The View From Here

I have to admit, I'm spoiled rotten. By some fluke I moved from the low desert of Tucson, with it's magnificent flora, and ended up in the high desert of Kennewick, Washington.

Surrounded by sage brush, hills and ravines (with yet more sagebrush--and tumbleweeds, lots and lots of tumbleweeds) the the towns that make up the Tri-Cities are green and lush, thanks to early settlers that realized irrigation was in order.

The Tri-Cities are pretty much divided by three rivers as well, the magnificent Columbia, the Snake, and the Yakima. From my deck, the view is of the Columbia, and the mouth of the Snake river. It takes my breath away each time I see it.

Of course that might be due to not having actually seen a river in 13 years.

Continually amazed, watching the mood of the river change from hour to hour...cheap entertainment. It's still hunting season here. Every time I see a gaggle of Canada geese, I quietly curse the hunters. It'll be over in a few days, season ends on January 31st. Not a momet too soon, in my opinion.

Some might think I have ten heads, but several times now, I've heard a lone goose criss crossing over the house, over the river, it's normal honk elongated pitifully...seeking its mate. Seems to me it should be illegal to kill anything that mates for life, but, that's just my opinion.

Graceful, elegant Canada geese abound in this area, filling the skies and fields. They fly at night, honking at each other, keeping in touch. You might hear several gaggles simultaneously.

A pair of great horned owls live nearby, we hear them occasionally. Magpies, blue herons with their other worldly voices, flickers, and ravens, an awesome array of birdlife flies by every day.

Oddly, a pair of Bald Eagles were at the river a few days ago, odd in that there aren't any tall trees for them to roost in nearby. I can't quite figure out where they live, but it's far past my house.

A huge covey of quail make the rounds, there's at least 50 of the goofy things.

Raccoons and skunks, and the occasional coyote come by at night...the skunks I could live without.
More than any other creature here in Kennewick, we have ........spiders!

They're everywhere. They are impossible to control. This is not the place to live if you're arachnophobic. Fortunately I'm not.

It's often windy here, if you've ever heard the term "prarie madness" I can tell you where that came from. It's not hard to imagine being a settler in the area, your man's gone goodness-knows-where, there's no civilization around, and you get to listen to wind...a lot. I can imagine with little to distract you, the wind would make you stark ravin' mad.

Funny thing about that wind...hundreds, maybe thousands of tumbleweeds invade the rivers. I'm not too sure where they end up, but it's almost like watching boat races, they sail right on by, headed East to Lake Walula, and the dam beyond. This river flows East past my house, then rounds the bend and heads South for a bit. But when that wind is howling, the whitecaps move West.

Perhaps the best view of all, is at night. The lights from Pasco glitter on the water, and when the moon rises, well, it could even make me a romantic.

Amazing.

Come, have a chat and a cuppa coffee.

The view is so very fine from here.