutes from going under water! Will I be able to walk back this way??

Oh cool! Downy Woodpecker!

He's a male. And he's busy trying to get bugs out of this little branch!

I visit the Solidarity Garden... they've got some Pansies going.

I wonder what that is, coming up on the right. I don't recognize it at all!

Their Lettuce looks really good... very non-munched by slugs. I'm jealous! *laughs*

I continue on and walk a bit thru the downtown neighborhood and look at front yards. Oh, this thing is cute!

Heading home... the creek has only risen a couple inches so far, and I am still able to walk under the bridge.

I can hear some frogs singing from the back of the Gudu-Kut nature area!

I love the willow trees over there... but it won't be long before I can't see past the willow trees along the creek!

Oh, this made me giggle!

∞ Oh This Poor Dumb Trump Lawyer Trying To Defend Military Trans Ban In Court! At least read your own filings next time maybe?

And just how many people are there serving in the military with gender dysphoria, anyway? Government lawyers did not know. Not only do you not have the data, you have no access to get the data because the military does not track people by gender identity, she noted. Yeah, it's kind of hard to find evidence that trans people are single-handedly bringing down the entire US military with their disruptive pronouns, when the government does not know how many of them there even are, or how they even define who they are.

And then the judge made the stupid Trump lawyers read the reports they had submitted, and then they all went thru them, line by line... Only to discover The government's own reports found that transgender individuals receiving gender-affirming care experience 'literally no regrets' and 'very high levels of satisfaction.'

Heh.

So maybe we could just let trans people live their lives, and get the health care they need... hmmm?

Rained all night, yet again, and still sprinkling when I head out the door.

The creek is as full as I've ever seen it!

Some bright spots of a Yellow Rump Warbler on a dreary day!

Oh, this must be that Golden Crown Sparrow I saw the other day with leucism!!!

But I Still can't get decent pics. arg.

The bike path is flooded big time, under the bridges!

I walk by the front of Gudu-Kut... but there's no frogs singing here today. bummer.

Zig and Zag are the two on the right! The pair on the left are unnamed because I can't tell them apart from the third pair of Hooded Mergansers who are currently hanging out at the creek.

The rain continues thru the day again... It's been raining almost solidly since Wednesday.

March IS part of our rainy season, but this is starting to get ridiculous! And nothing but more rain in the forecast!

wow. Some sunshine today! That's different! *laughs*

I've decided to walk out to Steward Pond Park... and on the way...

A Pine Siskin, thinking about taking a bath... but he got shy when I showed up!

A Point and Shoot and Hope... and this Yellow Rump Warbler is technically in frame!

And here's another semi-successful Point and Click and Hope! Bushtit!

Oh humph... there's no one on the pond today!

But over here... a flock of hundreds of Cackling Geese!

Their cute little snub faces!

There are a few pairs of Canada Geese here as well.

I walk thru the little forest.

But it's the clouds today that keep my attention!

Partly cloudy again today and the clouds are moving around a lot! It'll rain this afternoon, but at the moment the sun is making it a bit too warm.

Knotty? What's with the stick?

Maybe she's got an itch.

I am going to dig up more invasives again today. I get into the garden and... Gah! These dug up clumps of Lesser Celandines are still here.

So much for my hope that humans would pick up after themselves! Damn them anyway... they are starting to bloom!

Well. I guess I will pick that up today, since no one else can be bothered. But I'll go around and see where I want to start work today.

This... yikes.

That is way too much for me to deal with!

But I dig up some singular clumps in the pathways and all. That's where I can actually make a difference!

And now I'm wandering around. This is the current state of the Crocuses in my plot.

Ha. There is one little bloom left.

And the beautiful plot at the back, with their hyacinths!

On my way home, I see that Golden Crown Sparrow with leucism again... But she flies away even faster this time, and I don't get any photos of her. Sighs!

The trees showing off their spring colours are amazing.

Knotty is still in the same place... Good hunting?

∞ Does the U.S. deserve the Statue of Liberty? Not anymore, one French politician says

oh. My heart. It's being ripped out.

∞ Majority of French, Germans and British think Trump is a 'dictator'

Yeah? Because he is.

Hmm. I thought this was Knotty again... but now that I'm seeing her shoulder patches better, that's too big a patch of blue for it to be Knotty!

We'll call them Henry for now! :)

I'm at the garden again for more volunteer work. The Lesser Celandine growing in this plot is Very Healthy.

Much better!

I've decided to start chipping away at the huge patch over here. This is plot 15, and plot 16 is the black plastic.

