Black Headed Grosbeak

According to John's unofficial rain gauge (a bucket left out in the open) we've had almost an inch of rain today. This is unusual for June but as we've had some very hot days already, we're grateful for some rain.

The rain afforded me the opportunity to watch for the grosbeaks that have been visiting the bird feeders this year. There appear to be several pairs and they can be quite competitive with each other. The females, as is often the case in the bird world, are fairly drab compared to their eye catching mates, with sparrow-like streaks on a brown head, neck and back. In addition to their black heads and distinctive white tipped black wings, the males have yellow bellies and a flash of yellow under their wings.

The only thing of note that we did today was to vote. Our county is entirely mail-in ballots. Several people have told me that they prefer to vote in a traditional polling place but I'm quite happy to sit on the couch in my pajamas with all my voter information material around me. We are constantly being urged to exercise our vote in order to effect change, but California is a very blue state and although there were thirty candidates for governor, the incumbent is almost certain to win.

Our political system is so broken that a system that once succeeded through compromise when the government was evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans has now made even issues such as healthcare, climate change and diversity so partisan that nothing ever gets done. 

It is too ingrained in me to vote not to do it, but I must say that I am so disillusioned by it all that I feel that I am just going through the motions. 
Rather than mail our ballots, we took them to an official drop box at the library and gave Spike a good run in the open field next to the high school baseball diamond.