Trick or Treat

It is either Satan rising from the underworld or 

Halloween Bob trying out his scariest look in the campfire smoke.

You decide!

Don't Hate Me

No, this isn't the Oregon Coast or any coast for that matter.  Business required me to travel to the desert to talk about producing green meetings in a land where water is scarce and sunshine is not.

While in Palm Springs, I took the opportunity to photograph a few desert plants and trees. They are so very different from the natives at Saltair Station.  I also took the opportunity to soak up the sun and take in the view from a hammock.

From time to time, when the wet drizzle gets to me, I will publish one of the photos as a reminder the sun will return.

Twins Of The Same Mother

Are we all connected?  

The shapes, colors and intricate details of sea foam bubbles and the Carina Nebula, strikingly similar in their translucent beauty, seem to answer the question, YES!


Photo credit:  Carina Nebula, Hubble Telescope, NASA, Smith, N.

I Am Seeing Red

 

 The colors of autumn dance in the wind.

Things That Make Me Cranky

1. It is currently 55 degrees F here in Portland (where my body is on Monday) and 67 degrees F with sunshine in Rockaway Beach, Oregon (where my heart resides).
2. I have been listening to the sound of the surf in the distance as if I am at Saltair Station only to become aware it not the surf but the droning freeway noise when a siren goes by.
3. There is very little chance I will be sitting by a campfire at sunset watching the birds migrate to their winter homes.

Thanks for listening!  I feel better.  Now it is time to stop this self-indulgent whining and go back to being grateful for all that I have. 

And The Finishing Touch

Mother Nature also fashioned this exquisite, colorful necklace to complete her outfit this weekend.  

I'll bet the mermaids were jealous!

All Dressed Up

"Waves are Mother Nature's delicate, lacy petticoats,"

proclaims Fancy Nancy Z.

Occupy Poop Rock

"Hell no, we won't go!"  was the chant coming from these seabirds on Poop Rock*  even when a mighty Coast Guard helicopter was bearing down on them.  The helicopter dipped, swirled and generally kicked up A LOT of wet wind and not one of these birds took flight.  Not one.

I am not sure what issue they are protesting for (or against) but they won this battle.

*Full disclosure: Poop Rock may not be the sanctioned name for this rock, but we call it that because every summer it turns completely white with bird poop and then in the winter, the rain and wind wash it back to green.  Seen here in fall after a few storms, it is nearly green again.

Terror Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

When I took this shot of a blue heron coming in for a landing on the dock in Wheeler, I was reveling in its grace and beauty as it soared so effortlessly.

Now when I look at this photo either on the monitor or on paper, my response is, "Yikes, grab your children and small pets there is a pterodactyl circling overhead!"  Scary stuff.

It must have been one of those you had to be there moments which didn't quite transfer to film!

Poems Pelicans Recite While Fishing

 

One fish,

Two fish,

Red fish,

Blue fish!

I think they may have Dr. Seuss to thank for this rhyme, 

but that fish spotting in such an organized manner is all theirs!

Living on Easy Street

 

Literally, you can live on Easy Street in Rockaway Beach, Oregon.  I desperately wanted to live on Easy Street street and write oodles of letters with such a return address.  The only house for sale on the street when we were looking was a small, dank, rundown shack that Practical Bob quickly took out of the running.  I initially protested wildly, but eventually gave up knowing he would have to do all the work to make it livable again.

The town streets are named alphabetically from Highway 101 to the east.  Each letter of the alphabet has an ocean or nautical name such as Coral, Lagoon, Keel, Harbor...you get the idea.  But the town settlers must have decided life was a little rough so close to the sea and therefore, when it was time to determine the letter E, an Easy Street was in order. 

Hard At Play

Some days, learning to allow myself to play is hard work.

Songs Blue Herons Like To Sing

"So I'm just gonna sit on the dock of the bay

Watching the tide roll away 

Ooo, I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay 

Wastin' time"

by Otis Redding