Sunday, 8 March 2020
This is a very rare sight in our neighborhood. On the street, no less, and not in a driveway. A desperate driver/mechanic?
On the other hand: sun and flowers.
Title refers to a common nickname, albeit not unique, for my ancient Ford van. It was ripped from the vehicle’s taunt/description/jeer/catcall: “It rolls down one hill and c’n’ardly get up the next.” Also: slightly Cockney.
Monday, 2 March 2020
Early on, sunlight appeared, colorfully.
Then, things became grey and overcast. Never seen this stockinged grey cat before, yet he appeared today in my regular activity area. I heard his bell first. Tag indicates he’s named Hugo. More of a mule name than a cat name, but still okay.
We must be due for rain; this birdbath (previously featured in this space, I admit), was totally dry. By an hour later: rainfall arrived…and is supposed to continue off and on until sometimes Thursday. Sigh.
Oh, the title…I realized as I walked that I was hearing more birdcalls, more calls and more species…even the one I call the Rarebit Bird, because the call sounded like that to me when I noticed it and I was, I dunno, four big years old…and still sounds to me like “Rarebit.” I did identify the species a time or two, then forgot each time, but I need to do so again.
And the bees part…I walked around a corner and could smell smoke, not dominant like a house fire, but more ephemeral, as from a fireplace. But the odor was a bit off for firewood, although I cannot describe it. I looked high for a white wisp; nope, but a movement caught my eye. A man stood on a nearby porch wearing a funny outfit, with a strange and lively box at his feet. I looked closer. A man in a protective suit with a bee-box…and on the opposite corner of the porch: a bee smoker. It all fell into place.
Friday, 28 February 2020
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.
Saturday, 22 February 2020
Harbinger of spring.
Persistent winter evidence.
Mardi Gras dragon. Wha?
Empty (large) lock at Ballard; maintenance underway. Deep!
Thursday, 20 February 2020
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!
Wednesday, 19 February 2020
Not frosty cold, but we had frost, one of those temperature magic things. This leaf was in a meadow in deep shade at 10:30am. Whew. Still: pretty out.
Here’s trail maintenance by park visitors.
First stop and, for us, the first time: Dick’s for burgers. Mmm. This local chain dates back to the 50s and you order just what’s on the menu, no extra lettuce or animal style.
Then, off to a computer museum that specializes in artifacts, that is old machines that are kept operational.
The Guru calls this 200 MEGAbyte storage unit a chocolate cake. Cost, hmm was it? thousands? Hideously expensive.
Monday, 17 February 2020
Unexpected rather non-standard architecture can mean expensive corporate headquarters (Apple “spaceship”) or or or, in this case: a museum. Down in Tacoma, this one.
A glass museum, and under this cone is a large glassblower workshop. We watched three guys create a wine decanter. This fellow did the most advanced stuff, or most complicated work, the body and the fused whole. Two other guys did important pieces, the neck and the handle, created separately. Fascinating.
Of course, the museum had many gorgeous pieces in the galleries, and fun offerings in the gift shop. This is one of the most compelling, with a mirror behind it, just stunning. So complex.
After, we drove north, making the five mile loop (on Five Mile Road) through Point Defiance Park. Highly recommended, especially near sunset. Much like if you go to Marquette, you should also visit Presque Isle Park.
Saturday, 15 February 2020
Bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a tennis ball, was this globe of flowers. I don’t recognize it and will watch it over the next few days to see if it turns into something I do recognize.
Nordic bird. Glass I think. Certainly soaring.
Nordic boat. Couldn’t help but think about roiling waters and nasty winds. Brrrrr and perhaps upset stomach, methinks.
Both are Nordic because we saw them in the Nordic museum. Enlightening. Very well done, I thought. The last “ethnic” museum I remember visiting was…something about the combined ancestry of the peoples of the Hill Country in Texas today. Wide-open ethnicities and origin places, not just Finland, Greenland, Iceland, and others with Modern Country names you’d expect. And smaller places like the Åland Islands, an archipelago I had to mention because of the “Å.*” Baltic Sea not Atlantic.
After the museum we stopped in a consignment gear shop with entertainment…climbing and skiing mostly, but also ice climbing. Nothing in the water or with skates that I noticed. After we left, BroMine noted they had two seasons, so I guess I was seeing the winter stuff; summer gear selections may well include snorkeling and scuba diving. Saw a foldable, extremely light food service set for campers and hikers that seemed interesting and more complicated than I expected…rather like origami.
* For the curious and less-informed, that topknot element on the Å is called an overring (note to autocorrect: do not change to overhang). In the past the sound(s) it represents were denoted with a double a (aa) or an acute accented a, á. End of lesson.
Thursday, 13 February 2020
Grass onions. Dunno the real name. Onions, maybe? Dramatic pairing with the winter-browned lawn.
Rock in tree branch scar. Non-native stone commonly used for landscaping.
Okay, we went out for dinner at the oyster bar around the corner. Yum. Poor coaster-bird has real reproductive problems—nestling (egg?) is can, food is ball.
Wednesday, 12 February 2020
My dear spouse dropped me off while errand-running. Art in Little Five Points’ back alley.
Art on the access between the BeltLine and the Carter Center. Looks Bronze Age to me! 😀
BeltLine leaf. Art. Oak leaf, I do believe. In stainless steel?
Life along the BeltLine. A cat lived in this culvert years ago, but then I think it was empty for at least a cat generation, and now! Look! Sun-kitty!
And me! Thrilled that the sun emerged!