Mushrooms growing on tree trunk

My late cousin Judith Vollbracht was a cartographer (she drew maps for a living).  She created the maps that became the planned community of Mill Creek, Washington.  It came to life as a golf course community and grew to have its own town center.  Hiking trails are laced through reforested old-growth wetlands and around the golf course.  It is a perfect blend of big-city convenience and suburban ambience.

I decided today that it was time to finally hike the trails my cousin mapped out.  I’d never seen mushrooms growing on the side of a tree.

A budding rhododendron will always make my heart sing.

Although feeding ducks is frowned upon here in Washington state, the ducks know families with little kids and old people are soft-hearted suckers.

These ducklings are several weeks old, and I was thrilled to see them.  The trail features a series of ponds, and the ducks in the pond behind the Mill Creek town center are exceedingly tame beggars.

The drake families on this pond rewarded me with wonderful photo opportunities.  I apologize to my subscribers that the photos today may not all appear in your e-mail message.  There’s nothing I can do to control this.  If you’d like to see the photos, please click on the links or visit my Facebook page.