Up in the air

I took this hiking Mount Townsend in May, 2017 with my daughter and a friend. Do you see the wild rhododendron in the shade?

The top of Mount Townsend is at 6260 feet, here. It is beautiful switchbacks through woods and then opens up at the top. The altitude gain is 3000+ feet.

The first time I hiked it, in 2000, it was clouded at the top. We were disappointed and ate lunch and napped. When we woke up, the clouds had dropped and we had an amazing view of the Olympic Mountains from the top of the ridge. A marmot kept us company further along the ridge as well.

The rhododendrons look like they are just floating in the woods. Airborne!

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: airborne!

Ok, this doesn’t fit the mood, but my title makes me sing it!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1J8E9dnd5g

Sunrise

I was at an AirBnB for a few days last week. The great blue heron landed in the top of the tree in the next yard before sunrise. Then she stayed there waiting and enjoying the warmth when the sun was up. Eventually an eagle headed for the tree. The heron took off and the eagle landed.

The next two mornings I did not see an eagle or a great blue heron in the tree, perhaps because it was gray and cold and overcast both mornings.

That is why we have such big trees in the Pacific Northwest, so that eagles and great blue herons can build massive nests.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: landing.

Change is confusing!

I am Elwha, cat.

This two weeks has been stressful, with confusing changes. Mother comes home daily with smells of another cat. About a month ago she began rushing around and moving many things. Sol Duc and I were locked out of a room on the main floor and then out of a room on the lower floor. Then Mother continued to hurry and she even washed some of the rocks. Why would she wash rocks? We were concerned.

Then people came. Three people. One was large and he chased me! His name is Trey, he is loud, he knows my name! I ran!. Mother would pick me up and she even handed me to him. Then he was very nice and less loud and patted my belly appropriately, but after he put me down, I still did not like when he would chase me with loud noises!

There is a small female person and a less small female person, Joanne and Camille. They both held me but they are quieter and did not chase me. Trey and Joanne stayed in one of the shut rooms and Camille in the other! We asked to investigate, but were refused. This is confusing. They left after two nights, gone! Mother seemed to enjoy them very much. Trey called me “cat brother” but I am not so sure.

Mother still smells of the other cat. Daily! She left for three nights and Dennis came in. He does not stay for the night, but he is good. We miss Mother.

Mother came back, but today was more frightening. She put on our harnesses for outdoors and we went in the carriers. But instead of letting us out when we got outside, we went in the car! Then we slid forward once. Mother said, “I was trying not to hit a deer, sorry.” We cried, Sol Duc and me. Mother brought the carriers into a place with many frightened animal smells. Another woman took the top off my carrier. She and Mother talked, a lot. She gave me two shots. I let her. She let me get off the metal table. I got in the carrier with my sister. It is very small but if we squeeze together, we both fit. The other woman laughed and said, “I can’t believe they both fit in there.”

Mother put us both in the bigger carrier and brought us home. We are very very happy to be home.

Matter

If something doesn’t matter, is it anti-matter?

Lily’s person moved two days ago, much closer. Supposedly to a place where Lily the cat can go, but instead of a private room, there is a roommate. It took me a month to get Lily cat to let me pat her, so the roommate won’t work. We are all very very frustrated. And next week daily treatments for Lily’s person start, thirty minutes away, without enough warning to get volunteer drivers. So it will be me. I am tired. But I suppose it’s anti-matter, right? We were given 24 hours notice by the nursing home and by the physicians about both the move and the treatment and they wanted to start the treatment the same day that she was moving. Whether we can provide all the transport seems to be irrelevant.

The stealthie is from Whidby Island. Right, I’m just an irrelevant shadow as far as the medical dysfunctional machine is concerned.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: irrelevant.