Melvin meets Gracie

Melvin & I thought we'd have some quality time at the beach with a little construction.

But then Gracie arrived and took an overly strong interest in Melvin. I didn't even know I had this picture until I uploaded from my camera.

After a few minutes encouragement by dog-walker - not owner so less in control - and myself, we recovered poor melvin from Gracie.

I think Melvin is holding on here to keep from falling over - he seems to have lost interest in building and still hasn't asked where his hat went.

When I got up to 85th I saw Gracie & person jogging east so i caught them on the corner by our house & got a couple of pictures. She was still glad I wasn't mad, and was happy to pose with Gracie.

Melvin spent some time out on the front porch drying out. When I brought him in he was mostly dry but perhaps permanently bedraggled. Good thing he's the stunt double, though I do think this was more than he signed on for.

Heather Lake

Last Thursday Chris & I wanted to do some sort of outing.

I preferred to not drive if I could avoid it, and if Chris was driving here first and home after, then she didn't want too much driving in between.

We voted on doing something in the Mount Pilchuck area, along the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River - someplace I used to hike as a Boy Scout and with my family in the early 1960s. We ended up opting for Heather Lake.

This cirque lake lies on the slopes of Mount Pilchuck at about 2400 feet elevation. The trail there lists at 2 miles and 1000 feet elevation gain - which represented a greater challenge than I had tackled since my diabetes and various foot problems.

For evaluating some available alternatives, we used my my earlier edition of Best Hikes With Kids: Western Washington. which does a good job of providing information appropriate to my physical limitations & mental needs.

It turned out that Schmoo (who has mobility issues) had the most problems, though my hiking shoes were discovered to be coming apart when I changed out of them back at the trailhead.

The woods were wonderful, the variety of fungi intriguing, and the views of the lake and the mountains in the mist delightful. Note the last patches of year-round snow on the far side of the lake in the top image.

I hope to be doing more of this soon - in my new ankle-high boots.

Having actually gotten out on a trail should help me better enjoy my trail guides.

Fun stuff.

No fire

The first siren could have been an ambulance.

The second siren was obviously a fire truck and stopped nearby.

The picture above is from our front yard and shows the firetruck stopped across 85th.

When I checked the 911 web site, it showed a '4RED - 2 + 1 + 1' respnse - two engines, a ladder truck, and a batallion chief - but I only heard the two sirens & the web site showed the incident as closed within a few minutes - soooooooooooooooo apparently no fire - or the first folks there put it out with a hand held fire extinguisher.

The truck in the picture is probably standing by to run hose from the fire hydrant if needed.

Woof.

Melvin was very excited.

King Melvin

Turkles

I like turkles.

Carkeek

On my way back from Richmond Beach yesterday, I stopped at Carkeek Park for a little woods walking & peering into the creek.

Note the springboard notches in the stump.

Firetruck

We had a firetruck in front of our house (not an emergency).

Melvin was entranced.

He says he really really really needs a firefighter hat.