Like a Little Kid - 1/25/15

Or -  Ol' Eagle-Eye

Slow days. Rainy and cooler days and definitely slower. Not everything can be blamed, as much as I would like to, on the weather though. My left knee betrayed me and all day yesterday was spent sitting on the couch with my knee elevated and an ice bag on it going, "Owey, owey, owey."

Hahaha, I am not the brave little soldier I once was.

But before I get to that drama we did have an evening out on Thursday. It was the 2014 Picture of the Year show at the Seattle Downtown Library. 

We rode the Link to The Emerald City. They stopped for a moment just after exiting the Beacon Hill tunnel to change drivers and while we were stopped I tried to 'grab' a shot of the downtown skyline at night. Hahaha, this was the best of the four I shot and it isn't very good. Too much shake even though I rested the front of the lens against the window for stability and to reduce the chance of glare.

You can see CenturyLink and the Columbia Center lit up in SeaHawks Blue and Green.

It was worth a shot. I will get better . . . think tripod.

     Seattle Library Reflected Door Selfie!!     

You can see us, just barely, to the left of the guy's back in the reflection off the elevator doors.

We were both very surprised when we got to the library. It was chock full of people. Chock full. The line stretched from the front of the Microsoft Auditorium around the back and then curled in on itself.  So we had plenty of time to get this picture.

It was an interesting show, the first speaker/photographer for the Seattle Times was very good. Entertaining and prepared, he was even able to ad-lib a bit from his script. Oh, and he was a good photographer, too. 

What they did was have the speaker at the dais and then they projected their pictures on the screen behind them. Oh, there wasn't an empty seat in the house. It was packed. Then it got HOT. Very, very hot. Did I mention it was hot in there with all those folks?

Unfortunately, the second speaker wasn't as interesting, prepared or talented as the first. Still, it was a pleasant evening and quite a change of pace for us to get out after the sun goes down. Normally, (and this absolutely means every doggone day) we're sun people. Hahaha, early to bed and early to rise for the old folks.

OK, I sorta ruined Saturday which, from all I can gather, wasn't all that bad a day weather-wise. Unfortunately, my doggone left knee decided to go south on me and it hurt!! A lot.

It hurt to walk, to sit, to lie down and any other position you can think of.

Hahahaha, I know, Wah-wah-wah.

But today it was back to normal. Or as near normal as my knees get these days.

Remember,  a week or so ago we had a leak in the ceiling from upstairs and the plumber who came in to check it wasn't shy at all about ripping out the ceiling looking for it? Turns out it was just the dishwasher and not any pipes. Well, now we needed to get the ceiling fixed. So today was the day for all that fooferall. Finally, after the guy got done fixing the ceiling, we were off for a picnic.

Carol had gone up to the Ghetto Safeway and gotten the fixin's for some meatball sammies. We rolled us some turkey meatballs, baked 'em up and slathered them in spaghetti sauce and slipped them into some sourdough rolls.

And we were off!! First stop was to the $Tree for some dessert. Mmmmmm, Chocolate Chip Cookies!! Then it was over to our park. And what a great day it was, around 50 degrees and the sun was out.

When we had driven into Renton, we spotted this guy along Rainier Avenue and he was still there in the same tree when we got over to our park. 

I really had to reach out with the zoom to get this picture. But, there he is. I know I've said this before, but this is such a kick!! Here he is, sitting in a tree in the neighborhood. 

A freakin' Bald Eagle, Man!! 

In matters like this, I am, truly, just like a little kid.

So I got a couple shots of the eagle and then got down to the real purpose of this excursion . . . my turkey meatball sammie!!

Mmmmmmmmmm . . .  Ga-ood!!

Good job, Carol Anne!!

Aww, twarn't nothing!

And, while we were eating, we took a look around. This couple were getting their seaplane ready. Y'know, a little Sunday afternoon spin around the city.

