East Side/North Side

No sunrise for me
as I chose sleep instead so,
I'm late on all scores

~ carliewired

It was after 10 AM when I backed the truck out of the garage. It was a chilly -1 C with high, thin cloud and feeble sunshine. I was off to McArthur Island for my jaunt. 

As I neared the north entrance to make my turn, a large, bushy coyote trotted across the drive and went down into the slough. I reached for my camera on the seat beside me, but I was not fast enough. I missed it! I wondered if he was looking for a duck dinner. 

I parked on the north side and walked back along the Rivers Trail beside the slough watching for any movement. No luck! I did find a big blue heron perched along the slough. He appeared headless as he was hunched over looking down. When I walked past a tree to get a better shot of him, he had disappeared.

I drove over to the east side of the park and parked beside the conservation garden so I could walk the path to the outside edge of the park . I looked down into the slough facing the river. It is very muddy with only a trickle of water going through it. I discovered a wild crabapple tree down below the trail. Perhaps something will find them good to eat. The east side of the slough is mud with a bit of a frozen pond at the end. I could look across the housing on the other side of the street to see my mountains. The city has raised up that edge of the trail and paved it this fall. I believe it's for flood mitigation. In the spring I'm sure it will be better landscaped. It is skirted with black plastic at the moment. 

I'm home for the day working on a mystery quilt now in step 2. I have over 300 small pieces to cut and sew over this week so I must crack on. 

The forecast for today is for a high of 2 C. There's some of that white stuff expected for tomorrow. My world may look very different when I wake up.