- Chehalis River Surge Plain Natural Area Preserve (dnr.wa.gov)
This large wetland area is spread out at the lower end of the Chehalis River, just upstream from where it empties into Grays Harbor. Sitka spruce and western redcedar thrive in the wet soils where fresh and salt water mingle on this 4,494-acre site. This preserve contains the largest and best quality tidal surge plain wetland in the state, including sloughs that shelter young salmon and other fish. The surge plain also supports osprey, bald eagles, and state-listed sensitive Olympic mudminnows. Vegetation communities represented in the Chehalis River Surge Plain preserve are Sitka spruce/red-osier dogwood/skunk cabbage vegetation, lady fern coastal herbaceous vegetation, softstem bulrush herbaceous vegetation, red-osier dogwood-willow species shrubland, Lyngby’s sedge herbaceous vegetation, and cattail surge plain herbaceous vegetation.
- Milky Way (en.wikiquote.org)
Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System. Its name “milky” is derived from its appearance as a dim glowing band arching across the night sky in which the naked eye cannot distinguish individual stars. The term “Milky Way” is a translation of the Latin via lactea, from the Greek γαλαξίας κύκλος (galaxías kýklos, “milky circle”). From Earth, the Milky Way appears as a band because its disk-shaped structure is viewed from within. Galileo Galilei first resolved the band of light into individual stars with his telescope in 1610.