I injured my foot last week, so haven't been to the park for a while. It rained cats and dogs yesterday morning, but turned really nice in the late afternoon. So nice, in fact, that I had to fight the urge to take off and visit the park. The weather-predictors had led me to believe that today would be a much better day, so I forced myself to wait until this morning to visit the park. You should have seen the look on my face when I got out of bed, looked out the window, and saw all of those nasty black clouds in the sky. I immediately checked my outdoor thermometer, only to discover that the outside temperature was only a paltry 47 degrees F. Where is my bright, sunny, 57 degree day, I demanded of the heavens? Have patience my child, it replied. So, donning my rain-gear, just in case, I took off for the park. When I arrived at the park there were only two cars parked in the parking lot, but by 1 p.m. the park was full of running, yelling children, their parents, one young man on a bicycle, numerous baby strollers of one kind or another, and one chihuahua.
The annual Buds-N-Bloom Festival is coming up Mother's Day weekend, but I'm sorry to say that they've neglected to include West Hylebos Park as part of their tour for the second year in a row. I simply cannot understand why they would do that. The park is full to overflowing with buds and blooms! I wrote the Buds-N-Bloom folks a letter asking them why we had been dropped from the tour, but no one has bothered to reply to it. My suggestion is to forget about coughing up the $20 fee to take mother to the Buds-N-Bloom Festival tour and bring her over to West Hylebos Park for a free picnic among the blooms.
Blue bells are in full bloom.
So are the Forget-Me-Nots.
The apple trees, filbert trees, crab apple trees, pear trees, plum trees, and bitter cherry trees are in bloom. This dark-eyed junco is loving it.
As are the black-capped chickadees.
The false-lily-of-the-valley are erecting tall masts of feathery white blossoms.
False bleeding heart is in bloom all over the park, some of which are starting to transform into seedpods (which I think look like green beans). My brother-in-law, in Oregon, says his bleeding heart plants don't form beans like this, but ours sure do.
Big-leaf maples are in bloom and starting to create the twin-winged-seeds that we used to call "helicopters" when I was a kid.
Marlake is full of tadpoles.
Marlake is full of birds and ducks, such as this beautiful emerald-headed mallard...
his snoozing mate.......
Hooded mergansers.......
Red-winged blackbirds, both male......
and female.....
Violet-green swallows are zooming around like a squadron of little jet fighters, song sparrows and robins are singing in the trees, I heard a hawk crying in the sky today, and we've seen bald eagles quite frequently this spring.
We have black garden slugs.....
gorgeous banana slugs.....
And look at this magnificent leopard-spotted gentleman!
Land snails are beginning to cross the gray gravel trail.
Garter snakes are beginning to come out to warm themselves in the sun.
And frogs are.....
Every.....
where!
Brooklake looks beautiful!
Everything's nice and green.
And mothers are starting to bring their babies out to show them off. Brush rabbits are munching grass in the meadow, including babies small enough to nestle in a teacup. The park is alive with life and color right now. You couldn't find a better place in which to enjoy a leisurely afternoon. Hope to see you soon!
Teri I. Lenfest
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