Last weekend I took Justus and a friend to Pike Place. I ended up getting the most delicious local cheese, a fat juicy mango and some perfect avocados. The Market was the usually circus of people-hordes, entertainers of varying talent, and colors, smells and textures everywhere. In front of the produce stand the ground was sticky with fruit juice. Here are just a few pictures I snapped.
This weekend isn't over yet, but I kicked it off today with an Earth Day Celebration. I drove out near Carnation to help plant trees to restore salmon and bird habitat. Although it rained on most of my drive out and back, it didn't rain a single drop on the volunteers as we planted. I think there was around 100 people there, because they said to begin with that each person would plant around 12 trees and when we had put the last tree in the ground we had planted 1230 trees. There were fir, cedar and flowering currant among other native trees. It was amazing, how many hands do make light work.
This planting was done near the Snoqualmie River, where Harris Creek flows into it. The ground was pretty muddy and by the end of our work, I was probably unrecognizable. My work gloves got so slick with mud that half-way through I had to swap them out with fresh ones so I could grip my shovel still. A little girl that was planting near me found a really cute salamander. I'm not sure why I didn't take a pictures of it. It was shiny black with yellow racing stripes.
There were quite a few businesses/groups that helped out with this effort including REI, Boeing, and Ducks Unlimited. After all the trees were tucked into the ground, a decious lunch was served of BBQ salmon, salad, fruit, potato salad and a variety of cookies, brownies and cupcakes. What a nice day! The only downside was that Adventure Dog had to stay at home. I'll have to make it up to him with a hike tomorrow!
Wow I can't believe y'all planted so many trees! That's great! I bet they don't need as much nurturing as they do on this side, since it's wetter over there, but does anyone check on them to see how they're doing?
ReplyDeleteI really like the picture of those flowers at the booth at Pike's.
ReplyDeleteAlso, why have I never noticed before that there are flowers (daffodils??) on the roof in front of the "Public Market Center" sign? Neat.
Actually, they do come and check on the trees! They mow around them too so that the trees have a chance to get tall and the grass and dandelions don't overshadow them. They pointed out trees they had planted last year and 3 yrs ago. The 3-yr-ago-trees had been planted 150 ft from the river bank and the 1st row was hanging over the bank now! Also, don't feel bad... I never noticed daffodils by the Market sign either until that day!
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