Midweek photos and thoughts

A quick post on a windy day.

(For any new readers, clicking on the picture once enlarges it. Click again, and it will become still bigger. The back browser returns you to the post.)

Unidentified flowers taken along 3rd Avenue in Point Grey. Threaded yellow around the centre caught my eye.

Is this Purple Loosestrife? Bill and I admired its beauty during a walk Monday evening at Jericho. Sad to think it isn't good for the park.

More unidentified but beautiful flowers seen during the same walk.

I took another shot of this sailboat at the marina in North Vancouver. Thoughts about my own seafaring heritage, about my friend, Dianne, and her fascination with this boat, and about Martin and Lisa's stories. Their blog is linked at the side of my page. I love the honesty and introspection, as they examine the choices they have made to raise their children to a good life.

I watched these Mergansers swim all the way up the shore, just to hop onto this log.

One of them immediately hopped off again, but the second one celebrated its perch proudly.

Nearby, a seagull floated through a blue sky.

Meanwhile, a crow refused to let Lawrence eat his fish in peace.

The crow finally gave up pestering, and Lawrence got on with the job at hand.

It appears to be hard work to eat while holding a flapping fish still. No malice in Lawrence's actions. Just the way things have to be. Eat or be eaten. Poor fish!

On the way home from school Tuesday evening, I stopped on the Lions Gate Bridge and took this boat shot.

On Wednesday, I again watched Lawrence working hard to build his nest.

Riding his broomstick across the sky.

Behind Lawrence, Perez, a photographer/pilot with nine grandchildren (more about him in another post) pointed out this procession.
By the time I took the second picture, the people had set up lawn chairs between the two trucks.
Then our attention came back to the birds. Lawrence and an eagle had quite a disagreement. I'm not sure how the seagull became involved. As far as I could tell, all (except the prey in the eagle's talons) survived.

This last story tells about a dog that hadn't had a litter in more than two years, but began lactating when she saw a lamb rejected by its mother. Bill's sister, Phyllis, cut the clipping from the Winnipeg Free Press, and sent it to me by snail mail! I was amazed that she found time, in the midst of packing for a huge move, to think of me. Thank you, Phyllis!