Yesterday, Hubby and I went for a ride.  The first stop was a local outdoor mall, in a suburb about 20 miles from our home.  For a nice weekend day, the mall was surprisingly empty.  We easily found a parking space, and just sauntered around.  There were a number of closed stores in this mall, which we knew had been having problems even before the forced shutdown last year, that is only now being relaxed.  This mall is in King County, which is now being run by Health Nazis.  All of the stores in this mall required all patrons, including young children, to wear masks (even though the Dictator in Olympia had issued rules stating that citizens who are fully vaccinated do NOT have to wear masks or socially distance indoors).  Needless to day, I did not enter any stores in that mall.

This mall has a fun outdoor fountain, specifically designed for kids to romp around in.  It basically consists of a bunch of nozzles right a ground level, which spurt water at random intervals, so the kids can guess which one will be next, and stand on it to get wet.  There were a number of children playing in the fountain.  I found this scene to be very depressing.  I expect you can guess why, if you look closely at the picture below.

Three out of four children in this picture are wearing masks.  While getting wet in the outdoor fountain.  Those masks are less than useless, and they prevent those children (who are at low risk for catching Covid or spreading it), from seeing each others’ laughing faces.  This is depressing, and evil.

On our further wanderings around the mall, some beautiful things turned up, partially canceling out the masks.

I loved the color of the ornamental grasses, waving in the breeze.

This planter had an excellent assortment of leaves, and the flowers added a nice jolt of color.

I don’t know what this bush is, but the leaves are not prickly like they look.

We drove away from the mall, not really knowing where to go next.  So I suggested a drive up to Snoqualmie Falls, which isn’t too far away.  The Snoqualmie Valley was green and pleasant, and there wasn’t too much traffic on the road.  However, once we arrived at the Falls, the parking lots were full!  A long weekend brings out the crowds, who have been unfortunately limited from travel lately.  I saw many out-of-state cars in the lot.

The Falls was in full Spring flood mode, with a full cataract of pounding water.  This is the power of Nature, harnessed by people for bounteous hydro-electric power.  The Falls has been in continuous electricity generation since 1896, the ultimate renewable electricity source.

I also took video of the falls, which you can see on my Rumble site.  Hop on over!

The Falls park also had some other natural beauty, growing right by the path.

This is one of many rhododendrons near the path, in many colors.  It’s the Washington State flower.

How about the profusion of flowers on this azalea bush!  The azalea is a relative of the rhododendron.

I hope you can find some beauty in your life.  Thank God for putting us on such a beautiful planet.