Acceptance and the Star

I went down to the docks on the west side of Astoria to take photos of the huge cruise ship Norwegian Star, when I noticed the seagulls. After the post of September 9, I thought I'd move in closer and look at some seagull feet. One seagull looked different. The photo was taken at the extension of the zoom, so Ms. Duck was not as clearly differentiated to the naked eye. Click on the photo to enlarge it. It's a nice picture of the duck. I love it that they are all hanging out together not seeming to notice their differences that much. I remember early on in my life here in Astoria in the parking lot of the old Safeway, I came across a flock made up of seagulls, sparrows(?), and one starling. There may have been some other bird as well. I enjoy the memory of that grouping. And yes, these seagulls also have white feet and legs (see the post from September 9).

The Norwegian Star from the west. You can see a bit of the Astoria-Megler bridge - the 4-mile span between here and Washington. It's hard to show how huge this ship appears in real life. When the ships come in, sales in our local shops go up and it's hard to find seating in the restaurants. Needless to say, Astoria's economy enjoys this. What I can't figure out is the hugely increased number of cars on the streets, unless friends have come in from Portland to visit. Actually, we did meet a couple in our store the other day who had come to meet friends who were visiting by ship. Does it really happen that often? I guess it must.