Profligate Blue Jay

     Regarding my Saturday comments about the jay's hoovering up all the bird seed:   After we had examined the evidence more closely, dw and I realized the jay wasn't really eating all the food.  On the contrary, it really liked the sunflower seeds so it was flinging everything off the feeder except what it wanted to eat.  It would empty the feeder in a day or day and a half.  The last time he emptied it, I refilled with a different kind of seeds (no sunflowers) and now he still roots around a bit with some flinging but not nearly as much.  --- The east side feeder still has the seed mix with sunflowers, but the jay can't perch on that one so comfortably so it just eats a bit and leaves.  Humans 1, Jay 0.  As a blue jay sidebar:  The other day I saw the jay fussing around on the canopy of my pickup.  It was attempting to duke it out with it's reflection in the garage window.  Another jay flew up (probably it's mate) told it to knock it off and the two flew away together. 

   Today we drove to Longview, WA to see the famous squirrel bridge.  Amos Peters, who had an office next to this site got tired of watching squirrels getting squashed so he built this bridge.  It's strung between two trees, the western tree is in front of a small office building, the eastern in a park.  We didn't see any rodents using the bridge, but it has an undeniable cuteness factor.  The park has a memorial to Amos who died in 1984.  It's a reasonable thing to be remembered for. 
   After passing through Kelso (no smelt on display -- a shocking lapse for the Smelt Capital of the World) and looking around for anything else of interest (thrift stores don't count), we re-crossed the river via the Lewis and Clark bridge and returned to Portland.  We stopped at St Helens for lunch at the Hawaiian Island Cafe.  We each had a noodle dish (soba noodles, teriyaki chicken for me and pulled pork for dw) which was quite good.  Each of us also had an appetizer (spam, sticky rice, and a seaweed wrap) -- Hawaiians eat more Spam per capita than anyplace else -- the Spam and rice was OK -- Spam and rice -- the seaweed wrap (faux I think) was pretty bad -- neither of us ate the wrap.  The restaurant was all right.  Worth a stop if you're hungry in St. Helens.  But I'd suggest you pass on the Spam and rice appetizer.
   And I finished reading "Pinocchio" by Collodi.  In the first pages of the book, Pinocchio squashes Jiminy Cricket with a hammer.  He also falls asleep near a fire and burns his feet off.  Loved it. DA

I didn't - that Pinocchio book was way too gruesome for me.  I mean burning your feet off during a nap?  That's just creepy.  But funny, in its own way.  Nice day today exploring Longview as I had not been there before and lunch was wonderful including Waimea wheat passion fruit beer.  Yum.  dw   (p.s.  I tried the beer.  I was less enthusiastic.  DA)

A Hike On The Wild Side

   Some time ago I bought a contour/trail map of the Columbia Gorge.  dw and I have just used it once when we hiked in and near Catherine Creek S.P.  (this area is on the Washington side of the river, about 10 miles east of Hood River)  But in looking for interesting hikes, I noticed Major creek -- the next drainage east of Catherine creek.  The map shows Major creek's head water to be in a steep, deep and narrow canyon that I thought would be an interesting and scenic place to hike but there didn't appear to be any access.  Yesterday I decided to explore the area myself -- perhaps to discover a hither-to unrecorded scenic wonder.  I drove to the area, ending on a two mile one lane gravel/dirt road that dead-ended at an off-the-grid house.  I talked with the guy who lived there, and he was friendly enough, but he said the road was impassible from that point on, and he didn't offer to let me proceed on foot.  I retreated to a wide spot, parked, crossed the creek (knee deep) to National Forest land and started up stream.  (Actually, I was already thinking the project was a bad idea).  I went on for an hour+ -- bushwhacking, animal trails, mud and poison oak working up and down low cliffs -- finally
admitting to myself that at the rate I was going it was going to take two or three days, AND IT WASN'T ANY FUN, so I returned to the car.  (stripping down to my skivvies and washing up a bit when I re-crossed Major creek)
    Rather than wasting the drive, I parked near Catherine S.P. and hiked up the west top-side of Major Creek canyon.  And that hike was wonderful.  The weather was ideal:  cool (low 70's) with a light breeze.  I went about 5 miles round trip, gained and lost 1500 feet, all through an oak savanna with a great view of the river, snow covered Mt. Hood, capped with a lenticular cloud, looming in the background.  There were lots of wild flowers (particularly lupines) but no clusters that were worth photographing.  At the top of the hike, I topped out of the gorge and had a view of Mt Adams.  I saw a couple of deer, some coyote poop,  a leg of a killed/winter-kill (?) deer (probably three weeks old) and on one section of the trail a lot of bear poop.  And for a quarter of the hike, both up and down, some sort of bird was twirping his little happy song.  (that's sappy enough to require a towel)
   On the way back home, I met a new Mustang convertible, top down, with something sticking up above the windshield.  When we passed I could see it was a black lab, feet on the dashboard, chin resting on the top of the windshield, and looking like the happiest dog in the world. 
   A couple of days ago, fairly bored, I turned to the web to see if there is somewhere close that is worth a visit.  Close, and someplace we haven't explored before.  Reading about Longview and Kelso Washington, I discovered that Kelso is the Smelt Capital Of The World!  Thus The United States is neatly bracketed by fish:  Waddington, N.Y. in the east -- the Carp Capital Of the World -- and Kelso, WA. in the west -- the Smelt Capital of the World.  DA

