David, Theo & Ruby From Mountains To Puget Sound Sea

Yesterday we found ourselves wondering Where In The Enchanted Pacific Northwest Are David, Theo & Ruby? after receiving an email asking "Where in the PNW? with photos documenting David, Theo and Ruby doing some Cascade Mountain hiking, with some cooling off in Enchanted Alpine Lakes.

In the blog post documenting the trio's mountain adventuring mention was made of the fact that when one lives in the Washington Puget Sound zone it is easy to go from a saltwater sea to a mountain glacier in an hour or two.

This morning's email from David, Theo and Ruby, with the subject line of "From the Mountain to the Sea" photo documented this reality, with photos showing the twins and David joining throngs of fellow beach goers on a Puget Sound beach.

The explanatory text accompanying the photos tells us where David, Theo and Ruby are, and what they are doing...

"Seahurst Park, Burien. Instead of building a sandcastle to fight the tide, they spent their time building dams to block and redirect the fresh water stream that flows into the sea."

Burien is a suburb of Seattle and Tacoma, located between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and the Puget Sound.

I have no memory of myself ever having been on the beach at Burien's Seahurst Park.

When I was in the same age time frame as David, Theo and Ruby building sand dams was my favorite things to do during a low tide on Samish Island. I would build dams to hold back the water as the tide went out, and then watch the dams fail as the tide rolled back in.

I do not recollect ever having a tool such as Ruby is holding to help with my sand dam building. I recollect using a bucket to scoop sand to deliver to my dam.

I wonder where in the PNW David, Theo and Ruby will be taking their parental units today?

The trio has about a month before the new school year starts up.

Spencer Jack Enjoying Waterfront Not Brought About By Fort Worth Congresswoman Kay Granger's Corrupt Earmarking

Spencer Jack Climbing On Larrabee Rocks

My nephew of late has been sending me pictures of my great nephew Spencer Jack in danger.

If I remember right I blogged about my Nephews in Danger last week.

My nephew's photos of Spencer Jack exploring some of my favorite places has the effect of making me a bit homesick.

The picture you see here is Spencer Jack exploring the rocky beach at Larrabee State Park.

Larrabee State Park was established in 1915 as Washington's first state park.

The water you see in the picture is saltwater. I'm not quite sure of my geography. This saltwater is either at the northern reaches of Puget Sound or the eastern reaches of the Straits of Juan de Fuca.

What I do know, for certain, is this big body of water was the not result of any demented River Vision Boondoggle created to give Western Washington some waterfront property and a local congresswoman's son a job.

Speaking of which, just minutes ago I heard from Beale that the Washington Post has an article today titled "Congressional earmarks sometimes used to fund projects near lawmakers' properties", in which mention is made of the nefarious earmark dealings of Fort Worth's controversial congresswoman, the mother of J.D., Kay.Granger.

Congresswoman Kay's earmarks send money to the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle to help fund Fort Worth's important public works project that will give the town a little lake, some canals and an un-needed flood diversion channel, with some nondescript bridges across the un-needed flood diversion channel.

Oh, and to give her son, J.D., a job.

For which he has zero qualifications.

Nepotism was banned years ago from Fort Worth dictionaries.

Meanwhile, up in Washington, my great nephew, Spencer Jack, is enjoying countless miles of waterfront hiking, courtesy of Mother Nature, not Mother Kay.

More Snails On The Tandy Hills While The Puget Sound Bakes From A Heat Wave

I had myself another strange snail sighting today on the Tandy Hills.

Have white snails always been part of the Texas prairie landscape? Or is this yet one more foreign invasive species?

And why are the snails sliming themselves up stalks of grass?

Changing the subject from snails to me making another mistake.

Earlier today in a blogging I mentioned the Republican with the last name of Huntsman. John Huntsman.

A fellow Republican, Gar the Texas Nerd, then informed me that the correct first name for Mr. Huntsman is Jon, not John. I really appreciate Gar the Texas Nerd, or GTN as his close friends call him, taking the time to alleviate me of this bit of erroneousness.

Changing the subject again, this time from GTN to the temperature.

It was only 80 when I hit the hills today. It is only 84 right now. A couple days ago I mentioned that the Puget Sound zone was finally getting the HOT weather they'd missed in June, July and August.

I said I'd be hearing some temperature whining from the Northwest. Below is the latest example of Puget Sound temperature whining. This particular one is from Tacoma....

"We are in a heat wave. Over 80 all week. Maybe 90 on Sunday. Holy moly!!!"

Now, this particular Puget Sound dweller actually has air-conditioning in her house. Very very few Puget Sounders have air-conditioning in their house.

Speaking of air-conditioners, mine just turned on. I thought I had it turned off.

I'm out of here for a bit. Miss Puerto Rico requires my assistance with something electronic.

Leaving My Texas Rut To Fly Over Camano Island In Washington

No, in the picture you are not looking at the Pacific Ocean from a Hawaiian Island. You are looking at Puget Sound from a Washington Island named Camano.

This morning someone with whom, in the distant past, I frequently drove, told me I was in a rut and needed to take a Roadtrip.

That sounds like a reasonable prescription to me.

But, I don't see that happening today, so instead I flew up to Washington via Google Earth to fly over Perry Mason's sister, Lori's, house on Camano Island.