Yeah, that is going to take some time to dig all that up!

I'll start at the pathway. Prepare to DIE!

Well. There were some little Comfreys growing here too. Thats another plant that's been banned from the Community Garden in the new 2025 rules. It's from Europe... related to Borage, but it gets established and can get huge and it's hard to kill because the tap root goes down to the center of the earth!

I started killing a couple of Comfreys in my plot starting in the fall of 2023. Dug them up, all thru 2024. And will probably continue to dig them up, all thru 2025! *laughs*

They will probably never die, and I am not interested in murdering someone else's Comfrey problem. The ones that were here, I just chop the root a couple inches down.

Walking along the bike path, the lady who rides the recumbent bike was gathering these and I'm all What'cha doing? and she replies Oh! I eat these!

What are they? They are Brassicas... She looks down, these are a type of mustard.

Huh! For salad? I ask. She shakes her head, no. I cook the leaves and put them in soup or whatever! She says she gathers them all thru the spring, and it's quite a bit of food!

So this is awesome. When I get home, I look it up. Mustard is an invasive here, there are no poisonous look alikes and easy to identify once they've flowered! Definitely safe to forage!

Mustard you buy in the store is made by crushing the seeds. But the internets say you can make a mustard spread from the flowers as well. I guess if you have enough of them!

Here's a great article... it's so old, from 2011, there's a few broken image links. good info tho!

∞ Wild Mustard - Foraged Food

Here's another bright spot of yellow! Lesser Goldfinch!

We've had so much rain, all across the state...

∞ Oregon Governor Kotek declares emergency for floods and landslides

One person has died.

Here in town, our flood controls have mostly held up. The only problem I've heard of was that West 11th Ave -- a major thoroughfare which is the only road going west out of town -- got flooded enough to make driving iffy for a few hours.

Rained thru the afternoon yesterday, and thru the night as well, and off and on sprinkles this morning... the rain just keeps coming even after declaring a state of emergency for the floods.

And the wind is blustery and annoying again today, 19mph.

This Red Flowering Currant bush near Blazey's old spot on the bike path, is just so prolific!

I swing around past the dog park... and what the heck.

Aww... There used to be a big concrete planter here! There were five or six planters here and now they are gone...

They were blooming with Daffodils, and later there would have been day lilies. And someone put Mums in the other ones last year. They were so pretty!

And, just... WHY?! Why did they take them away??

We are supposed to leave the world a better place!

So sad and disappointed.

Sighs. well, here's Stumpy, trying to cheer me up.

Oh, ha... His greenery looks like baby corn cobs!

Zag and Zig paddle by.

More sprinkles today. The annoying kind where I was constantly adjusting the rain jacket... hood up, hood down. Open zipper, camera out. Camera tucked back in, zipper up. Repeat! Sheesh!

*laughs*

Well, the wind is bugging me today, too.

Here's Zag and Zig, both working on their feathers!

Just past Stumpy the Willow Tree...

There's a little section of wet prairie. Almost all the green you see here, is not grass...

They are Camas Lily leaves!

It'll be a month or more before they start blooming. But on such a dreary day, I have to pause and imagine how lovely they will be!

Are you eating the leaf buds?

You just need some greens, after eating nuts all winter? Yeah, I hear ya!

The very first Trillium is blooming!

Always trying to capture the beauty of the waterfall here... but probably the beauty has something to do with the sound of water falling.

Osoberries are blooming too!

I get to the top and the frogs aren't singing today. That's disappointing. But I do hear a Mourning Dove cooing! That's somebody different!

He's a bit too far away for decent photography. And then he flies away.

But then I hear another one over here!

Ha. They are all over the place. Are they moving in? I wonder if they will make good neighbors with the Acorn Woodpeckers.

Who I don't see today. eh, that's okay. Heading back down the hill.

There are Fawn Lilies coming up!

hmm, I wonder what makes the dark ones.

Oh! The Black Tail Deers!!

Oh, hey... There's a fourth one hiding back there!

Their cute lil faces!

And their cute lil feet!

And their big ol' ears!

*laughs*

Teeny tiny wild Violets.

Heading home thru the neighborhood, I see this flyer...

Hm. That's tomorrow. I've never been to the Federal Courthouse, but I think that address is easy to get to from the EMX.

As I walk, I'm thinking... maybe I should go!

∞ National Association of Letter Carriers: Fight Like Hell!

