Snowy Owl Irruption at Thanksgiving!

Every one in a while, birds begin showing up in large numbers in places that they are not normally expected.  This is called an irruption event.  Just after Thanksgiving this year we began to hear about Snowy Owls, normally a far north specialty showing up here at the 45th Parallel!  Weather, climate change, winds?  I don't know, but it was fun.  



This was probably a juvenile based on its dark coloration.  It is one of the largest of our owls, and was fairly easy to spot from nearly a mile away on the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge just north of Vancouver, Washington.




But first, Thanksgiving.  We celebrated with a big family dinner at the Lodge.  That is just a great place to gather the whole family together.



 Grandma, Hai (Lien) and Jayden.



Food Galore



And grandkids coming out our ears!

But let's pause for a mystery critter!  Anders got the last one.  Who will it be this time.  This critter was found by the grandkids just outside the Lodge in the rocks.  What is it?





It was a very late fall, just like the spring had been.  I hope this spring (see my last post), doesn't mean another year of no grapes.



And in closing, a few more pics of the remarkable Snowy Owl.  What a treat for us here in the banana belt!!!!

Someone Forgot to Check the Calendar

OK, it is March 21st for heaven sakes.  Yesterday was Paula's birthday.  Spring is two days old.  And it is snowing in Portland, Oregon.  What the heck.

This is the second year in a row where we just don't seem to be getting a spring.  On Monday, I took the following picture from up on the hill at the lodge, showing huge lakes where the river usually is.




While it is not forecast to reach the levels of 1996, the water has come up very quickly.  Here at the Rainbow house we are seeing water for miles across the river.



Looking from the side of Rainbow



And from the Sandbox at Rainbow



I took this shot from Patricia Lane around the loop.  It is looking east toward Groner School.



How about a mystery critter?  Taken this morning in the front yard here at Rainbow.  This bird thinks it is spring and was working with a mate on a nest.



After I got home from my walk this morning, I got in the kayak with my camera and went across the river.  This was the view of the house.





And now it is snowing.  Since Paula is a big chicken, I am going to drive her to the Temple for her 6 am shift in the morning before I fly to Salt Lake City for a meeting and a hearing.  Seriously it's snowing!  March 21st.  What the heck!!!

Married to a Grandma

My mother-in-law Marilyn has always bristled when I called her "grandma".  She insisted that she was not my grandma, and she of course was right.  But I never intended it as anything but a statement of honor.  Grandma's have played a huge part in my life.  I knew both of my grandma's and knew they loved me.  They both taught me to love things I wouldn't have even known about otherwise.  My mom was a fantastic grandma, and I have always lamented the fact that she passed so soon before she could teach my children.  But my mother-in-law has certainly lived to be just the kind of grandma I remember.  So the name for me is more that just an indication of relationship.



Our children are very lucky to have so many grandma's around.  Just in this picture alone are (bottom, right to left), Grandma Wright (Marilyn), Paula, Sally (Alicia's mother-in-law and Weston's grandma), and (top, right to left) Hailey (not yet a grandma, but certainly laying the foundation), Heather (Paula's sister and a grandma), and Mary, (Marilyn's neighbor who has joined us from time to time as another grandma to bless our lives).  Each of these women acting as teachers have made a huge difference.

But here is the thing.  I am married to a grandma.  Holy Cow!  Remarkable.  Really hard to comprehend sometimes.  But I can tell you that among all of the ways that Paula has brought me joy over the nearly 37 years we have been married, watching her as a grandma has certainly been one of the most precious of all the ways.  Teaching grandchildren to play the piano, play checkers, sew, sing, read and cook provides the most beautiful pictures that I have ever seen.  No sunset, bird, flower, or magnificent building can even come close.
Thanks sweetheart for letting me call you grandma.  It is to me the highest honor I can express.