A view of Mt. Rainier across the Renton Municipal Airport.

And the good folks were out and enjoying their natural resources today.

Lazing on a Sunday afternoon . . . 

We got any more beer left?

A seaplane moored next to the trailer park marina.

Not too many planes today. We did see this unusual one, a pusher. The engine above the cabin is mounted backwards so it pushes the plane rather than pulls it like most aircraft do.

And another gander at this Bad Boy. Way up high. Takin' it all in.

And this one . . . takin' it all in.

It's one of those extra-special days we get to enjoy cuz we got nothing else to do but enjoy. And a lot of other people over in Coulon Park were doing the same thing, too.

The eagle was still in the tree when we left our park so we stopped along Rainier Avenue to get some shots. This gives you an idea how high up the tree he was. There he is, that little blot at the top of the tree. Waaaaay, up there!!

So, I took over 100 shots of this bad boy. And, no, I didn't upload them all onto this blog.

You're welcome.

Just most of them.

Once again, I had to adjust the camera to work with the available light and I set my exposure compensation up 1+ because of the strong back light.

Made it Ma!! Top of the World!!

Fun Facts: I was trying to find out how to distinguish between a male and female eagle and, along the way, I learned some more about these amazing creatures.

Their eggs hatch in the order they are laid. Imagine that!! Once the eggs begin to hatch, the female stays with them while the male provides the majority of the food. Ain't that the way, the guys doing the heavy lifting, again. 

Women, pfft!! Sometimes two chicks will survive, but it's not uncommon for the older eaglet to kill the younger one, especially if the older one is a female because, as we all know, female eagles are consistently larger than the males. This next fact astounds me but if one chick decides to kill the other, neither parent will make the slightest effort to stop the fratricide. 

Wha . . . !?!?!

They'll let one kill the other but while on the nest with very young eaglets, the parents will move about with their talons balled into fists to avoid accidentally skewering their offspring.

Gee, thanks, said the younger but really cute and always funny younger eaglet.

What chu lookin' at, Willis!?!?!

And then he began talking to the . . . Missus?

I don't know. Carol thinks he was talking to her cuz she was trying to talk to him.

I am woman, hear me roar . . .

I got tired of waiting for him to take off, again. And so I went back to the mini and was all settled in when I glanced back up at him and decided it was worth one more shot . . . 

I didn't quite have my camera up all the way when . . .  he flapped his mighty wings and took off. I was semi-ready and managed to get this one and only shot.

Hahahaha, which is better than any other picture I have of an eagle taking off. Which is, pretty much, zero. 

Until now.

So Carol watched him fly away across the lake, I was still in the mini. What a kick.

We kept on driving down Rainier and Carol spotted another eagle up in another tree about a mile down the road.

For this eagle I had to adjust my camera again and compensated it 2+ to bring out some detail in his face. Oh, in case you're wondering, I have no idea how to tell male and female eagles apart. 

Fun Facts: Females are slightly larger (just don't tell her that) but we've never seen them sitting side by side. Now, and this just doesn't seem fair, females have the bigger (distance from top of the beak to their chin) beaks than males. Bummer.

So, for the sake of my simple mind, I just refer to them all as he.

And so, we got to see a several of eagles all within a couple miles of the Hole-In-the-Ground.

And the final bird of the day . . . as we were walking up the steps, Carol spotted these guys (there were two of them but I just got a picture of the one) making a large turn above us.

America's power and it's right here in our backyard. Along with the eagles.

Uh, wow!!!

The day was definitely low-key but it was a good one. The ceiling is whole again and we had a fun excursion with some good food at our park.

(Hahaha, in the Small World Category I'm watching the Simpsons on TV as I write this blog entry and they have a bald eagle in the opening!!  Homer just caught it in Bart's room. Hahaha, what a coinkydink!! They named it Squawky.)

This really does make it all worthwhile. What a great day.

Life is good.

     Hooah!!