Day Twenty-Two: Japanese Accents in the Kitchen

Ornaments and seasoning add a Japanese flavor to my cooking.

Darn, I don't like this shot, tried several times to crop, nothing works.  Need to reposition the elements.  Oh well, next time.

 

Day Twenty-One: Aquamarine

As a commemoration of my 70th birthday month, here is an aquamarine crystal that will outlive me by centuries, eons and more.  

Named for the Latin phrase "water of the sea"

 

Day Twenty: Dog Park Stroll

Someone is thinking about the kind of dog she would like to have so we made a visit to the Sandy River Delta Park where we saw dogs of all sizes and shapes.  For larger dogs, a favorite spot is the backwater where they can swim and chase each other and play with their toys.  

I am shy of photographing random strangers so this photo shows dogs but not their owners.

Come on in!

Day Nineteen: Snake Knot

Spotted at the refuge, a scrum of 15+ garter snakes emerging from their overwintering hibernation.  Snakes with colors of blue, red or tan.   Snakes in knots .  Snakes moving along the ground and up the trees.  This is more snakes than I had seen in a long time.  Happy birthday to me!

Live long and prosper, snakes.

Day Eighteen: From the Bridge

Now that Spring is here, there is so much to see, so many critters beginning their seasonal business after a long winter.  What do you think these folks are seeing?

Birders Looking Down

Day Seventeen: On the Balcony

The end of winter: remnants of the past season and promise of new beginnings.

Day Sixteen: Light Industry at the End of My Street

Wandered around the neighborhood this afternoon; the weather seemed balmy.  Attracted by the colors of some light industry clustered near my place.

Dumpster with Tree Branch

Day Fifteen: Mt Tabor Sunday Morning

In aid of adding some elevation gain to my routine walks, Mt Tabor was today's destination.  The sun was morning-bright and the air was winter-cold.  Lots of other walkers.  Many dogs.  An all-around good feeling.

Contemplation

 

Day Fourteen: Tree Trunk with Vine in Winter

There are line drawings to be captured everywhere, including on this tree trunk.  Just look.

Crystal Springs Rhodie Garden, along the trail.   

Day Thirteen: Repetition

Cup of coffee at downtown Starbucks, waiting for Oregon Historical Society Museum to open.  

Day Twelve: Just Something Quick and Fuzzy

Spent some time today streamlining my photo process 

and here's one little cactus.

Softly fuzzy but thorny too.

Day Eleven: Light on Light

Snow day, playing with matches and light. 

Day Ten: Overhead Calligraphy

Overhead Calligraphy

A quick shot today, looking up on SE Holgate Blvd.

Day Nine: Marbles, Eggs and Glass

Just some bits of nostalgia:  marbles from my childhood in SF (60+ years ago), stone eggs from a Santa Cruz shop (10 years ago) and a glass crystal that hung from the rear view mirror of the decrepit-mobile (16 years ago).  

My favorite: the black marble with green, yellow & orange vein.

Day Eight: Neighborhood Walk on a Cold & Blustery Day

 It was cold and windy today, remaining in the low 30's all AM.  I bundled up in my warm clothes and walked my neighborhood in search of photo ops.  

Reed Campus: Getting Ready for Touch Rugby

Serious Guard Dog

Grey and Black with a Blue Background

Hidey Hole 

Myself Still Bundled Up After the Walk

Day Seven: Still Life with Brayer

The Tool Holder

Just a quick shot in the office. Careful, some of those thingies are sharp!

Day Six: Who Lives There (Tree Bark Version)

Cedar species

Under the top layer of bark and within a network of spaces and corridors running through the bark live myriad creatures.  Some insects shelter there most of their lives and through many stages:  eggs, larvae, pupae, adult.  Woodpeckers and other birds rely on these insects to collect nutrition for reproduction and to feed their young.  Even hummingbirds eat insects and spiders sheltered within tree bark as well as drinking the  lovely rich sap released when sapsuckers drill into the bark . 

