The Fifth of July

THE MORNING AFTER: The morning of Independence Day, Mt. Rainier (Tahoma) put on a show in blue and white (but no red). It was gorgeous.

We had a busy Fourth of July. Most of the day involved siding and drywall projects on the house. We did manage to have some fun though, especially up on our rooftop about 10 p.m. 

CJ will tell you a bit more about it.

At and after 10:00 P.M,  on 4 July 2018, I went outside my house and used a ladder to climb up on top of my roof, carrying one of my dogs. Sitting on top of my roof, I could see dozens of different fireworks shows: Some held in private events, like sport games, some held in events operated by city governments, and others launched by people lighting fireworks in their backyards. It was peaceful, yet energetic to witness the fireworks from all around us, almost like a panorama. Meanwhile, the dogs were reacting negatively to the fireworks, as is usual for most canines.

Previously, I had found a guide on Q13 FOX about where to see fireworks in various locations in western Washington state. My mother wanted to know the times that the Renton and the Tukwila shows started (they both started at 10 P.M.) Chances are, we saw both the Renton and Tukwila shows during our firework-watching session on our rooftop, alongside multiple other city firework shows.

I am not sure CJ's use of the word "peaceful" to describe the scene is all that accurate. I used "Gettysburg" as an analogy when describing the smoke filled valley, the volleys of bombs exploding all around us.

It was pretty, though, I have to admit. My photos are all terrible, including this one. 

After about a half hour of rocket watching, we went inside and I blasted the "Hamilton" soundtrack to try and overcome the noise from the explosions. 

MEANWHILE, IN SPACE: The International Space Station had its own patriotic display this year.

Image Credit: NASA

Per their press release, "The Advanced Plant Habitat on the International Space Station celebrates the Fourth of July with its LED lights, displaying an American flag pattern. Roughly the size of a mini-fridge, the habitat is designed to test which growth conditions plants prefer in space and provides specimens a larger root and shoot area. This space in turn will allow a wider variety of crops to grow aboard the station."

The space-age mini farm has 180 sensors, which monitor things like water usage, carbon dioxide levels, light levels, temperature, humidity and oxygen in the growth chamber, as well as temperature, humidity and oxygen levels in the plant root systems.

Sorry I'm a day late in sharing, but NASA also wished us all a Happy Fourth of July. ...

https://youtu.be/qY5b4QXLSJk

Pop(sicle) Art

CUTESY: For several months running now, the kids and I have helped decorate the monthly calendar of events at a local transitional housing program for women. 

This month we wanted to do something with a summery theme. We struck upon Popsicles as our inspiration. We were just going to cut them out of flat foam or paper, using our Cricut machine, but I did a little Googling and found a tutorial about how to make some cute and easy ones out of dollar store pool noodles, and that's just what we did.

We cut the 'noodles' into 6-inch sections. Then, we sliced two sides off each noodle. 

Next, one end of each segment was rounded (we used an Exacto knife), and then the two parts were hot glued together to form the frozen treat. 

Add a couple of wooden sticks, and presto, Popsicle!

Overall a quick, easy, inexpensive way to make some summery decorations with real "pop."

SYNONYMS: A week or so ago, the kids and I scored a brand new, used Password game. They'd never heard of it, but I explained it was based on a fun old (like older than ME!) game show, and that it's all about synonyms and word relationships. (Password first aired on Oct. 2, 1961, hosted by Allen Ludden.)

Per Wikipedia, "in the game, two teams, each composed of a celebrity player and a contestant, attempt to convey mystery words to each other using only single-word clues, in order to win cash prizes."

We play for pride here at MPA. ;)

There are several versions of the tabletop game on the market. The one we found is the one pictured below.

We've mixed up teams and have (mostly) had fun playing. One session CJ kind of groaned a little bit about being compelled to play. I reminded him that this was his language arts class/education for the day, and if he'd rather do some worksheets or whatever, I'm sure I could find some. He came around remarkably quickly. ;)

Thanks to YouTube, you can watch 56 (or so) year-old Password episodes. Like this one. ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFcLLrFC3HA


COLORFUL: Just in time for the pyrotechnics tomorrow (America's Independence Day), Skunk Bear  of National Public Radio shares a video about how fireworks get their colors.
https://youtu.be/dW5OBrB4MRM

Trekking

NORTHWEST TREK: So, for fear of sounding like a broken record, we've been busy. Born to run, as Bruce Springsteen might say.

Last Thursday, we headed an hour or so south to Eatonville, WA, to visit Northwest Trek Wildlife Park. It was a working visit for us (and that's all I can say about that), but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

One of our first stops was the bathroom. An unglamorous destination, but I loved the posters they had on the wall outside. 

From there, it was off to more interesting things. Like, the badgers. :)

 We saw some cool cats along the way.

A highlight of the visit was a tram ride out through acres of grasslands and wetlands. There, we saw many a bison.

 And many a baby bison!

 In fact, this baby below was just three days old!

CJ can tell you a bit more about our visit. ... 

On 28 June 2018, my family visited Northwest Trek, located south of us in Eatonville, WA. Northwest Trek is a zoo displaying a variety of animals native to the Pacific Northwest, particularly those in the Eatonville region. We visited for a mystery shop, and as such, had to carefully catalogue the details of our visit (employee names, times of entrances and exits to certain places in the zoo, etc.). Here are some highlights from our visit:

At one point, we waited near a barn owl enclosure to see a presentation about barn owls. Wendi, the presenter, introduced us to Tuccloose (I think that's how it's spelled), a resident barn owl of Northwest Trek. Wendi attempted to feek Tuccloose a rabbit head, which he was reluctant to go for. Wendi compared an owl being given a rabbit head during the day to a human being woken up at 3 A.M. to eat a cheeseburger. I did admit that I would eat a cheeseburger, if woken up at 3 A.M. and presented with one. Wendi also showed us some owl pellets, presumably from Tuccloose.

At 1:00 P.M, we went on a tram ride, Northwest Trek's main attraction. Grace, the tram driver, provided us with knowledge about the various animals along the path. In particular, we got to see a three-day-old bison. Multiple caribou were also present on the path, including multiple that forced Grace to slow the tram by walking along the path.

Below is a snowy owl, who didn't like the sound of my camera's shutter.  

Here's a 'fairy' house from our nature walk. (Really, the whole day was a nature walk.)

 The barn owl is photoed below. 

 And here's his lunch - rabbit head!

We saw some big cats during our travels. 

 Doe, a deer. A female deer.

 We saw a trio of lovely wolves, two sisters and a brother.

 The animals were the main draw, but the nature trails were compelling, as well. 

All in all, it was a great day full of lots of amazing animals and sights we wouldn't see elsewhere.