Salt Mines

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Originally uploaded by sasadler.

So...Here is another picture of the Great Salt Lake. You can tell I was flying when I took this because of the wing with the wing-ding thingy.

So, do you notice the blue in the backgound? Apparently, there is a little dike, and the red bacteria blooms in the shallower water in the foreground.

Both Crater Lake in Oregon and the GSL have no inlets or outlets to the lake. Crater Lake, at 1,958 feet (597 meters) deep, is the seventh deepest lake in the world and the deepest in the United States

The deepest part of the GSL is a wopping 35 feet deep.

Cabaret

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Originally uploaded by sasadler.

Jon wouldn't dance for the camera. Oh well.

Jimmy

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Originally uploaded by sasadler.

Lives in the Danny Woo Garden and smokes cheap cigars. His mother was killed by his father and he spent most of his life in institutions of one sort or another. He is French by ethnic backgound and doesn't like people of color whom he says are tyring to steal his jacket.

And the Winner is....

coesnowyplovr
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

Well, that was the north end of the Great Salt Lake. In the more saline north arm of the lake, Dunaliella salina dominates and this species produces beta-carotene in such large quantity that the water becomes quite red in color.

The red color is only in the area where the lake is supper shallow and the sun gets that bacteria to bloom in a big way. Pretty cool, eh?

Did you know that 55% of the plovers west of the Mississippi migrate through the Great Salt Lake?

Contest

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Originally uploaded by sasadler.

Guess what this is. Hint, I took the photo at about 15 or so thousand feet. Whoever guess correctly wins a fabulous prize. If you include why it is red, you get a second fabulous prize.
Good Luck.

Coho

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Originally uploaded by sasadler.

Dear Daddy,

Thank you for your letter dated October 1983. Sorry it has taken so long to respond. It was nice to read your reminiscing about being raised here in the Northwest, hiking and picking huckleberries.

I thought of you today and wished you could have joined us. Ellie, our dog Thomas and I went to this little secret beach where I take Thomas swimming occasionally. There were 4 Very Large Sea Lions, two of a particularly impressive size. Ellie was nervous paddling near the sea lions so I brought her back to shore to skip rocks and play in the water. There was a net set up by the Snohomish people, filled with 20 or so what I thought were steel head. When I saw the tribal members, two young men and a white girlfriend, come to empty the nets, I paddled out in the kayak to check things out. They said they didn't mind sharing with the sea lions, but when they plow through the net, they leave a car size hole. Jay asked me if I would like a fish. I said, "Sure." They were Coho, you would probably know them as Silvers. He put it in the deck rigging of the boat. I had to remember how to gut a fish when I got home. I called Jonny to ask. I don't think I have gutted a fish since I went fishing with you last. All for now.

Much Love,
Sally Britches

Music Appreciation

When E and I drove down Chuckanut drive from Bellingham, which runs along the coast with incredible vistas -- that is pretty views, we were listening to a Paul Simon CD. Lots of drumming rhythms. Ellie was in the back seat of the car and was telling me how she recognized the music. "Yup. I know this song. They play it on Teletubbies."

While I am sure they don't, I like that she makes these associations and didn't argue.

You're Cold Dude

You're Cold Dude
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

Since it was so difficult to get approval to burn down Wallingford and start from scratch, one has to vacuum and wash everything that hangs out around our heads. The other option is freezing. We have a chest freezer. Poor lamby, bear, goldenrod, puffy and rest looked at me rather pathetically when I shut them in.

A lousy Job, but somebody's gotta do it...

A lousy Job, but somebody's gotta do it...
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

For you long time readers, or reader, you may remember the R.A.T.'S we had last winter. Now we, Ellie and I have... Shoot, I can't even write it out. If I think about it too long, I'll gag.

So we poisoned and combed and clipped our respective heads. A very very very good friend did my head. Heather and I did Ellie. Last night after another round on the back porch with the comb, we went in and put olive oil on our heads. This is supposed to smother them. All I had was extra virgin, so we smelled liked a dipping sauce for bread.

First Grade

First Grade
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

Ellie's first grade class with Kathleen Kenndrick at the helm. When she came home, she and Phoenix went with G and K and learned how to ride their two-wheelers. Big day all around.

Breakfast Party

Breakfast Party
Originally uploaded by sasadler.

I called in the Aunts for the event of Ellie's first day of first grade. They came to help her primp and celebrate and eat a puffy pancake.

Jean said she is looking forward to walking her to the first day of classes when she goes away to college. We have decided on Cornell.

Robin and Karen

So...I was wearing a tank top and shorts. Casey starts her stories with a run down on what she and the key characters were wearing. While I rarely notice such things, in this case it is important.

I stopped to get iced tea from the coffee ladies, Karen and Robin, near the Eastlake Branch of my credit union. I told them I forgot the tea I had made when I left to go fix a leaking pipe. "I am not a plumber." I say, "Do I look like a plumber?"

Robin quickly said, "No. Your cleavage is in the entirely wrong place."

The Fine Line between Stupid and Brave

Perhaps not such a fine line. I don't know.

So.....Yesterday was quite a day in the land of urban gardening. I got a call saying there was a broken pipe in the garden. So I went to go fix it. Convincing myself that I am a plumber, (see related cleavage story). I headed south to the Danny Woo Community Garden.

Oh...the long and the short of it is I get to the garden, there is a mountain of trash near the entrance that I can't live another minute with and start cleaning up, the garden is occupied not with gardeners but with at least a half dozen stoned cretins, and then Jimmy, my very own 74 year old bigoted garden dweller showed up to ask for some help finding a place to live. A task I am dedicated to. For his sake or mine?

I called the office and Uncle Bob answered. He is the ex. director. I say, "I have a garden full of drug addicts, a broken pipe, a homeless man I need to find dwelling for, and a mountain of garbage. I need help and what is the address of the Housing Alliance??" He gave me the address. He later sent Tom up, for when I returned from escorting Jimmy to learn what hoops we needed to leap through, the mountain of garbage was gone and we were down to just 2 small gangs. Bless his heart.

All this put me in a good mood, the progress that was made in two hours with the major tasks facing me.

Things turned. Hours later, near dusk, I was waiting for the PVC glue to dry on the new pipe I laid, I walked down from the truck parked near the water main. There were 4 people near the shed. I asked what they were up to. And said, "Well, I am asking because a lot of folks have been littering, smoking crack and using this garden as a bathroom." One fellow said, "We aren't doing any of that. Don't worry."

I went to pick up my tools and returned to the shed 3 minutes later. The same man was pissing on the deck of the shed.

I lost it. I yelled to get the hell out of the garden. His companions scattered to the wind. He turned around and called me an unpleasant but common name for a canine. I told him again to leave, and he said he was going to hurt me.

We stood there, nose to nose, because he was on a step above me. He was, oh...5'11" ish, big, African American. I asked if he was threatening me. He said, "Yes." I took out my cell phone and called 911. I was disconnected mid call, but I pretended I was not disconnected and continued to describe the person whose removal I was requesting. I am excluding much of the heated dialog and unpleasant language.

He left.

I calmed down. Then realized I was afraid to walk up those same stairs he exited from to get to my truck. Then I realized what a stupid, stupid woman I could be.