Hug a tree today!

Day Five: Confluence Photo Project

Confluence of the Clackamas and the Collawash

To celebrate the power of PNW rivers, a friend and I are visiting local confluences: the Willamette and the Columbia, the Tualatin and the Willamette and here, the Collawash and the Clackamas.  You can just make out the Collawash entering the Clackamas from the right side of the photo.   This was shot at the end of last summer.  Roll on Collawash!

Day Four: Johnny Jump Up

Just a little flower, blooming away on my balcony, even with temperatures in the low thirties. 

Viola tricolor

Viola tricolor is also known as Johnny Jump up, heart's ease, heart's delight, tickle-my-fancy, Jack-jump-up-and-kiss-me, come-and-cuddle-me, three faces in a hood, or love-in-idleness; take your pick.  It is an edible herb and some think it has many health benefits*.  As for me, I will just enjoy its lovely colors and simple innocence.  

* http://eattheplanet.org/from-johnny-jump-ups-to-pansies-violets-are-a-staple-edible/

Day Three: Contrasts

Shot on a lightly snowy day, in the Montavilla neighborhood.

.

Day Two: I continue my love of trees

On the Reed campus

Focal point???  Over-processed?  Something is off with the texture????  The idea is good and I'll come back to this one with a different group of PS adjustments.  Taken with the new iPhone. 

Day One: Oscar and Paperwhites

Balcony Oscar

Reopening the photo-a-day project.  Here is my best animal subject sitting out a brief snowstorm in the early morning.  Wish his eye was defined; it would be the central focus point.  After a hiatus, I want to improve my photography, settle on the best equipment for my requirements and have fun.

Here, I like the limited palette plus black, grey and white.  Took this shot 7:30ish AM with a white snowy sky.  Trusty little Powershot at the ready.

Sunflowers

Late summer birding trip to Sauvie Island.  

Yellow is the color of the day at this field of sunflowers.

Enjoy!

Fibranacci numbers as evidenced by sunflower spirals
See bottom of page for a link to more information*

Depth of field with iPhone..not much flexibility

Good to see a variety of bees.

Turn your face to the morning sun

*Fibranacci numbers in nature   [link]

All photos taken with an ancient iPhone; no PhotoShop work this time. 

Colors of the Day

Just a morning stroll around the 

Garden Park grounds.

Contemplative Sundays at the Rhododendron Garden

Sunday mornings at the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden are my contemplative, wind-down time.  I like to observe the tiniest things, listen for sounds from Kingfishers and the waterfalls,  and smell the smells and touch the soft leaves.  Big things also catch my attention like tall firs and the sweep of an eagle's flight.  

Geum, possibly macrophyllum

These two flowers are tiny, the yellow Geum is a native 

while the blue & white blossom is probably an ornamental.

Unknown

The lake at Crystal Springs supports both Mallards and Wood Ducks

through the breeding season.  Wood ducks live in holes in trees originally started by woodpeckers and other animals.  One morning I thought to look up to see if I could find a Wood Duck tree.  

Dougas fir (?) as home for Wood Duck nesting

The ducks here are especially tame and about four weeks ago a little group like this hauled out of the water and sat grooming themselves among my two brown-booted feet as though the boots were not footwear but a pair of additional ducks.  I was transfixed.   

Mallard teenagers plus one parent.

This yellow jacket nest is quite beautiful but I did not capture it well because I had already been stung once a few weeks ago and didn't want to spend too much time with the shot as we go into the height of yellow jacket activity.  Sometimes a hasty retreat is the best strategy.

Yellow Jacket Nest....Yikes!

What is this?  Sometimes the ID matters less than the colors and shapes and which birds are occupying the tree.

Unknown tree

April Flowers and Little Bears at Powell Butte

FairyBells

Red Flowering Current

Serviceberry

Wooly Bear

Wooly Bear 2