Surprise Visitor

Friends from Rhode Island are visiting here following a cruise to Alaska. They arrived at our house around 10:30 and we had a lovely time showing them around the house. Tony is the twin brother of my first husband Tom. His wife Simone came with him. We were in the dining room chatting and watching the birds. I was demonstrating our birds by putting out a mid morning snack and the Steller's Jays had already done their dance. A few other bright birds had happened by and both Tony and Simone were enjoying the show. Then this fellow, a male Pileated Woodpecker, showed up on the deck railing. What a great show he put on. He walked back and forth eating nuts and seeds and twice jumped and flew up to the suet feeder. I was lucky to catch him in mid flight one of those times. What a treat for our guests. And for us too.

We had a wonderful day together. We spent quite awhile poking around the "Chaikin museum" otherwise known as our house. Then we went downtown for pizza at Goat Mountain Pizza and a visit to the Spark Museum of Electricity. We got there just in time for their show. Tanna, a good friend of mine from radio days, greeted us heartily and asked if we would like to volunteer for the "cage of doom." We agreed. Tanna and a young teen ager showed off all the sparking flashing devices they have. The final act was to shoot sparks from a huge Tesla coil at a huge cage with humans inside. They first showed how the cage would protect you from the electricity. Tony, Simone and I then got in the cage and they zapped it with an arc of electricity. It was really fun and exciting. And of course we were just fine. Another special treat for our friends.

Next we went up to Dakota Art to see the travel show which has my two Venice paintings in it. We stayed and chatted with the fellows minding the store and then bought some art supplies before heading to Haggen's so Tony and Simone could buy some supplies. I bought a large piece of King Salmon for our dinner. It was yummy. They left early. Tomorrow they will return and we will all head up towards Mount Baker. We had a wonderful day today.

The extras are a few more photos I took of the woodpecker.