2011 Annual Report

The year started out pretty much like every other January in Washington State, usually cloudy and rainy. Patti and I are still doing our three mile walk in the woods with one of the dogs; I go just about every day of the week, and Patti makes it out most of the time. We tried a few times taking both dogs, but they always seem to sprint off and disappear in the woods (Lydia seems to be the instigator). So we alternate dogs every day; by themselves they are much more well behaved.

Lydia and Daphne, usually reliable as guard dogs, are ever vigilant keeping marauding squirrels away from our hanging bird feeders. But one morning I woke up to find this tree next to the feeders pulled down. Judging from the size of the paw prints and the deep claw marks on the tree, this particular squirrel must have weighed more than 250 pounds. But the feeders do attract all sorts of birds; here's a flock of Bushtits chowing down on the suet. Even now as I write this (December, temperature = below freezing) there's an Anna's Hummingbird outside the window, a year round resident. It was an excellent year for me birding, adding ten new birds to my lifelist: Western Screech-Owl at Dog's Breath Acres, Island Scrub-Jay at Channel Islands National Park, Gunnison Sage-Grouse, Lesser Prairie-Chicken, Golden-cheeked Warbler, Bachman's Sparrow, Common Myna, Snail Kite, Black-backed Woodpecker on a hike in the Cascades, and a very cooperative Tufted Duck down near Tacoma.

In late February we gladly accepted an offer from friends Sara and John to spend a few days down at Point Reyes National Seashore, California. Afterwards we keep on driving and boating, reaching Channel Islands National Park off the southern California coast. It was great fun camping out there, checking out the foxes and just barely ticking a pair of Island Scrub-jays, the only place they can be seen.  Here's a  picture report on our trip.

In April I left Patti at home and took a little camping tour down to Florida and back, just missing all sorts of wildfires, tornados, and flooding. Added six birds, two battleships, and zero rocket launches to my lifelist. Here's a much more detailed report.

Also in April Scott and I played (miserably) our first round of golf of the year, at nearby Echo Falls. On the par 5 17th, after numerous balls in the water, and in honor of PGA pro Kevin Na (who had famously made a 16 on a single hole in the previous week's tournament), we gave Scott a "Na" for the hole. I shot a Half Na. My golf game was all downhill for the rest of the year, as usual.

As usual, Kate and Ger were here for a long weekend in June for their show at the Edmonds Arts Fair; we managed to get in a little birding.  Sara and John came up from Oakland for a visit with various Northwest friends. We all drove and ferried up to Vancouver Island to Butchart Gardens; the first time for me, after living here for 35 years. And a little later Carol and Ken visited for a couple of days.  Just to prove that she actually exits, here's a photo of Phoebe; she always disappears into a cubbyhole behind the garbage when we have visitors.

During the summer Patti left me at home to watch all the dogs (Lydia and Daphne, and Suzie and Daisy) for a few days on the Oregon Coast with Mike and Allison and Kiara and Sienna. They had a wonderful time on the beach, while the pooches enjoyed a vacation of their own at Dog's Breath Acres.

I didn't get in nearly as much hiking this year as I would have liked to this year, thanks to the generally bad weather we had here, and a week in bed with the flu in September (get your flu shot early!).  Patti and I took Kiara and Sienna for a ferry ride and drive over to the Olympics, for a short walk along Hurricane Ridge, very pretty on a nice summer day. I camped a night at Hart Pass up in the North Cascades, where I got to watch about a dozen border patrol agents, all geared up, head out in a few SUVs to round up all those illegal immigrants from Canada who are willing to make the 35 mile hike over the mountains into the USA. Bet the troops didn't find any miscreants. In any case, the National Forest Service doesn't have enough money to keep the trails in good shape. There are a few hiking pictures in the Best Photos of 2011 section.

As usual we spent a bunch of our time last year engaged in various hobbies.  Patti has gotten into botanical watercolors, taking classes in Seattle. Not too many big projects around the house for me, but I see some upcoming soon; we've lived here for 25 years and things are starting to show some wear and tear.

For the first time in years Patti and I didn't spend Thanksgiving down in Oregon with the rest of the Saunders clan. But we couldn't pass up a visit from Patti's sisters Andra and Jennifer, who flew up from Berkeley for most of the week. The Aunties got to visit their grand nieces and nephews, and I got to cook a giant turkey.  No, we didn't go out for pizza afterwards.  The menu:

Carol's Orange Praline Yams
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Brussels Spouts (gee, I don't remember eating any of them, probably because I avoid vegetables that begin with "A" or "B".)
Salad and Bread Rolls
Brine Soaked Turkey (and sandwiches for days after)
Cherry and Pecan Bread Stuffing
Two kinds of gravy
Various wines and sparkling sodas
Mama Stamberg’s Cranberry Relish and Cranberry Jelly
Pumpkin Chiffon Pie
Triple Chocolate Vaporlock Mousse Cake

Luckily we were well prepared for any eventuality.

And that's all I can remember to report from the past year.  Looking forward (in most ways) to 2012.

(Note: I've added a bunch more trip reports to the "Vacations" menu.)