Musings

I have seen these outdoors at the BotGarden and in yards, but never looked them up. I found an identification plaque near this one in the BotGarden, but couldn’t tell if it was for this plant. A quick smart-phone search and…tada! this is a Fatsia spp (probably F. japonica). To me, the leaves look like a strange castor bean.

This striking flower cluster was in the BotGarden conservatory, and I did not look for a label. One of life’s mysteries….

We found many volunteers and employees of the ABG busy with mid-winter spiffing, indoors and out. When we were in the conservatory, we found many rakes and trimmings, but no people. Break time?

Overwintering Canada geese (and other waterfowl) in the park…these were swimming to a white-bread-spreading family…; is that the goose equivalent of Mc_Donald’s nutrition? Photo is to show that although we saw several ghosty shadows, mostly it was thoroughly overcast.

Posted at 5:28 PM | Comments Off on Park/BotGarden check

That weather system devolved into sunshine here in the Deep South, and cold morning temps became nearly balmy by mid-afternoon.

It looked like the wind blew the fountain spray onto the apron-stage overnight or in the wee hours creating icy formations, then the sun reduced them to rotting tubules. Probably this sequence only makes sense if you were there.

I’m not sure about the wind and I don’t know what the blue berries are. I do know the sun was glorious.

Posted at 10:29 PM | Comments Off on O4WP, winter, sunny

Late last night the storm settled in and the rain became white stuff. And accumulated. Not in the street, though.

By late afternoon, the wind and a slight rise in temps above freezing (but no sun) removed the snow from the mesh-table. Not warm enough to sit out for cocktails! 😉

Posted at 6:30 PM | Comments Off on Cyclonic flow effects

We suited up, commensurate with the weather conditions, and braved the drippy rain to get some fresh air. The Guru wisely returned to the house just after it became true rain, while I made an additional loop. My aged raincoat started to let the moisture seep into the nape of my neck and I headed back to the warmth of the house about a dozen minutes behind him.

Later, well after dark, we got another spate of big, wet snowflakes, and I activated the flash and stepped outdoors to get a quick, impressionistic shot of cold weather in motion.

Posted at 10:40 PM | Comments Off on Precip variants

You’d never guess by the grey, gloomy afternoon we had that we enjoyed several very brief peeps of sunshine in the morning.

Even, for a few moments, we saw sleet in the rain. [BTW, I don’t know how the camera made our white car look dark grey or black in this photo.]

Posted at 5:46 PM | Comments Off on Brief, I say

It WAS cold overnight, and nippy even in the sun today. Somehow, I still managed to be surprised to find myself walking on frozen ground in a nearly sun-free alley, and to find the giant ice-lozenge in this blue-blue, sturdy birdbath.

Posted at 6:12 PM | Comments Off on Winter IZ here

A very rainy morning yielded about 2pm to no-rain and temporary clearing, and I strapped on my walking footwear and headed out. This is the sidewalk-puddle I was looking into when the sun first emerged.

The sun did last through my first tour of the park. It has a special basin for collecting storm water, which today, briefly, made a good reflecting pool.

By the time I made my return loop perhaps fifteen minutes later, the sun had faded, yet I was still able to see shadows in the park path puddles (say that three times fast!).

By the time I got home it’d been grey for quite a while, no more sun, just overcast. I was encouraged, though, since the rain did not return.

Posted at 7:10 PM | Comments Off on Puddles of the day

Loving this corner storefront, with the clock on the sign. The building’s now eclipsed by most of its neighbors. Cranes are filling in the empty spots. The airspace above the roads is webbed by trolley and stop-light/signage wires.

Although just above the docks, I’m guessing that Berman Luggage most served Seattle’s residents and not visiting sailors.

Posted at 11:34 PM | Comments Off on Note grey sky

I’m starting to get used to the 20° temperature drop that we went through a couple of days ago to reach “normal” temps. Still, I was glad to walk in intermittent sunshine today, and imagine that it made me warmer—and not the act of stepping out….

Posted at 6:43 PM | 1 Comment »

This time: the quince. Fully open tomorrow, I expect.

And this was last Saturday.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Another unseasonal bloom