Juneuary but in January

 Well, then...

Not really feeling 2026 so far. Could we exchange for, I dunno, 202ABCD or something? That said, there has been and will be merriment within the doom, gloom and fear. Because there has to be. 

We need it more than ever. So on with some birds!

After a brief flirtation with frost, the weather has rebounded to the coolish and rainy pattern. No more atmospheric rivers. Just forties and damp. All. The. Friggin'. Time. 

I don't really mind the rain. Generally, it means the air stays fresh, and this is awesome. What I do mind is the complete lack of winter we seem to be having this year. I don't really want everything popping into bloom in mid-January! I want some freezes to slow down the pollen process please!

But ah well... 

Deluge upon deluge, crows get through it pretty well. 

Not without some very interesting feather-styles! Girl looks like she's heading to eighties prom! I want to give her a little corsage and a sparkly purse!

This weekend took us on a (very rainy) excursion to Greenlake. 

Greenlake is one of the more popular areas to go birding/walking/running within the city. It's a lake with some green around it (aptly named, I know)! 

I used to walk there like a decade ago but hadn't been since Allan was born. 

The weather forecast kindly offered us a three-hour window in which the prodigious damp was expected to evaporate: 9 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

 "We" had a later start than that (read, after a week or not really sleeping, Allan decided it was time to make some time up and could not be stirred with full volume dance music). I think we eventually headed out closer to 10, getting us walking about 10:30 or so. 

Also, three miles is pretty easily walked in an hour when you're, you know, walking. 

When you're stopping every few feet to gawk at birdies, it takes longer. 

The weather held much longer than predicted, but by about noon it did indeed start to revert to the Great Damp with threats of downpour and inhospitable winds. 

Being on a loop, we really had no choice but to keep on keeping on. 

INTO THE BREACH!!!!

Wet and crowded as it was, it was still quite a nice sampling of waterfowl (and water birds who are not technically water fowl). 

Coots are rails and have funny feet, but while they are fowl who live in the water... not waterfowl

There were hundreds of geese, hundreds of wigeons, hundreds of all manner of ducks. And plenty of crows (chasing a hawk, actually) and pigeons. Relatively fewer gulls. But we survive. 

BIRD PARTAY!

Oh, also, knowing it was largely a paved walkway, I figured I'd rest my feet by wearing sneakers. Do not recommend. We mostly walked in the muddy areas beside the pedestrian freeway, and I came home with frozen wet feet. They mostly warmed up before we headed back out again for our regular visit to our crow-bros. This visit is non-negotiable. They may not show up (crows are fine with rain but don't seem to love sustained wind), but by god we will if Allan has any say over the matter. Which is fine with me. I like consistency and they are my baes!

The outing was a nice little way to fully careen into the "regular school schedule." Allan has started a new science class with the homeschool co-op, as well as a new art club with the same co-op. This is on top of going to the public school for art every week. And all her nature readings. And miacademy science. And all the birding stuff. And a daily science book reading. 

So, yes, basically her homeschool experience is an insane amount of science and art with minimal dabbles of the other subjects and riding a horse on Thursday. Given a few years ago she wanted to be an astronaut painter, I suppose this is appropriate. Balance is overrated. Interest led education is the golden ticket!

So far so good, I suppose. 

The rest of the "regular" has been integrated well enough. We'll see how it feels in the dead of January. Especially with a slew of busy weekends on the horizon! 

Thhis weekend, we'll hunker in extra warm (because damnit it's like fifties out now!) and pretend that the world burning outside is a cozy fireplace, because sometimes you gotta rest!

And feed the birds. Once you make a contract with them, it needs to be fulfilled. Those crows do not tolerate dereliction of duty. Or maybe they do, but a disappointed avian is rather heartbreaking, and the crows have this very palpable way of expressing delight and expectation when they see familiar peanut wielder. Usually they fly up just closer than comfort and stare (often wondering why I can't see them directly behind and above like they easily could and occasionally being forced to resort towards gentle cawing to get my attention). 

To fail them would be just too heart breaking. 

How could anyone let this cutie down? 

Or forget to share with them? These two crows are gonna have words later. Or caws I suppose. 

I hope everyone can find a little peace and a lot of piss and vim as we come into this new weird year spinning!