Musings

While out for my walk, I experimented with portrait mode on flowers again.

Also shot old school.

Night light fun: computational photo. I’m pretty sure the metal steps are painted black. The red came from fancy-SUV taillights, but the blue is a mystery to me.

Before I walked, I encountered a quote from Autumn de Wilde, director of the very recently released movie “Emma,” Jane Austin retold. She told the New Yorker/Sarah Larson that for the decor of Emma’s home: “I wanted it to be like a pastry shop. I told my departments, ‘The colors need to feel edible.'” I wondered what the most edible colors are. She went, the article says with a pink and green combo. Hmm. Depends on the food, but the flower and the lichen-on-brick seem to offer workable shades—the staircase not so much.

Posted at 10:05 PM | Comments Off on Edible colors

I’m hypothesizing that because today was rather gloomy (despite several shy outbreaks of sunshine), I was drawn to hyper-colorful visuals.

Chocolate bunny display at Tar-zhay.

Wee blue flowers (ground cover?) I can’t remember.

Camellia. Portraited.

Posted at 7:02 PM | Comments Off on Color color color

Bark. Crepe myrtle, I think (wait! I know this! Spacey brain right at the moment). Rotated 90° because I thought it would look better in this presentation; maybe it just looks strange.

Nandina berries, portrait mode.

Daffy trio, portraited. [Tentatively voting for making “portrait” a verb.]

Posted at 7:48 PM | Comments Off on Fun with photography

I experimented with portrait mode today, using flowers as subjects. And a bee.

Twins.

Ruby camellia. Didn’t work as well with the nearby vegetation.

This one didn’t work either, with the wood-chip background so close, but you get an idea what the programming is optimized to do. Ugly, and I’m a fan of evergreens.

Posted at 7:13 PM | Comments Off on Portraits

Hanging out. (The bee.)

Hanging on. (The leaves.)

Posted at 8:41 PM | Comments Off on Hanging…

Wet wet and more rain. In January we got almost twice as much rainfall as the historic average. I’m guessing similar excess in February, but can’t find this month’s data…. Puddles reformed and drained several times today.

I’m still collecting the water when I wait for the hot water to get to the shower head, every time. I started this when we had a serious drought, was it fifteen years ago? No drought now!

Posted at 10:29 PM | Comments Off on SEA weather in ATL

Thought the morning was going to be murky. Wrong. Look: buds!

One last look at salt water. Cold wind. Look: unruffled gull!

Special public art: airport version. Look: I think this mix includes at least one duodenum!??

Lights rule here. Look: Earth!

Nice view of the new awning/cover from the train platform. Great trip; good to be home—these feelings can coexist.

The two movies were “The Current War” and “Parasite.” Enjoyed both.

Posted at 11:36 PM | Comments Off on Two-movie trip

Harbinger of spring.

Persistent winter evidence.

Mardi Gras dragon. Wha?

Empty (large) lock at Ballard; maintenance underway. Deep!

Posted at 8:36 PM | Comments Off on Time marked

Overgrown carriageway, now a footpath. In hilltop park.

Beach framed by the Olympics. Different park.

Oops. Not in a park. Too gorgeous not to include….

Posted at 8:27 PM | Comments Off on Park notes

We felt the pull of the countryside, of getting out of the city…which also meant getting close to salt water in various locations. Wanna buy a yacht? These are for sale.

Went in a free museum in La Conner, the Museum of Northwest Art, and found two things of particular interest. This mural, William Cummings’s Skagit Valley Mural, 1941, was lost for decades and believed to have been destroyed. Cummings painted it for the local high school to promote vo-ed subjects that would keep students in the community, like operating a dairy. The canvas ended up rolled up in a farmer’s barn, with it forgotten that it was a painting and not a tarp. Recently, it was rediscovered and saved, and the Museum raised the money to get it restored. They put it on display just two weeks ago. Lucky us!

The second lovely story is that the main exhibit was of the collection of Betty Black, born in Scotland, but long-time area resident who died in 2018. For decades, she lived in a house that artist/sculptor Tony Smith (1912–1980) designed…for his father-in-law, Lawrence Langham Brotherton (1889–1969), aka my grandmother’s brother. I suspect I slept on the deck of that house as a youth (that is, back in the Middle Ages 🤣). Small, small world.

This shot is of one of the peaks of Mount Erie, but not the highest, although within perhaps two meters of the highest. Instead, it is perhaps the roundest of the summits. Interestingly/confusingly, we discovered no other nearby peaks with a HOMES lake name.

Stupendous view from Mount Erie. We’re having excellent weather for our visit this week. Lucky us!

Sea level. This view is to the south-southwest from Libbey Beach Park. Those organic “snakes” are bull kelp remains…very interesting texture…flexible but not soft.

Ferry ride! To the left, that’s the ferry going to opposite direction. Two vehicle decks on our ship, which wasn’t quite full headed toward the mainland. We met quite a lineup of vehicles backed up waiting to get onto Whidbey Island “after work,” or whatever. We had to wait perhaps 10 minutes to drive aboard. Lucky us!

Posted at 10:12 PM | Comments Off on Gorgeous day (again 🍀)