We went kayaking last Sunday. This was the first time I have been kayaking. It was pretty fun and was definitely good exercise.

The kayaks were rented in Lake Union at the Northwest Outdoor Center. We headed over to the Arboretum (in a double kayak). In the Arboretum we saw, at close range, a Great Blue Heron, a duck with many ducklings in tow, and a lot of turtles (mostly Red-Eared Sliders, I think). These are marked on the map by white, red, and yellow circles, respectively. The Great Blue Heron even caught a fish when we were there. Unfortunately, I did not get good pictures of any wildlife.

After touring around the Arboretum for a while, we headed back. Estimates place the route at a little more than seven miles.

I was not sure if loons spend any time here, but yesterday I saw one swimming and diving in Lake Washington. I had previously only seen them in Ontario and Minnesota and had little knowledge of their distribution.

Based on what other people are saying, it has been unusually cold most of the time that I have been here. Yesterday was pretty chilly, and it even snowed briefly during the afternoon.

A couple weekends back I caught an episode of A Prairie Home Companion. It happened to be their “joke show“, which included “The Sound of Chicken’s”, a parody of “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel. The song was actually a repeat from last year’s joke show. Listen to it here.

The show was pretty entertaining, but in addition to the song, the following joke sticks out in my mind:

Q: What do you call a lawyer who has gone bad?

A: Senator.