Routines

For these young Mallard ducks at Lake Padden---quite possibly the same ones I saw on May 29th, but looking much more grown-up here---a thorough cleaning and grooming of every feather several times a day is an important routine.

For the White-crowned Sparrow in the extras, feeding its demanding fledgling is an exhausting, all-day routine. I came across this pair several times during my walk, and was glad to finally see them both having a quiet moment in that tree!

For me, putting on my Fitbit has been one of the first things I do each morning---until today. My mobile phone rang about 5:15 a.m., waking me up, and jumping out of bed to see who was calling at that hour. I didn't recognize the phone number and knew no one in the city and state listed as the caller's location, so I ignored it. Wide-awake now, I decided to make an early start to the day. 

My usual habit is to grab my Fitbit from my bedside table as I get up, but the deviation from that pattern clearly made a difference, as I didn't even think about putting the Fitbit on until I had been walking at Lake Padden for half an hour, and looked at my wrist to see how many steps I'd logged, only to find it Fitbitless!

I think I'd better make myself a morning checklist...