Saying Goodbye
November 9 - 11, 2013
My mother called me Thursday night with some bad news. My Aunt Caroline had passed away. She'd been fighting leukemia for a couple of years. The funeral was on Sunday in Salem and I made the drive up to attend.
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| Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA |
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| Red-shouldered Hawk |
Even though I'd been there just the week before with Pongo, since it's along the way I decided to take the drive around Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge again. Pongo and I certainly enjoyed it the first time and I thought I might get lucky and see a few different types of birds. Unlike the week before, it was a bright, sunny day on Saturday. As far as waterfowl goes, it was pretty much the same as before. I'd also seen about a dozen northern harriers the week before (I know, right?) but I didn't see a single one on this trip. The hawks were out in force, though. I talked with one of the ladies working in the visitor center and she said a lot of different types of birds had arrived over the last couple of days, but I guess I'm not sharp enough to tell the difference.
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| Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA |
I saw a couple of pheasants on the loop. the first one was too quick and too far away for me to get a picture. I almost missed the second one. I had to back up to pick him up. They sure are beautiful birds.
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| Ring-necked Pheasant -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA |
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| White-fronted Geese |
After leaving the refuge, I bombed my way up to Salem. I met my brother downtown and we had a couple of beers. Salem has a few nice places to hang out now. That didn't used to be the case. It's still a town dominated by chain restaurants and strip malls, but smaller, more interesting places have been sprouting up over the last few years. I kept my mom up until after 2:00 in the morning talking about this and that. She's not used to those late nights.
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| Mount Shasta, CA |
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| Beaver Lodge |
The funeral service was on Sunday afternoon. Roughly 1100 people were in attendance. It was way too religious for my taste, but it suited Aunt Caroline and my cousins did great delivering eulogies. Before the service, I went in search of a beaver dam my brother had told me about. Unfortunately, the river was running too high and had flooded out the field on which the dam was built. I couldn't get close to it, or even really see it for that matter. I was able to find the lodge the beavers had built, though.
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| Minto-Brown Island, OR |
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| Boo Radley's House |
I also visited the neighborhood I grew up in. The house my parents owned was small, but the neighborhood was full of kids. Of course, everything looked a lot smaller to me than as I remember it. This neighborhood has been the setting in my mind for just about every book I've ever read. Some books fit better than others, of course. As I recall, it was a great place for trick or treating.
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| European Starling |
After the service, I met my brother and my oldest friend Eric for drinks. Eric's mother and my mother were close friends. Our dad's were in the service when we were both born a couple of months apart. My mom said Carol drove her to the hospital and she drove Carol to the hospital. I'd never heard that before.
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| Wallace Marine Park, Salem, OR |
I drove back to Alameda on Monday. Before leaving Salem, I drove around and took a few pictures. It was foggy, which gives the city a more romantic feel than it normally can pull off. I don't really have a whole lot of nice things to say about this town, but it sure looks good when it's hard to see.
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| Riverfront Park, Salem, OR |
On my way home, I stopped for lunch at King's Estate Winery near Cottage Grove. They make some darned good wine there. The food was pretty good, too. I met my aunt and uncle there, who were hooking up with a couple of old friends from Texas. It was a nice ending to what was basically a tough trip to help put a family member to rest. There are times when being a part of a family seems important, and this was certainly one of those.
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| European Starlings -- King's Estate Winery, OR |
Birds aren't the only animals to call the Sacramento refuge home. Turtles can often be seen. We've seen deer and coyote as well, but nothing gets Pongo more worked up than a raccoon sighting. Raccoons are common in our neighborhood, and they used to be common sight in our yard and even our attic. We haven't seen a raccoon anywhere near our house since Pongo came along. At least this time Pongo didn't try to jump out the window when we saw the family of raccoons. He was plenty agitated, but apparently four raccoons are enough of a threat to keep him inside the car.
Personally, I'm torn about the critters. They can be awfully cute and they are tremendously intelligent, but I don't like them living in our attic. There are also claw marks on some of the doors inside our house. They figured out a way in one time when we were on vacation. So, while I miss seeing them in our yard, I'm grateful that Pongo has cleared them out of the house. I wish the raccoons living in the refuge well, I have no mixed feelings there.
