What a great find. I saw one recently in Pacific Spirit Park out by UBC! Incredible bird.

Bingo!

You think? That didn’t occur to me but I think you’re probably right based on their uniformity. Unthinkable! That’s the kind of thing you expect in budget motel rooms, not in NW Portland.

If one considers these flowers as fake, which I think they are, I wonder where each of us falls on the six degrees of acceptance in terms of the Overton Window theory of public ideas:
Radical
Unthinkable
Acceptance
Sensible
Popular
Policy
Since we have no control over someone attaching fake flowers to their building we kind of have to accept it.

Well, the Multnomah tribe lived in the area where this oak tree still lives. The Multnomah were a tribe of the Chinook peoples and the Chinook word for oak was kull stick.
I know this oak and it's the most majestic tree I know of in NW Portland. Notice the screws holding the plaque. Eventually all the Heritage Tree plaques will be replaced with ones with springs like this one. They allow the tree to grow without restriction and the plaque can move correspondingly without digging into the bark. A great improvement!

I was so thrilled by the owl. Good thing I had the right camera along!

I'd say nine miles is a pretty ambitious walk for the first time in how long? Good for you!

We would see it frequently in our chicken flock. It might be caused by a genetic uneven growth on the upper and lower parts of the beak, an injury or the bird not honing its beak adequately. There are apparently also a few bird species that have developed a crossed beak as a regular genetic adaptation to their specific environment. Thanks quick google search.

Great nature photos today! Especially, of course the owl!!

Yes, the glasses are right there!

They were using the names of real agents, and invited me to look them up on the ICE website. Sure enough, they’re real agents.

There was a piece on NPR about the customs/border scams. They are pretty sophisticated, using names of real agents, for example. Of course the end goal is getting you to transfer money into a "safe" account before your accounts are frozen. Good job sniffing out the scam.

Lyle and I were doing a day ride on our road bikes a few years back. I was happily ahead when I got a flat. No problem I say to myself, I take the wheel off dig in my seat repair kit, pull out tire irons, a tube box and ta da! no tube in the box, no patch kit. I did have a pump. hmmmm. I had merrily been riding for almost a year thinking I was fully prepared. NOT. Anyway, luckily, Lyle arrived and had an extra tube so all was well. It is very easy to think one is completely prepared on these day rides. I now always check my mini repair kit before each ride or at least weekly.

Huh. The finger test wouldn’t help there. Must need to have more than one kind of inspection in the check off list.

I had to get a new rear tyre for my commuter bike recently. It had a bulge of the side for a while and when I removed it, the sidewall was almost transparent. It's hard to believe it never blew out.