The Merry Month of May

What was that odd pattering sound on my roof the night before last?  Could it possibly have been rain?  No!  Why, the last time I heard that sound was the 28th of April.  What on Earth is happening here in Seattle, in the great Pacific Northwet?

Well, truth to tell, there have been a few misty drizzles here and there, now and then, maybe once or twice.  But since I always complain when the weather is awful, I thought it would only be fair to note when it's not.  May has been mostly lovely, with 8 days above 70 (and five more predicted this coming week!) and enough sunshine to keep this desert-grown blogger happy.  Hooray for May!

Except for May 15, that is.  That was the day I opted to drive the horrid half-hour drive to Discovery Park to try sketching the lighthouse there.

It was supposed to be 70 and partly sunny.  When I arrived, it was 55 and mostly cloudy.

Okay, so I went really early, when the park ranger office opened at 8:30am, in order to snag one of the 8 coveted parking permits for the beach (without which it is a 1.7 mile walk one-way with a hill).

I could have waited until later, as it turned out.  Nary a soul was in line ahead of me, chomping at the bit for a permit, and no one turned up on the beach for the entire hour we lasted there.

I did try to sketch the lighthouse (not shown due to extreme hideousness), and after feeling uninspired by the whole adventure, went for a walk instead.

Which also didn't last long, because the smell from the nearby waste treatment plant kind of overwhelmed, and not in a good way.  The dogs, at least, didn't seem to mind.

So we walked in the other direction from the treatment plant, with the cool, cloudy beach all to ourselves.

There weren't even any fabulous birds to watch, other than the requisite gulls and crows.

Here is Pippin expressing precisely what I felt at that point...Why are we here?

Good question!  I need a list.  It should be printed in very big type and should be displayed prominently by the door, and it should say, DO NOT GO TO THESE PLACES AGAIN with an explanation, such as, "You hate the drive and it's always too cold and it smells bad!"

So take that, Discovery Park!

Fortunately, there is always the Montlake Fill.  I hope and trust that the Fill will never make that list.  There was a brief time, during the recent "restoration" project, when it wasn't entirely pleasant, but at least it smelled okay.  And the drive is only 15 minutes through a non-annoying part of town.

I took the Hounds there on Saturday, and made them walk around the Loop Trail twice.  We saw a whole lot of Killdeer, as usual:

And a lovely, not-quite-as-usual Cinnamon Teal:

The Marsh Wrens are common, though they prefer to hide in the cattails, and it's nice when one pops into view for a bit:

One fun sighting was not a bird at all--this is a Spring insect hatching cloud!  Most likely gnats, which keep the swallows very happy.

The Osprey pair appear to be sitting on eggs.  One is nearly always on the nest or in a tree nearby keeping a close watch, while the other one hunts for food or gathers more nest material.  Here is the female, Lacey, returning to the nest platform:

I ran into Connie and her gang of shorebird counters (they do a weekly survey), who were slowly ambling around the loop trail, counting Killdeer.  At one point, I ambled about 200 feet ahead of them and sat down to do this little sketch, and by the time I finished, they had managed to reach me.  They are s-l-ooooooo-w.

Except for the hideous lighthouse attempt, all of my sketching efforts occurred on Saturday and Sunday.  After spending Saturday morning at the Fill, I hopped over to the Twin Ponds community garden after lunch, to meet up with fellow sketcher Tina.  The sun was out!  It was ever so nice.

On Sunday we both joined up with the Seattle Urban Sketchers group for their monthly outing, which was to Wallingford Center.  This is an old school converted to boutique shops and eateries.  Naturally, the first shop that caught my attention was a bakery--the Trophy Cupcake place.

I spent a good hour drawing it while admiring the cupcakes, and then I admired eating a Triple Chocolate one.  I spent the second hour outside drawing the building, which turned out to be not so interesting, so you don't get to see it.  Trust me, the cupcake place was far superior.

At every group outing, someone snaps a photo of the sketchers.  I am in front, third from the right, wearing my ratty purple jacket.

As I mentioned, there are FIVE days in the forecast this coming week with 70+ temperatures.  Today is not one of those days.  Oh, well.  Something to look forward to!

Perhaps I'll spend some time today making a list with really big type of PLACES NOT TO GO.  I know what will be number one!