Mikey Graduates

Yesterday Mike brought over his diploma! Yay! We are so happy he's finally done with highschool, on time and ready to go. Today we'll be talking about his plans for what to do next. He's working on a deal to move in with a friend this month so hopefully that will go really well for him. Also you should make sure to look up his band, Starfish Rescue Team. They are on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/starfishrescueteam
You can just ignore anything on the page that offends you. The music is pretty fun, but the words don't make any sense. The boys like it like that, apparently. I hope you will enjoy it.

Thelar Wetlands

In college, I had a class called Local Flora which was cool because instead of five hours of class time plus homework, we had two hours of class time plus frequent field trips to nature preserves and hiking trails in the area. While the class left something to be desired, some of the trips were great exposure to really spectacular Pacific North West landscapes. One we visited was the Thelar Wetlands just west of Belfair, which is a gorgeous natural area in a marshy tide flat area off the Hood Canal.

Yesterday, Kevin and I packed up Iris and some home made bread to trek out there on a "Photographer Trip." Iris was really ready to get some time out of the house, since Mommy had been sick for a few days and school let out for the summer last week. She brought along her zippy Crayola digital camera, and we sang "Over In The Meadow" on the car trip out. 

Our first discovery after getting through the beautiful woodland walk was an educational center with great native plantings gardens, a small amphitheater, and a suspended skeleton. Iris noticed the animal didn't have any legs and concluded "It's a swimming dinosaur." The whale paintings decorating the nearby area would not dissuade her!

A few steps down the path, I took this shot. It looks like something out of pioneer days between Kevin's Irish hat and the untouched landscape beyond. Don't look too close; you might see the plastic water bottle in his hand.

Iris and I set off, both taking tons of pictures and talking about the plants and animals we saw. Although the weather had started out yucky that day, clouds burned off about noon and by the time we were out of the shade it was actually pretty warm. As the sun hit the ground though, the warm air triggered a heavy wind. When we were all the way out in the open, the noise of the tall grasses blowing around us were too loud to talk over. We enjoyed that part of our walk in quiet.

Our path was elevated above the marsh with pipes placed below us to help water flow in and out. Even in  the woods, there were wooden promenades to protect the delicate ecosystem from curious feet. It also helped protect our curious feet from the pools scattered through the meadowscape.

There were lots of birds out. We saw swallows beating into the wind, seagulls plowing toward the water, and eagles far overhead. This mother led her ducklings through the marsh beside our path; they must have been hungry because they hardly looked up from the green weeds below the water. 

The photo below was one of my favorites, because it represents the image I remembered most from my first visit to the wetlands. These narrow secret forest tunnels were such vibrant places, and in the bend of a v shaped one, there was a perfect little bench for our picnic. It was good timing too, because Iris was hitting low blood sugar depression mode. She dragged her feet, stared at the ground, and asked if we were almost back to the car. After we ate, however, she popped up, waved her arms, and yelled, "Let's go guys! Where can we go next!?!?!" 

I was excited to catch this Red-Winged Blackbird as we retraced our path toward the education center. I had been trying to photograph how many birds there were, but it was hard to see them in the cattails and the distinctive shoulder coloration was invisible. How impressive that my little camera was able to catch this so clearly, although of course I hardly had time to aim it.

All in all it was a beautiful trip and we left feeling invigorated and so appreciative of the area we call home. It's so important to make time for these natural world expeditions, to connect with God and nature. We talk lots about protecting the environment and stewarding the earth, but it's easy to lose touch with the reality of creation. Especially with children, how can we expect each other to act as stewards when we spend all our time in synthetic and built environments? We felt pretty blessed to be able to share this wilderness with Iris and of course to renew ourselves and our vision of the kingdom.