Turn Around

Last night this blog was going to be about effective training of new employees: due to a number of miscues, I was toting leftovers and setting tables until 9:30. A lot of that was my fault, since I should have asked my supervisor for a phone number I could call if I couldn't remember things like where the fresh fruit is stored overnight.

Then this morning, I wanted to write about the friends one loses by relocating, but the whining was starting to bother me, so I stopped. Really, I've lost a couple of friends who prefer just about anything to an hour on the freeway, but I've gained a lot more.

At about 11:30 this morning, I was driving back to the house after buying groceries. As I turned the corner onto our street, a two-point buck looked up from his pruning of the neighbor's landscaping. He stared at me very solemnly, so I stopped the car and stared back. I realized I was interrupting his lunch, so I drove away, very slowly.

If the deer herd here was just a little more aggressive, we could say we have security deer.

I pulled into the driveway and parked, and opened the door of the car, just as a Cooper's Hawk flew past my windshield and landed within arm's reach on the fence. My jaw dropped -- I'd never been so close to a hawk of any kind before. He stared, I stared, and then he took off.

Let's see: Blue herons, hummingbirds, sea stars, geoducks, deer galore and a hawk . . . sorry, Seattle-bound friends, but I don't miss you quite as much as I did this morning.