Sunset - 9/7/14

Or - Lazing, on a Sunday Afternoon...

It was yet another in a long string of HOT days. We've had over 40+ days of 80+ degree weather. It's just not suppose to be this doggone hot. 

So one of the ways we've found to deal with the heat is to go with the flow…sort of. It's a lot cooler by the side of the lake and so we go to our favorite park and just laze away the day. We bring along the radio and either listen to some Talk Radio or we tune into KIXI, Music As Cool Now As It Was Then!!

You can find KIXI here:

http://kixi.com/programs/

Go ahead, give it a listen. You might like it.

Some intelligent conversation or some groovy tunes…it don't get much better. Oh, and the cool breeze off the lake. The icing on the cake as it were.

I work some crossword puzzles, sing along to the tunes or simply stare off into the sky. Speaking of which, here's my "I'm too lazy to even get up for this shot," shot.

There's something to be said for just laying around. Honestly, there's a lot to be said for laying around. It's fun!! Both Carol and I are good at it.

As always there was a lot of air traffic both on the lake and the air strip. I got this shot of a seaplane coming in for a landing. I still get a kick out of watching these planes take off and land.

Now, the funny story is that Friday, when we were at the park, we saw this plane loading up with a family…four adults and some kids. And this same group came in while we were at the park today. 

Hahahaha, I bet they were wondering if we'd been there all weekend.

We did talk about camping overnight in the park and enjoying the lake at night. When the cops come to roust us out, we could tell them we were some of the Valued Homeless and had a right to sleep out there. 

Do you think it'd work?

Now these folks took our idea of lazing about and really ran with it. They rode their kayaks out to where the water is shallow, about a foot or so deep and set up their chairs and kicked back. Just them, the logs and the seagulls.

Good idea.

There were a lot of kayaks out today. I'm pretty sure they were ALL privately owned. 

Artsy-Fartsy Alert!!

It was just an interesting shot…the light was good and, in photography, light is everything. Now, if I could just do something with it.

I'll keep on a trying.

Artsy-Fartsy Alert #2!!

Again, light is everything and, as you can see, the light was pretty good. Even though I wasn't quite up to it.

  Artsy-Fartsy Alert #3!!  

The bird, the bird, the bird's the word.

Artsy-Fartsy Alert #4!!

Light.

'Nuff said.

  Lakeside Selfie Alert!!  

We do enjoy this lake.

And the light...

This guy was trying to catch a breeze out on the lake. There wasn't much and, after a while, he furled his sails, fired up his engine and motored back to shore.

While this guy didn't need any breeze whatsoever.

Nice idea, but I think I would tend to fall over.

A lot!!

We were lying on the blanket when I saw, about 150  feet away, what I thought were small ducklings scurrying along the end of the air strip.

I thought it was a bunch of baby ducks and they were lost. Always on the look-out for cute pictures, I decided to actually get up off my ponderous heinie and go and get a picture…or two.

When I finally got one on the screen, I could tell it wasn't a duck. I didn't know exactly what it was but I could tell fairly quickly that it wasn't a duck.

My first thought was…plover.

When we got back home, Carol quickly identified it as a Killdeer.

Some interesting facts about the Killdeer. The Killdeer is a medium-sized Plover (Aha!! I was partially right!!). These birds forage for food, usually by sight. They mainly eat insects. In built up areas, they will forage in large parking lots, or, like these, on air strips.

The chicks look like adults and they are precocial - able to move around immediately after hatching. The Killdeer is named onomatopoeically, (the creation of words that imitate natural sounds) after its call.

These birds will frequently use a distraction display to keep predators away from their nests. The bird walks away from its nesting area holding its wing in a position that simulates an injury and then it begins flapping around on the ground emitting a distress call.

Predators, thinking they have an easy prey, are attracted to this seemingly injured bird and away from the nest. The Killdeer does this until the predator is far from the nest and then the bird suddenly "heals" and flies away.

Smart!!

  Artsy-Fartsy Alert #5!!  

They just keep on a coming, don't they. 

Light.

It's a beautiful thing. Here's the marina in the glow of the evening light.

After a day on the water, the folks are coming home. There were a lot of boats out on the water today. Grabbing the last of the summer weather before it scoots away.

Sun setting over Lake Washington. Clear skies and blue water.

It was a beautiful afternoon. 

A great way to spend the hottest part of the day and enjoy what the world has to offer.

It was simple and it was, really, fun. I don't mean laughing out loud or screaming with delight fun but the kind that fills you up and leaves you satisfied.

A good day.

Life is good.

  Hooah!!