Let's take a walk
Blue eyed crawfish, Spokane River
Wild things, for a wild day
If you haven’t yet voted, please do. That’s the last thing I’ll write about civics until the dust settles on what are likely to be some of the longest, strangest, and consequential days in American history. I had my say in Sunday’s essay. I’ve used the best words in my drawer.
But while we’re here, let’s go for a walk, so to speak. It will lower our blood pressure. I hope.
Young mule deer buck in morning light
Mule deer herds are matriarchal, so when I encounter them I try to move gingerly until I can puzzle out who the lead doe is. I noticed this young buck as I was coming over a crest on my bike, along the Centennial trail, west of town. I quickly braked, gently flattened the bike into the tall grass, peeled off my day-glow-yellow jacket, and (on my best behavior) made eye contact with the nearest doe who, I surmised, was the buck’s mom. After a few minutes the wary buck actually approached me, and was still walking toward me (out of curiosity) when I took his photo, the low morning light illuminating those incredible ears.
Mountain Lady Slipper orchid, Field Spring state park in Asotin County, WA.
I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve lived in the Northwest nearly fifty years but without any idea there are wild orchids in the region. (I grew up in the tropics. I assumed all wild orchids were tropical.) My awakening came a year and a half ago when an artist friend, Kerry Whitsitt, shared photos she’d taken of Calypso orchids growing wild in a remote park in the southeast corner of the state, in the uplands near the small town of Anatone. I had to go look for them. I didn’t find the Calypsos, but I did find a small patch of Mountain Lady Slipper orchids—which take more than a decade to blossom after taking root. So now I know….
River otters, Joe Creek, Grays Harbor County
River otters exist in fresh waters throughout our region. I see their tracks often along Latah Creek but it can be years between sightings. A few months ago, I was working on a landscape photo where Joe Creek comes to the ocean between Pacific Beach and Seabrook when I saw something move on a small island in the stream. It was a pack of river otters, of which these three turned out to be the most curious and photogenic.
Moose in the cattails, near Palisades Park in west Spokane
There are vernal ponds in the rimrock in and near Palisades Park and I will sometimes walk (carefully) out on the trunk of a fallen tree and sit in the reeds to do bird photography. I was so situated, a couple years ago, when I heard a loud crash behind me. I knew instantly it could only be a moose emerging from the thick aspen grove behind me. I turned my head (slowly) to my right and saw the young (male) moose about twenty seconds before he saw me. Luckily, he didn’t over-react, as I had no easy escape. I looked into his eyes, he looked into mine. “We good?” We were.
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