Tide Pools, Ducklings, and Smalls

Yesterday I drove to Tukwila and picked up a lady who wishes to move to Puyallup as a "homefront pioneer" but still lives in Whatcom County. We came back to Puyallup to find an apartment for her that qualifies for Section 8. We had a list of such, but we weren't sure if it was complete. Anyway, first we stopped for coffee [for her] and Rooibos tea for me and started to organize our search. Then we went to the Crossroads apartments and the very helpful person there spent at least 20 minutes looking online and phoning people to get a viable list of apartments that take Section 8. She may have saved us, not just hours, but days, as we would have driven to one complex and the next to find out merely which apts qualified. So blessings on her.

The first complex we checked seemed to have a barbeque going on nearby. Actually, my friend discovered that the beauty bark was burning behind the show apartment. There was a circle of ash in the midst of the bark, with smoke rising from it, and even an area impinging on the building. We weren't impressed with their response to the emergency, part of which consisted of kicking dirt, which was more beauty bark, onto the smoldering mess.

Anyway, we drove around all day, then back to Tukwila, and I got back at dusk. That was my Saturday.

Today I went to Titlow Park Beach and joined a "Tiptoe Through the Tidepools" nature walk. At first, looking at a great expanse of round, slippery and muddy rocks covered in seaweed, I wasn't very impressed. Then, tagging behind some families that knew their way around a little better, I saw some exciting things.

I saw red crabs from 4 to 8 inches across the shell, orange and purple sea stars, small 4" multi-armed sun stars, a limpet, a tiny juvenile red octopus, a small fish which resembled an eel but was called something else--didn't write down the name, and forgot--and a multitude of barnacles on every rock. I thought about making a small quilt on the theme, due to the multiple colors of sea life there. I also learned to identify three types of seaweed, and saw tiny shrimp, and lots of small humans. It was a great morning in the sunshine. After the walk, I took my book and a skimpy lunch and read in the sunshine at the park.

Driving home I passed DeCoursey Park in Puyallup and couldn't resist seeing if there were ducklings yet. I read some more in the sun and watched 3 or 4 families of ducks with ducklings swimming up and down the river. One had "junior youth" sized lings. And there were lots more small humans.

Came home and had some beet soup and toast, filed my weekly claim, and I'm preparing to wash some clothes.

And that's my Sunday.