We Spy

 
Photo mosaic: NASA and 30,000-plus contributors!

SEARCHED THE WORLD OVER:  The photo above isn't just Earth, it's Earth on Earth Day, and it's made up of 36,422 individual photos, a mosaic of "Global Selfies" submitted by over 50,000 people via social media on Earth Day as part of NASA's "Earth Right Now" campaign.

All totaled, people on every continent posted selfies. The photos represent 113 countries and regions.  CJ and Annabelle submitted this selfie ... 

 Last night NASA had a campaign like this ("Wave at Saturn" was the occasion), they submitted a photo and when NASA posted the mosaic, I spotted the kids within three minutes or so.

Today, the needle-in-the-haystack hunt felt like it stretched to three hours, and of this writing, I still haven't found 'em, though I'm about 75 percent through looking.  

I have a hard time imagining I'd miss them. I mean, I managed to find five of my Facebook friends, at least seven Space Needles, three people (all women, BTW) flipping the camera off, a plethora of people doing yoga poses, several SCUBA divers, a couple of skydivers, a pair of My Little Ponies, Elmo, two aliens, three Stormtroopers, and way, WAY too many women making duck faces. (Actually, ONE would be too many, IMHO.)

To get a good look at the mosaic for yourself, check out the super duper high resolution version of it on the GigaPan Web site: http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/155294

EVENING AT THE ESTUARY: Tonight, we took a post dinner stroll down by the Hiram M. Chittenden (Ballard) Locks, just a mile or two north of our place. 

As soon as we entered, we could hear the chattering of heron overhead. It's prime time for nesting season, and even though they're way up high and somewhat hidden in the trees, the nests are pretty easy to spot. How, you wonder? Because all you have to do is look at the ground. 

If it's covered in white droppings, there's a nest overhead. ;)

Eventually, a few of the herons ventured out of their nests, looking for dinner or dessert.

They soared overhead, skimmed the water and stood along the shoreline, on the south side of the locks, near the colony. 

 A sign on site told us that a couple of seasons ago, there were 42 pair of herons nesting at the locks.

On the north side of the locks, there was lots of floral eye candy.  I loved the juxtaposition of these pink roses growing up out of the concrete, against the old Art Deco-style office adjacent to the big locks. 

 And I have to think purple is a favorite of one of the site's gardeners.  

 Pretty purple petals everywhere!

We had to head to the stepped hillside, which the kids love to roll down. Fortunately, tonight it wasn't covered in Canada goose poo, as is sometimes the case.

Poor CeeJ got up a little too much speed at the end. I guess the good news is, a tree stopped him before he rolled into the estuary.

We took a few minutes to watch the train bridge go up and down to accommodate rail and water traffic. 

We saw both freight and passenger trains roll by.

Of course, we watched boat traffic, too.  These poor tourists probably wondered why I was pointing at them and taking photos. It was because I couldn't believe how banged up the hull of the boat was!

Yowza!

And on our way back to the car, we even briefly spotted a harbor seal, no doubt looking for an evening snack! 

All in all, a lovely evening stroll, with so much to see!