Musings

Isn’t that the cutest low-profile lighthouse? Cali-cute!

And there’s the Mar Pacifico—today not terribly pacifico. You can’t see the wind and blowing rain. Elegant, enduring seastacks….

Love the marching swells cut below by the long shallow sea-edge profile.

NoCal tourism touts the elk herds. Here’s one. Grazing and resting. Classic elk-life, when carnivores are not threatening.

Coastal NoCal also hosts trees—not only the giant redwoods pictured here.

During the rainy season, the trees and clouds may merge. This shot is from a high-elevation meadow called in these parts a prairie. [Note: this use of “prairie” is not a Boontling term.]

We took our walk in a section of the 🎶redwood forest🎶 we had not walked in before. I remember almost always seeing lone trees, or perhaps pairs. Here’s a circle of relative newbie trees. I did not find out if they are clones of the dead stump in the center, or if the rotting stump provided a hospitable microenvironment for whatever seeds were at its base to germinate.

For contrast: lichen growth on twists of redwood bark at a tree base.

Post title refers to a Cali term we kept encountering on road signs…which seemed to have been a pet term by some transportation engineers, rather than a road situation of great distinction for drivers. The first we encountered had a small curb between the two lanes that otherwise seemed like a regular two-lane road; another had merely a marked off paved area about a foot wide between the two directions—no elevation change whatsoever—and two lanes each way. Diversity in them thar divided roads….

Posted at 10:33 PM | Comments Off on Divided road

We drove up-valley for quite a while—flat agricultural fields, some green, some brown. And in the sky above, many geese formations. This one was the largest.

Finally, we got to the upper valley, and the hills closed in on us. We speculated that on the east side of the pond, some of the shrubs on the slopes would be gorse; not here.

Climbing out of the valley, we saw gushing streams and the clouds that fed them. We drove through cloud, even. Lucky us!

Descending the Other Side, we found the tree-giants. Rain makes the trees happy, and low-light makes the camera work hard. Nice effect, however.

At some point, if you keep going west on this continent, you find the salt water of the Pacific, and perhaps a marina before dark. I heartily support the Spirit of America, with all minuscules or two inserted majuscules.

Posted at 10:05 PM | Comments Off on Changing landscapes

In the wee hours we heard serious wind; I was glad I was cozy indoors. When we ventured out on the road we found downed trees and many branches and so on. See the organic matter in our lane?

Farther along our trail, we found a rooftop water tower structure that lacked its tank. Absence is okay.

We picked a nearby place to eat, and whatta view! We watched the street become dark.

Best beet salad ever. All beets, no foliage.

And, as a timely capper, we reached the streetcar enclosure and started to figure out when the trolley would arrive, and presto the rain began. Lucky us, our stop was a mere 100 feet from the door to our hotel.

And now we are ensconced, warm and safe. Happy. Happy.

😀

Posted at 10:31 PM | Comments Off on Shine and rain

When I walked this morning, I caught a good glimpse of the mountains, all lined up on the skyline beneath the clouds.

I also found a pair of kissing bugs. Yellow ones.

Posted at 10:33 PM | Comments Off on Out comma about

Sometimes it’s fun to start with a tightly cropped view of a world you’re momentarily visiting…

…then zoom out a bit…

…and then a lot. In the lower left (at Dock 10, Salmon Bay) in this marina just upstream of the locks we visited the other day, is the good ship Loki, presenting the starboard side view in the shot above, and only its anchor chain/rope in the first photo…. Thank you, Droney and the Guru, for the third shot….

Posted at 8:09 PM | Comments Off on Harbor views

Lichen threatens survival of shrub.

Road to nowhere.

Tree in glass box*.

* in an Apple store—open to the sky, so not a closed box.

Posted at 8:36 PM | Comments Off on Caption exercise

We always enjoy our visit to the locks in the Ballard neighborhood, NW Seattle. The official name of this waterway is Salmon Bay; it’s the seaward link for the waters of Lake Washington, which flow into the Shilshole (say: shill-shoal) Bay of Puget Sound. The passage is also called the Lake Washington Ship Canal. When they’re migrating upriver, visitors can see salmon jumping in the fish ladder; not today.

However, we did visit these statues, which mimic wave curls. They’re by Paul Sorey, and called “Salmon Waves” (2001).

This is the Salmon Bay Railroad Bridge across the Bay/Ship Canal. It’s a bascule bridge; it is due to be replaced with a vertical-lift bridge very soon, which means today was probably our last chance to see it….

Posted at 7:41 PM | 2 Comments »

This duo of Santa yard-decoration pigs is one holiday back…yet still perky and giggle-worthy.

Meanwhile, down at the beach, the Olympics were out again today, and so was the tide (when we visited).

Posted at 6:56 PM | Comments Off on Remnants

Another sunny day with glorious views of the Olympics…

…and busy shipping activity on Puget Sound, despite it being…

New Year’s Eve! Happy happy!

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Happy eve!

What a difference a day makes! Loving the sun all day! First appearance since arriving….

Even the birds were celebrating the glorious light….

Proof the light lasted to sunset….

Posted at 11:37 PM | Comments Off on Full sun