Along the Shore

Went walking along the downtown shore with M. yesterday evening, the second perfect blue-sky day in a row. The path is part of the Olympic Discovery Trail. Mount Baker on the northeast horizon astonishingly tall and frosty white--but I didn't try to photograph it. You need a long lens or else all the camera sees is a little blip on the horizon, whereas in truth it LOOMS.

There were ducks and gulls, and a quartet of otters heading east through the water parallel to shore, flashing their tails as they swooped along ahead of us; briefly we hustled down the path, but we couldn't catch up with them. A mother with a small boy saw a seal, but we didn't see it. A tiny pond behind the path was still frozen — it's been really cold — and we watched gulls clown around as they slid on the ice: skidding landings, or their little legs slowly doing splits as they peck at bread thrown for them. We walked through the Rayonier Mill property as far as Ennis Creek, where there were several pieces of orange flagging hanging over the creek marking salmon redds. We couldn't read the hieroglyphics on the ribbons; M. said the date the redds were flagged would tell us which sort of salmon, she guessed coho. Then back again, then went out for tea in the dusk.