How We Marched Fourth

Yesterday, March 4th, was Jill's birthday. She spent the day eating, as has been her habit sine her 40th birthday. I've posted about this before. She claims all the free food birthday offerings available. That means she has breakfast at Denney's and at IHOP, and then coffee and a doughnut at Krispy Creme, a burger and fries at Red Robin, a fancy coffee drink from Starbucks, ice cream from Baskin and Robin, and I think there was a cookie from Subway. I may have forgotten something. Obviously she takes the day off from work so she can drive around and claim all of this free food. She posted her eating journey on Facebook throughout the day. Here's some of it. 

While she was out we delivered to her house my gift of a bouquet of daffodils and a cherry pie, two of her favorite things. 

Her house is not far from the Des Moines Marina and the Des Moines Creek Trail. That's where we went next for our walk for the day. The sun was shining and our pace was slow, looking for signs of spring.

An eagle kept watch from high above.

 We started out on the fishing pier. 

Lichen encrusted pier railing.

 Ducks in the creek.

 Geese on the beach.

Magnolias are ready to burst open in gardens all over the area.

 In the wild areas, Salmon berry bushes are beginning to bloom.

 And red flowering current. 

 Indian Plum is in bloom and beginning to leaf out. 

 The first dandelions are opening. 

Back at the beach, I sat in the sun for a while before we headed back home, exercised and enriched by nature. 

 And then, because by now, the day after Super Tuesday, our choices were pretty much limited to two old white guys, we marked our mail in ballots for one of them. 

And today, on our Thursday walk, we dropped them in the postal box. What's done is done, with much more to come.