Happy 4th of July!

He fights...
to defend her freedom to protest
(Seattle, Washington)

I hope everyone had a wonderful day enjoying time with family and friends, and taking a moment out of their day to be thankful for the wonderful freedoms we enjoy. I reflected on this today as I met an Iranian-born saleswoman who apologized for being distracted. She said the recent events in Iran have left her frazzled. The constant worrying over the safety of friends and family has meant many sleepless nights for her.

This was one of those moments where I had to pause in my busy day and ponder on the many freedoms I enjoy and take for granted. The rights and freedoms we enjoy in North America many people in other parts of the world are dying for even a small portion.

So today I'd like to send a bouquet of gratitude to our army, navy, airforce, police and firefighters who risk their lives on a daily basis to defend and protect those freedoms.

Happy Canada Day!

Hi, I'm still alive. I've been on vacation for the last two weeks, but I'm home again and I promise to get around to visiting your blogs this week.

Today is Canada's 142nd birthday.

If you're in Vancouver tonight be sure to check out the Burrard Inlet Fireworks Show at 10:30 PM.

Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian readers.

Spotted Towhee sitting in a tree

I saw this beautiful Spotted Towhee just outside my window

"The Spotted Towhee is a distinctive bird that is often heard before it is seen, scraping about in the brush. The deep chestnut flanks and sides combined with the male's solid black head, red eye, and black upperparts are distinctive. The belly is white, and the white spots on the wings give this bird its name. The white at the corners of the long tail is visible in flight. Females appear similar to males, but are dark brown while males are black. Juvenile towhees are heavily streaked. Towhees in Eastern Washington are more heavily spotted than their western counterparts, with larger spots and more white on their tails."
Source: www.birdweb.org

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Tanning Turtle

I encountered this Painted Turtle at the neighborhood duck pond. Over the last week we've had mostly hot sunny days, and people and animals alike were out soaking up the rays.

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Quack - Baby Mallards at Deer Lake Park

Baby Mallards at Deer Lake Park in Burnaby, British Columbia.

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Adorable Balls of Yellow Fluff

Goose-nap

These 6 goslings are the newest arrivals at the duck pond. There were 7 but one was killed thanks to the stupidity of someone who wanted to hold the little gosling. I always feel we should respect wildlife. Give them enough room so they don't feel threatened and don't touch them. Use your zoom to get close-up shots and don't intrude on their space. I've seem two such deaths in the past week of Canada Geese and both were directly caused by humans and it's very upsetting.

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Thursday Challenge - Trees

Lava covering bark of tree

Monument to volunteers who re-planted and cleared trees after the erruption

I happened upon a new meme this week and it's called Thursday Challenge. The theme this week is trees, and since it's the 29th anniversary of the erruption of Mount St. Helens I thought I'd share some more photos from my trip last year.

There are thousands of fallen tree covering the hillsides surrounding Mount St. Helens in Washington. The erruption on May 18, 1980 removed much of the northern face of the mountain and the lava flow destroyed more than 200 square miles of forest leaving behind thousands of broken trees and a barren landscape wiped clean of animals and plants. The land is slowly healing and many volunteers over the years have cleared thousands of dead trees and re-planted new trees to attract wildlife and restore the ecosystem at St. Helens. Still, most of St. Helens have been left to Mother Nature to restore. When I visited last summer I was shocked to see the evidence of the destruction so clearly visible after almost 30 years. The land has been deeply scarred with deep slashes in the earth where the lava flowed and I'm guessing it will take many more years to fully recover. To see my previous posts with more photos of St. Helens go here and here.

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