Gramma's Toad Kids: Flat Barnubus, Nature, and a Ukelele

Pooka was so excited to see me! We were both so tired, though, that she plopped down in the road to rest and I hopped onto a sagebrush branch to keep from blowing away. It was still breezy.

We hiked up to the bluff above Cresent Bay. You can see the back of Grand Coulee Dam! See the arches?

Here's a fact sheet about the dam from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation.

Right now the water behind the dam is very low because the melting snow in the mountains will fill the rivers and flow into the Columbia River. So the reservoir is left low to wait for the coming spring water. In the summer, Hunter sometimes swims here, but all that brown below the grass line is usually filled with water!

Look, Pooka found deer tracks up there before we headed back down.

Remember how the day started out with frost? Well, the afternoon sun blazed down on us, and we were roasting. Pooka and I found some shade below a boulder.

"Watch out, Gramma!" I called out. "There's deer poop in front of you." I'm becoming a great hiker.

We did not walk down this hill, though, although Gramma said she thinks Uncle Jake drove her Justy car up this hill when he was a teenager.

"Watch out, Gramma, snakes!"

We looked closer. There are a lot of sticks that look like snakes, but Gramma says she always looks because she has seen bull snakes, garden snakes, and rattle snakes on her walks with Pooka. Fortunately, we saw nothing but sticks today.

A red-winged black bird flew up to sing to us. It's where the yellow circle is. Gramma took a recording and will try to upload it here later. But just in case she can't, click here to listen and see one up close.

We heard rustling in the cattails; it was probably the mate. This is where their nests are. Soon these will be green.

And see those wilted grey things behind me? Gramma says in a few weeks these will be balsom root sunflowers and look like this:

Aren't they beautiful? They are as bright as the sun.

Pooka and I ran ahead to the apricot tree. I couldn't resist climbing it.

I saw this moth. This is an "I Spy" picture. You have to look to find it!

Hint: It's on the left.

The next minute, though, I heard this:

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

"Gramma," I called out. "Help! Bees!"

Gramma took a picture, and if you look carefully where the yellow oval is, you can see a BEE! They were everywhere. Gramma recorded it, and she'll try to put in here later.

By now Pooka was not only hot, but also thirsty. So she walked down her favorite path, which is usually under water, down to the water for a swim.

See how far down she is?
See how low the water is?

She is just a little white speck!

We also saw a turtle. It's the lighter spot straight up from that rock in the water.

Pooka got in trouble. The only way she could get out of the water was to swim down to the clay area. Clay sticks to her fur. We call this her "Denver" look because of this video, Denver, Guilty.

We drove up to Grampa's work at the Star to get a towel for Pooka.

I hid in the grape hyacinths in the parking lot.

Pooka found me. She still has a good nose.

Then we went home where I told Gramma she needed to weed her yard so her daffodils would look prettier.

Now I have to weed tomorrow.

Next we went to visit our friend David who is visiting from Hawaii. He used to live here and is great friends with Grampa. He made the ukelele you see me playing here. He taught me a few tricks.

Gramma recorded Grampa playing but we still haven't figured out how to get the recordings up here. Check back later.