Cashing in.

Perhaps you have heard that the ponderosa pine is now Spokane's official tree. Shortly after this announcement, several of my neighbors began cutting theirs down. Perhaps to make commemorative plaques.



Our old house on the north side of town was 840 square feet. It was on a very busy street. But, in the front yard were two towering trees. One was a cedar. The other was a fir. These trees made the house look like a little cabin. A couple of years ago they were taken out. Now, it's a bleak little house. I really like trees. I also understand that sometimes they have to go.

We've taken a lot of trees out of our current yard, mostly maple. The arborists who have done the work have also trimmed up our remaining trees so there is less chance of them crashing into our home during a windstorm.

When I see a bunch of trees on several properties getting cut down at the same time, I wonder if the homeowners were scared into doing this by the tree trimmers. I've never had this happen, but have you ever been approached by a company who told you your trees were likely to fall into your home and should be removed? I often wonder if this was what happened to the trees at our old house.

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First kayak fishing of 2014

Yesterday was a very calm day out at Eloika Lake.

For a couple hours, I had the lake to myself. Lots of memories of fishing here as a kid. I like Eloika because you never know what you are going to catch. It's mostly perch, but you can catch bass, trout, crappie too. In its depths of six to twelve feet, lurks a small relative of the northern pike, the grass pickerel. It's been a really long time since I caught one. They are relatively small and look like this.

I think this is my third year of fishing out of a kayak instead of a canoe. I am sold. You can make much better time in a kayak. Sitting on the water is beautiful. The wind doesn't blow you around as much as in a canoe. And when you are on a sit-atop kayak, you are always dressed appropriately for an unplanned swim. The water temperature was 46 degrees yesterday.

When the sky opens up and the blue hits the water, you are sitting in it. It is a little dizzying when the clouds are flying and you are hovering on top of them.

Incidentally, I caught some fish - three perch, not enough to take home. They swam away at the end of the trip to fight another day. Six perch and we eat fish tacos for dinner. Fishing is just an excuse.

3D Spokane Goodness

Click on the picture. Cross your eyes. Enjoy Spokane on a really nice day - in 3D!

First tulip at our place!