∞ National Association of Letter Carriers: Fight Like Hell!
Hell No! to dismantling the Postal Service... Stand with Letter Carriers Rally to Save USPS... Protest at Noon at the Federal Courthouse in Eugene

oh, I am nervous! Having to deal with people is never fun. Crowds are terrible. And it's been ages since I've ridden the EMX.

But I get going. I leave the house at 11:20am. I get my ticket and the bus is a minute late at 11:30. And it's empty! Ha! I wonder if I should move up to the front and say hi to the bus driver. But, no. People get on at all the next stops and soon the bus is getting towards full.

I always shout Thank You! to the driver as I get off!

I double check the location of the bus stop to get me home, and then I'm walking a little ways down to the Federal Courthouse.

I had wondered why the protest wasn't at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza in front of the county courthouse... but as I arrive, I understand why they choose this spot instead... This is a BUSY cross street! Lots of drivers will see us, it's very visible!

I'm early, it's 11:50am, and there aren't too many people here yet!

I cross the street and wander up the steps where they've set up a table. I ask if the tee-shirts are free and the guy pulls one out for me!

He asks if I am a current Postal worker or retired and I reply, Actually, I'm a happy Postal user!

I find a place along the back wall where I can sit and think about putting the shirt on. Most everyone else is wearing their shirts. But, nah. I stuff it into my small backpack with the waterbottle.

I am people watching. Lots more people have come, in the last few minutes. There are cars honking as they go by, the drivers waving, and everyone cheers and waves back!

It's even more exciting when a postal truck goes by!!

The crowd is getting bigger. Behind me, there are several guys carrying stacks of pizza! haha! The pizza is disbursed almost immediately to the protesters, and they go back for more!

Later, there's a lady going around giving out tea... so that's nice. Something for the vegans as well. :)

Around 12:10, the guy at the table starts talking.

And then he introduced Peter DeFazio, who was an Oregon Representative for over 30 years! He retired in 2023, but I think he did great work for Oregon in his time at the House.

They took a break so the protesters could cheer at the passing cars again. And then at 12:20 there were a couple more speakers.

At this point, there's probably 200 people here, or more.

I'm winding down. Not sure if there will be more speakers or not, but I'm ready to leave.

I left at 12:40 and was home at 1:05pm and I surprised Partner who thought I'd be gone all day. Haha, very unrealistic expectations about my tolerance for humans!

But this was fun! I had a good time, and will definitely go to another protest!

Oh the sun. It's shining and warm, and I need to re-think my layers today! No rain jacket, that will be weird, I will feel naked without it! heh. But light shirt or heavy shirt?

I chose poorly: the heavy shirt was too hot! *laughs*

Hello Henry!

Ah, the beautiful trees with all their different Spring colours!

The apartments here are going to be awesome. It's a great neighborhood with the school on one side and a big church on another side. But, I just realized...

... the building is going to block the view of the hills here! That's a bummer. When it gets very cold, you can see the snow on the hills. And now I'll have to walk a good bit further to see that.

Oh well. A few people in the apartments will get to see that beautiful view every day!

The front yards along this street are just lovely!

Here's Stumpy the Willow Tree, from an angle that does not show his stump.

And back around to the same trees I started with!

What a lovely walk.

A lovely day and a lovely walk!

It's another blue sky day, and I'm trying to capture something of the gorgeous trees... And I'm just not getting it!

The warm weather has brought out some Cabbage Whites! But they are not going to sit around for me, dangit!

*laughs*

WTFH. Oh. Oh No. They've murdered this beautiful Douglas Fir.

Well, that's depressing. This tree was always in the background when I would take pics of the Leaning Tree. And that one is long gone too.

I'm walking thru the neighborhood, making a big loop so I can walk around the murdered fir. Oh, there's smaller trees they are murdering as well.

And will they plant replacement trees? I have my doubts. Because Eugene has less than average urban canopy cover... which is ridiculous for a place that gets so much rain! So I think there's a long history of just murdering trees and not planting more.

Sighs.

I have to work to bring myself back to center. But it's a beautiful day, and spring is springing. Nature works her healing magic.

And then I return to Looking Up.

The Red Maples are making seeds.

When I was a kid, Doctor Who came on at 10pm on PBS, was it friday night or saturday? They would show an entire story arc, which was usually 4 or 6 of the half hour episodes... So it was midnight or 1am when it was over.

Pretty often I would accidentally fall asleep. And I'd awaken to the intro of the next show, which was this AWESOME little astronomy show. It was short, maybe 5 or 10 minutes long and I would watch it before going to bed.

At the end of his segment, the host would say,
Keep! Looking! Up!

