Thursday, 6 April 2023
I snapped this during my morning walk.
And this was late afternoon.
It’s been a Seattle-y day, drippy from pre-morning through, well, into tomorrow. Thus, the Olympics are completely shrouded, and the view across Puget Sound is ghosty.
I am not Monet and the view is not of Rouen Cathedral; however, I do like the idea of pondering the same view (ish) at various times.
Wednesday, 5 April 2023
I touched the Pacific today, that is, if you believe Puget Sound is the Pacific.
And I learned that my favorite (well, truth: only) plant ID app did not recognize this as a star magnolia, or even as a magnolia. I think the algorithm interpreted the scale wrong (as there were no other plant parts visible), and had the flowers much smaller, and hence matched them to very different species than magnolia.
Tuesday, 4 April 2023
If one enters Carkeek Park, that means one descends. The focus of this area of public land, it seems to me, is this bridge across the railroad to the beach. One time we were here when low tide was exceedingly low, and we went out to the edge of the water and stood something like 30 feet below sea level on temporarily dry ground.
The park embraces this creek, which flows across the beach in the distance. This shot is off to the left of the RR in the upper photo, and (duh) upstream. Some mallards were sleeping (not shown). Others were watching the man watching them; I think they were hoping for a handout.
Up in the woods, on my returning ascent, I found this denizen “wearing” moss and ferns. Beats all the Paris fashion, if you ask me.
Sunday, 2 April 2023
My finger was descending to catch this rabbit in the grass, nice profile, when s/he realized there was a big dog across the road. Ah, well, this way, you get a better view of the cottony tail.
A bit of internet investigation…and I have learned that this is Ribes sanguineum, or red-flowering currant, and native to this area, although this specimen may be a nursery cultivar.
Watching rain come across Puget Sound. It’s slow moving. I’m typing this almost an hour later, and it still has about half the sound to cross to reach us.
Saturday, 1 April 2023
Just me and one gull checking the weather and the light at 7:18am. And just me enjoying the puddle reflections.
Coffee stop appropriate to the fact that we are Seattle-bound.
First sunshine find of the day.
First dairy stop…well, only dairy stop…Tillamook, of course.
Cloud/precip return…and, yes, that’s snow on that upper slope.
Another “vote” that today’s theme should be dairy.
Downtown SEA, looking overcast and bright at the same time.
Welcome flowers. We had no wind when we arrived and I found the scent intense and lovely.
Friday, 31 March 2023
By mid-morning our words for the day clearly had become rain and wind.
However, I did make an outdoor foray with our host that included a stretch in heavy vegetation, like walking through a secret vegetation world, mostly avoiding the wind…
…although mostly we trod blacktop. We found two of these rust-brown newts on one short stretch. Critters!
Here’s a late-afternoon view across the neighborhood to the ocean through the rain distorted window.
Thursday, 30 March 2023
I got up, showered, then strolled down by the bay. I “woke up” these mergies and gulls, or at least my footsteps persuaded them to depart the rocks.
Then we hopped in the car and headed south along the coast. Our first stop was this viewpoint for Heceta Head Lighthouse.
Next stop: the trailhead, and lunch…mmmmm.
The trail followed Sweet Creek, with many spring wildflowers…
…a few catwalk sections…
…many waterfalls…
…and looming moss-festooned trees. These are small cousins…
…of the old growth that once reigned here. Note the slot the logger made to insert the board he stood on to cut down the giant.
Wednesday, 29 March 2023
We exited the city in fog and continued in fog into the country. Hazelnut tree orchard to the left.
Oh, look what we spotted! Mystery how it got there….
The last snow we drove by en route to the coast.
Where we found the tide was out.
We met up with our friends who took us to a special place with woods roads and trees and even elk droppings and a soaring eagle and an eagle on a nest.
Old growth stump being re-inhabited by the forest.
Forest floor trillium.
Four trunks on this special tree.
Old Bell System phone for making calls to dearly departed ones.
Fabulous backlighting on the tree-moss.
The tide is even farther out…leaving evidence of an ex-bridge.
Active bridge.
Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Rainy all day, sometimes more than at other times. And here’s just about the last snow (right of center) we saw from our various vantage points as we went down the gorge to the Rose City.
All this rain means…tada! Waterfalls. This is Horsetail Falls.
And this is the better known Multnomah Falls. There are pedestrians on the old road bridge…and no longer any cars.
From the natural history display: an osprey. (Photo especially for those who’re tired of landscapes.)
Portland is a city of treasured neon, or at least I have the sense there’s plenty of neon here, and some of seems to be historic…or perhaps just retro.
This is not our hotel, and if we didn’t have a reservation, I still don’t think we would have been tempted. See note above. Just to be clear, we have two, count ’em, two color TVs in our room (it’s like a studio apartment, BTW).
Powell’s City of Books: of course we visited. And we traveled via street cars (trams), on complementary tix from our hotel. The Rose City is so green and hip.
I have never before seen this abbreviation, and I’d rather it disappeared. Only two-thirds of the shelves had it; the rest had the full spelling: archaeology. Much classier. And, besides, there was room for the other letters…so, why? Why?
