Getting outside

Good morning, day ??? of self isolating. We've had a streak of gorgeous weather, so I got outside for some walks. Our governor says it's okay to get outside for exercise, as long as you're not in groups and are staying at least six feet away from others. That wasn't a problem where I live.

A silver lining of this pandemic is that golfing is now prohibited on the neighborhood golf course, so I can finally walk on the trails. Up until now, walkers were only allowed out there before 7 a.m., and I'm not a morning person. So it was a real treat to walk among the ponds and stands of trees.

It was also interesting to see the back yards of the houses on the course. I'm sure there's a story behind this guy. 

These two boys rode their bikes down for some fishing.

I also went on a beach walk for the first time in ages. It was a warm, sparkling day and the beach was practically empty of humans but full of sea life visible at the low tide.

The biggest treat was seeing an Orca -- the black thing in the center, above. They're also called killer whales, but they are actually the largest type of dolphin. I think there might have been a few, but only one was visible at a time.

I only saw one sea star. A few years ago a wasting disease wiped most of them out, but now they're coming back.

The white sand dollars are dead, but the black one below is alive. Live sand dollars are covered with very fine cilia that appear velvety black or dark purple. When they die, all that is left are the white exoskeletons.

This pink blob is a nudibranch, a type of mollusk. It was about two inches long.

You can see the snowy top of Mount Rainier, about 40 miles away,  above the trees on the left.

Back home, this is where I keep the Kokopelli face mask that Carol made for me because I'm moving to the Southwest. Isn't it cute? She sewed a wire in the top so I can shape it around my nose and make it fit snugly. I haven't made face masks because my sewing room has been packed up for a month. I didn't foresee having the virus explode when I did that packing.

 And finally, this last one is called: "Quarantine calories don't count, and neither does unkempt hair."

 Have a colorful day