So that always made me happy, even tho I had slept thru part of the show I actually wanted to watch! *laughs*

Let's see...

∞ Wikipedia... Jack Horkheimer: Star Hustler

Aww! They are still making this show! Jack Horkheimer died in 2010, but they kept going!! ♥!

∞ StarGazers

I thought this was Knotty... but now I'm not sure. I think there are new Great Blue Herons moving in this year and everyone is different! (Except Henrietta is still around, for sure.)

There's a Crane Fly standing on the path!

I used to call these creatures Skeeter Eaters... but they don't actually eat mosquitos. In fact, most Crane Flies don't eat at all and only live 10 to 15 days.

Wikipedia says Crane flies first appeared during the Middle Triassic, around 245 million years ago, making them one of the oldest known groups of flies. Wow, that's cool... there are over 15,000 species!

I scoot this one off the path before I move on.

The day started out with sun, but clouds rolled in and it's overcast by the time I'm up and about. The wind is up too... 14mph when I leave the house.

But it becomes even more blustery as I walk and when I get back the weather page says 17mph with gusts as high as 33mph. Sheesh.

And the few warm and sunny days we've had, did not dry out the Wet Prairie ponds at all!

I'm dropping off kitchen scraps at the garden to compost under the leaf mulch. The Crocuses are quite done, but I still have a flower in the plot!

Back to my walk. Zig and Zag are hanging out with another Hooded Merganser couple, who declines the photography.

And a little bit further along... Oh my gosh! A pair of Common Mergansers!! That's different!

I'm remembering that boy-o last year who was hanging out with the female Mallard who had the messed up wing. I'm betting this is him!

And his new girlfriend is so cute!!

I hope to see ya'll around!

Hmmm. This is Not Knotty. with some stupid litter.

And I think this is the Heron I've named Henry.

*laughs* It's wonderful that there are so many Great Blue Herons hanging out here that I can't figure out who they are!!

The trees are showing the first tints of spring green! And the Wet Prairie ponds are still full.

The Common Merganser pair are still here!

∞ Parkrose Permaculture: The Wave of Resistance is Rising

This is the Heron I've been calling Not Knotty.

And this is not Zag! *laughs*

And his girlfriend who is not Zig.

Haha! The dog noticed I was looking at her chickens and came to the fence to bark at me! Good Dogg-o!!

The chicken notices me too, but isn't interested enough to come much closer. oh well.

The padlock amuses me.

Oh foo. My friends the Common Mergansers were not interested in a visit today.

And Henrietta, so good to see him!

∞ JD Vance Visit Confined To Remote Greenland Space Base Because Everybody Hates Him. Threatening a NATO territory and expecting the wife to get invited to the dogsled race, classic JD!

*giggles* Hi World Leaders! This is how it's done. Just fucking ignore them until they go away!!

Not sure what this is, but pretty!

Zag and Zig, the Hooded Merganser pair.

And then it started pouring down rain! And I decided to walk a different way. West on the bike path and then cross the street to the south. I'm familiar with the neighborhood, but coming this way makes it feel new and different!

The rain didn't keep the camera hidden under my jacket when I came across these colourful Pansies!

Oh My Gosh! They are so wonderful!

Wow. I think I will keep this Sunday route for a while!

Now that I know that this is Rosemary, I'm finding it everywhere!

On the way, I see my friends the Common Mergansers.

His girlfriend is here too, but the photography was crap. heh.

Oh my gosh! She is Right There! I could almost reach out and touch her!

She's breaking off twigs! She must want them for a nest!!

How cool is that!!

I'm at the garden and these are new!

It's a Mason Bee nesting house! There are a couple more houses on each side of the Community Garden.

It's too bad they are on the outside of the fence... will people steal the straws?

I find out later that this is an Eagle Scout project! Aimed at supporting Oregon's native species in our community garden spaces.

That's so awesome! THANK YOU Troop 152!!!

Anybody in there?

Okay! I go into the garden and settle in a plot on the west side that has several clumps of Lesser Celandine.

When I shake this bag down, I thought I could fit a bit more in. There's some more growing at the edge of the plot, in the pathway...

This thing was big! Very mature. And very satisfying to pop it out!

Kind of a pain to jam that into my small backpack, tho! I cussed a bit! *laughs*

And then I go round to my favorite Garden plot, to take pictures of their flowers!

And a precious little Lady Bug, who I didn't notice.

And the sky is so pretty I put the camera down in the grass to try that angle!

There is a single Daffodil here that's peach coloured... I love that!