From Perry Mason's sister's house you can see the Olympic Mountains and Mount Baker. Mount Baker is a volcano. One of 5 in the Washington Cascades. Mount Baker last erupted some time in the 1800s. Here in Texas we don't have to worry about mountains blowing up, we just have to worry about manmade things blowing up, like natural gas pipelines.

I could see Mount Baker from my house in Mount Vernon. I miss seeing mountains.

I miss a lot of things.

A short distance from PMS's house is Ustalady Point Park. We are looking west from Ustalady Point in the picture.

This morning, back in Texas, my therapist, Dr. L.C., seems to be enjoying being a Drama Queen, arguing with Elsie Hotpepper. Why can't people try harder to just get along?

Meanwhile back to Washington, I'm worried about Tootsie Tonasket and people not getting along in her world, which seems to be driving Tootsie to drink. That's not good.

So, it's another Saturday in my Texas rut. It's a warmer Saturday than the last one, which saw snow falling.

Port Aransas Sunrises, Alma & the Puget Sound

That is sunrise at Port Aransas, this morning, sent by Alma, the Songbird of the South Texas Gulf Coast.

I have not seen the sun rise or set on saltwater in a long time. I do not remember the last time. I did see saltwater last summer, that being Puget Sound, but you do not see the sun rise or set on Puget Sound.

In Western Washington, the sun rises over the Cascade Mountains, not Puget Sound. And when the sun sets, it sets over the Olympic Mountains, not Puget Sound.

It is still spectacularly scenic, though. I remember being in a bar/restaurant in Pike Place Market in Seattle, while the sun was setting over the Olympics, with the barkeeper leading the bar patrons in a series of ooooohs, awwwhs and the sunset becoming ever more spectacular.

My best sunset ever was not a sunset. It was a moonset. On Lake Powell. The night is very dark on Lake Powell, the stars very bright. My first night on Lake Powell the moon slowly set, dropping behind the canyon wall. The instant it totally disappeared an eerie purple glow lit up the top of the canyon. It lasted for at least a minute. I had never seen anything like it.

I am hoping to go down to Port Aransas this spring, to see Alma and a sunrise or two. And to have some real seafood. I have never been further down the Texas Gulf Coast than Galveston. I loved Galveston, pre-Hurricane Ike.

A HOT MERRY CHRISTMAS

I am having myself a very Merry Christmas, so far, here in Texas, this year.

Blue sky has returned. Freezing temperatures are a distant chilly memory. Tomorrow it will be almost 80.

Today, it was so warm, whilst hiking the Tandy Hills, that it was necessary to shed my shirt. But I kept my Santa hat on.

I've got a chile relleno casserole baking right now, as I type. With a lot of extra cheese. The rice cooker just finished making the Mexican rice. The refried beans are ready in the microwave. A cherry pie sits ready to go into the oven.

From the above information you can figure out that, unlike Thanksgiving, when I pigged out at Zorro's Buffet, on Christmas, I decided to not go to a restaurant.

I'll be bringing Miss Puerto Rico her Christmas dinner a bit later. She thinks I'm a Top Chef. I'm not.

I called my Mom and Dad in Phoenix, this morning, to do the Merry Christmas thing. Dad answered. Mom is ailing. So, they won't be going to my Phoenix sister's for Christmas. I asked if this Mom ailing thing affected them coming to Texas in January. Dad said they're assuming Mom will quickly get feeling better.

Meanwhile, while we suffer with balmy warmth down here in Texas, my sister in Kent, Washington is so snowbound she can't make it the 20 miles to my sister in Tacoma for Christmas today. They are in Day 12 of ice and snow in the Puget Sound zone of the Pacific Northwest. With no end in sight. A new cold front blows in in a few days, knocking the temps possibly below the teens. More snow is expected.

So much for Global Warming. The Pacific Northwest winters are usually very mild. You can go year after year with no snow in the lowlands of the Puget Sound. What's happening up there right now is far from the norm.

Meanwhile, here in Texas, I hiked shirtless today on Christmas.

Seattle Weather Babies

This past weekend broke temperature records in the Puget Sound zone of the Pacific Northwest.

In the photo you're looking at heat escapers at Brackett's Landing Park, by the Edmonds Ferry Dock, north of Seattle.

The temps got into the low 90s. In the Puget Sound region 3 days in a row with temps in the high 70s to low 90s is considered a major heat wave. Heat waves there rarely last longer than 3 days due to the heat causing cooler air and fog to roll in from the Pacific.

A former Los Angeles native, now Seattleite, is quoted in today's Seattle P-I, saying "People in Seattle seem to wilt after it gets above 75."

That is so true. I've only been up there during the summer one time since I've been acclimated to the Texas Heat, that being the summer of 2004. It was mid-July. The temperature was 78. I was cold, real cold. But the locals were in full whine mode about the blistering heat. Five days later I was at my sister's in Kent. That's a Seattle suburb. The temps that day were predicted to possibly break 100 for the first time in, west of the Cascades, Washington history. It only got to 99. Few people have air-conditioning on the west side of the mountains. It was miserable.

So, this weekend, on Saturday, the temperature, as measured at Sea-Tac Airport, tied the 1995 record at 91 degrees.

The weather service issued a heat advisory cautioning the elderly and children to drink a lot of water and avoid doing anything outdoors.

Meanwhile, in Texas, we've had a cold front blow in, with the low last night being 68 and the high today expected to only get to 95.

We are not weather babies in Texas.