Our Version of Excitement

   A couple of days ago, I bought a MIG welder -- its a type of arc welder that's supposed to be much easier to use.  I hope it's as easy as advertised (I also bought a book on how to use it) since my welding is good enough to stick things together but generally doesn't look very good.  (My common approach to things:  "How hard can it be?" is usually serviceable but sometimes the results aren't very pretty)  If nothing else, I have a new toy to play with. 
   The neighborhood birds have been pigging out on our two feeders.  The west-side one in particular is a favorite, to the extent that they'll empty it in three or four days -- previously one fill would last nearly two weeks.  (dw:  "I think the blue jays are hoovering up all the seeds")   We have four types that are regulars and a couple lbjs that drop in for the occasional nosh.  The most interesting is the crow that will peck at the suet.  The size difference between a crow and a finch is stunning.  I have a few details to work out but I'd like to offer a rotting steak or two which would (with luck) attract a few buzzards.
   I believe I mentioned that I nearly ran into my new tiled bench (which dw warned me about, but I didn't think would be a problem).  So today I spent some time setting up a dangling red ball system (similar to the dangling tennis ball that's common in garages)  to warn me against ruining my wonderful bench.  As I was puttering around measuring things and etc. dw suggested I just put a couple of bricks down so when the tires bumped them I would know when to stop.  (Where I park, it's best to back in and I can't see the bench).  I said:  "Well, yeah, that'd work if you want to do it the easy way"  So I did do it the easy way -- actually using a section of 4X4 spiked down with some rebar.
And now I have a couple of red Nerf balls sitting idle on my hands. 
   Finally, for the last couple of months dw has been taking care of dinner every Saturday night.  (either cooking, take-out or eat out)  Tonight we were going to go to St. John's McMenamins and have a Phili cheese steak -- in honor of Maggie N-A who had a graduation party today (in Philadelphia)  -- I got the notification from Cary N. yesterday and I called with congratulations this afternoon.  So we set out for the pub not remembering that today was the St. John's parade/bizarre-battle-of-the-bands yearly event.  We both have moderate to severe allergic reactions to crowds so we went to a different location ("Pause" -- a restaurant/tavern) and had a Cuban sandwich -- ham, pulled pork, aiole sauce and some other stuff -- good not great. 
   Tomorrow it's back to the gym and I might ride my bike -- my pulled/strained/sprained/who-knows-what-the-hell leg is much better.  Time to get back in the saddle, so to speak DA

How Does Our Garden Grow

   I finally got all the crops planted Sunday.  Peas and corn.  Three large flower pots worth.  I'm really not, and never have been, interested in gardening.  We had three pots with nothing in them, so I planted the snow peas and corn.  The peas are a climbing variety and, along with the corn, are supposed to provide afternoon shade (the pots are all elevated).  Edible veggies will be a bonus.  In fact, if the crops grow well  I'll apply for a corn subsidy. 
   In other news there isn't much.  I mowed the lawn.  I haven't been in touch with family or friends (aside from the gym).  I signed up for Facebook but haven't yet explored it's possibilities for quick and easy communication.   My leg strain (sprain?) is improving but I'm not riding the bike yet (my theory is that the bike caused the problem).  And that's about all. 

   The pic is the tile bench that I just finished.  The legs are from an old laundry tub, and the top is a couple of reinforced pieces of cement board. 

Boooring

   A quiet week even for us.  dw worked nearly every day with full shifts and I pulled a muscle in my leg so I was largely idle.  I skipped the gym twice (back at it today), didn't ride the bike and generally took it easy.  I don't remember doing anything to cause the strain but such is life -- it's now getting better. 
   The mosaic (actually it's more of a cut-tile) bench is finished.  As soon as I decide where to put it I'll post a picture
   Reading:  I read two books on paleontology.  One on the great Permian Extinction and another telling how fossils from the first fish- to- land creatures demonstrate the evolution from fish bones into such things as ear bones and hands -- with a side track investigating stem cells, growth buds and etc.  They were about as interesting as they sound.  I can't say as I was interested enough to give either book my full attention.  I also sort of read Plutarch's Lives.  (again lack of real interest) But I did find that Pericles had a great big pumpkin head and was made fun of for it.  I read one of dw's detective novels which I might have read before but which I can fruitfully re-read in another six month.  And finally, I just started "Gilgamesh".  For starters, Enkidu, a co-hero, is literature's first vegan.   And so it goes.  DA

Fallen Man

   Or to be more accurate, The Dropped Guy (see 4/27).  At the gym this morning I got the details of his injuries.  One of his heels was broken in three places, and three of his vertebrae are compressed or cracked.  He almost certainly will need some screws in his heel and he might need surgery and screws for his back.  The good news is he has no neurological damage.  John G. (anatomist & -- non-practicing -- doctor) one of my climbing partners said the heel is potentially very serious with possible circulation problems and even foot loss -- depending on the location of the breaks.  I doubt that the guy is a happy camper right now. 
   Otherwise an uneventful day with almost perfect weather.  -- And about time, I 'd say. --  After the gym, I worked some more on the mosaic bench I'm making.  I should finish it tomorrow, and then later in the week decide where to put it.  It isn't like we need any more furniture, even a piece that weights 150 pounds.  DA