Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Dichotomies on Priest Lake

We survived what was expected to be a few very busy weekends on the lake and at the ramp.  Key word there being ‘expected’.

Was it as quiet as it has been?  No.  Did we almost fill up our second parking lot?  Yes.    We’ve got four parking lots, by the way.

How not-too-busy was it?  Well…

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                   This one had time to get in some lakeside yoga!

We figure they’re just breaking us in slowly for the mayhem that they call ‘summer’ in these parts.

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From where we’re sitting though it just doesn’t look all that bad.  So, since that craziness is a whole month or so away we’ll soak in our lovely, peaceful home by the lake while we’ve still got it all to ourselves. 

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The B-52’s had their Own Private Idaho.  We’ve got our own private beach in Idaho.

We may not be swamped in people yet but our winged, feathered and furred friends have started showing up.

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                                              American Coot

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                                           Spotted Sandpiper

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                                 Do those ears count as wings?

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DSCN8888         Darlene discovered this awesome fella (Hyalophora Cecropia or Giant Silk Moth).

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Gender is identified by those amazing feather-duster antennae.  The tarantula-like body & leg deal is pretty cool, too!

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We observed for a while before leaving him to live out his short life in whatever manner he saw fit.  It seemed only right.  But he was having none of that! 

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Four days later he turned up on the door to our fee booth and visited with us for our entire shift before finally disappearing as mysteriously as he appeared.

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The numbers of these small amphibians thankfully still seem to be increasing despite many getting “loved” just a little too much by the tiny humanoids that like to catch them.

We sure do appreciate you taking the time to check out all of the mushrooms in the last post.  Or, for that matter, taking the time to skip over them and come back to read this one.

After a conversation with her Mom about the size of the mushrooms in the previous post, Nicole realized that a few shots with perspective might be in order.  When you get so visually up close and personal with something size can become quite skewed.  Here’s a few examples with a little help from FDR.

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And now for a real sense of perspective…

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                  This would be considered a fairly small flower, right?

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If so, then in what size category does this spider on that small flower belong?

Well, after all of that, you are probably wondering about the title of this post.  Or perhaps you’ve already found meaning in it.  If so, good for you.  The original intent however was to describe what Nicole saw the other night when she took a walk out to the dock.

She looked right and something nasty was blowing in.

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And then she looked left…

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It was like two completely different lakes without even moving your feet.

Speaking of… we’d better make tracks and head back to the lake.  We opted to make the 120 mile (round trip) trek to Wally World and the Sandpoint Farmers Market this time instead of the 80 mile Safeway variation.  There’s a good chance we’ll require a rest stop!