The Extra Hour

My kids learned early on to stay in bed in the morning until the light on their “OK-to-wake” clock changes colors from yellow to green. That happens at seven AM, every day, and tells them “ok, you can get up now without fear of attack from sleepy parents.”

Every now and then I hear about people whose children sleep until eight, nine, or until they are hostilely woken up… I don’t know who you are, or how that happens… but in our house the kids are waiting to storm downstairs when the light turns green. When they go to bed extra late on the Fourth of July or New Year’s Eve? Nope. Still up at seven.

So this morning when I was awakened by the thunder of four sets of feet “seizing the day”, my first instinct was to wonder what the heck was going on. Then I quickly remembered… I live in one of the 48 states that practice the nonsense known as daylight savings time…. and today we “fall back.” And we didn’t change the OK to wake clock before the kids went to bed. Rookie mistake.

The “fall back” is the tolerable one, because you get an extra hour. Even though the clock said six, it was really seven to me. So Owen and I got up and tried to sneak out so Tara could catch a couple extra winks. I went to work making cheesy scrambled eggs with toast and cantaloupe, pressed start on my daily dose of black coffee, and watched the sky become painted gold, pink, and then blue.

Sunrises like this one remind me of a conversation I had with the girls about “God the artist” and how only he can create art that touches all five senses. I wondered, “what am I going to do with my extra hour today?”

Tara didn’t sleep long, so we got to enjoy our coffee together while the kids played. When it seemed late morning I noticed the lagoon was smooth as glass.

Now, a couple weeks ago our neighbor yelled over the fence while I was cleaning out garden boxes “you should go check your kayaks, I saw some in the beach.” That’s bad. Last time we used them we secured them. Two three person kayaks and two small kid single kayaks, on a large log that came to rest on the high bank on our beach. If they were on the beach (not on the log) that meant something happened… high tide? Thief’s? I went straight down and discovered half were missing. A big green three person and a little yellow kid kayak. Gone.

Feeling defeated I sat down on the stairs and typed a quick Facebook post on the “Friends of Burley Lagoon” page, hoping someone found them. I quickly got a reply about the big one, and recovered it with Elle the next calm day on the water… thankful for kind and honest neighbors. I learned he was a teacher in Gig Harbor. He and his wife lived in the house that his in-laws owned before they died. Burley Lagoon is that kind of place.

Anyway, the yellow kayak was still missing. During a telescope scan of the beach I saw what looked like our little yellow kayak on a dock, straight across from us. So today, with all the “extra time”, I paddled across with Wyatt, Owen, and Caroline.

When we got to the beach to launch I texted Tara and told her to bring everyone down. It was warm, placid, and beautiful.

We paddled across and saw the watercraft but determined it wasn’t ours. We paddled back. During the short trip back we saw seals popping their heads up to check us out, eagles circling the lagoon and hunting, and the entire water line painted in fall colors, reflecting perfectly in the water.

Hard to believe we were out in kayaks on November 1st wearing shorts and tshirts. As we approached our beach we saw a scuffle between an eagle and an otter a couple houses to the south of us. The otter eventually fled, and the reason for the fracas became apparent when the eagle rose from the beach with a good sized flounder in its talons. I told Tara eagles can see prey for a mile… when I looked it I’m up later I learned it is actually two miles… with accuracy. They’re amazing. The eagle flew north and landed to enjoy its feast on a log in front of our neighbors to the north.

Wildlife encounters like this are a norm on the lagoon, but they never get dull. I remember one of the first Independence Day celebrations we had on the lagoon seemed to scare off the eagles nesting in the tallest tree at the corner of our property. A couple days later I saw our neighbor Brant on the beach and asked him if he had seen the eagles lately. Just then we heard a ruckus at the power poles in the lagoon… home to an annual osprey nest.

As one eagle circled above the next, drawing the osprey out to defend its young chicks, a second eagle coasted across the lagoon in stealth mode, rising toward the nest as it approached in what seemed to be a well coordinated attack. With the nest unguarded the second eagle snatched a baby osprey and returned to its tree, followed by the first eagle, right in front of us on the beach.

As I recall it the eagle flew so close I could see the little black eyes of the baby osprey, who was surely soon to be a meal.

As I paddled past our neighbor today, who also was admiring the wildlife, we chatted about all of the amazing beauty we are lucky enough to enjoy. I paddled back to the rest of the family.

Earlier this year we got to see a fledgling eagle take its first fight to our fence right next to the chicken coop. Probably scouting out what he perceived as an easy meal, but who knows. Amazing either way. I thought, and maybe said quietly “if you’re lucky enough to live on the Burley Lagoon, you’re lucky enough.”

Pretty good extra hour so far. We enjoyed the sunshine and the slowly rising tide as long as we could, then went in for a wardrobe change and left for a hike. It was only 2pm. Longest great day ever.

We went to the nearby 360 trails, and brought Kaia. It was awesome. Beautiful. Everyone agreed they can’t wait to go back with bikes (Santa willing) to enjoy the world class miles of mountain bike trails that cater to all levels of cyclists. At one point during the day Tara expressed her gratitude that we got to enjoy this “last nice day of the year.” I reminded her she said that a month ago. The PNW is always full of surprises.

We went home, voted, and grilled. Maybe for the last time this year. Maybe not. We ended the day with some fun games, and we put up our Christmas tree, because… 2020.

When we took out the tree I thought “last time we had this out I never would have imagined what this year would bring.” I catch myself wondering what the rest of this year holds. A lot… Finding tokens from 2019 and remembering how oblivious we were to the year coming, and grateful how blessed we have been so far. Now, a deeply important and volatile presidential election looms. A deadly pandemic grows. But life goes on because it has to. And we will do our best to make memories for the kids and ourselves… and continue to pray for health and peace, with gratitude for Gods countless blessings.