Rainbow Reaching

The bell tower of St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church salutes a passing rainbow.

Rhododendron

Although the rhododendron blossoms are long gone, I couldn't let another year go by without posting a picture of some. This rhodie is in our backyard, and I took the picture last month. The rhododendron is Washington's state flower, and there are some beautiful gardens around dedicated to them. Of course I didn't manage to squeeze a visit in to them this year, but that gives me something to look forward to next spring!

Mount Bakery

The Mount Bakery. The name, in case you aren't familiar with the area, is a play on the name of our nearby Mount Baker. If we go out to breakfast, it's my favorite place to spend a Sunday morning-- especially if I don't happen to have the children with me. Then I can take the time to order their delicious shirred eggs, which take quite a while but are worth the wait: oven-baked eggs with pesto, brie, and swiss cheese. YUM. While they work on my eggs, I nibble an almond croissant and listen to whichever talented musician they have performing this particular morning. Heaven!

Nature's Path

A shortcut for those willing to risk a wet foot.

Early Morning Fisherwoman

the only sounds are

the fish jumping

the birds singing

and the click behind her

Skywatch Friday: Solstice Sunset

After a grey, cloudy morning, the sun decided to share her light with us the rest of the day on Monday, the summer solstice. I snapped this photo just as she was sinking beyond the trees at 9:14 PM. Since then, she's been getting up a little later in the morning and going to bed a little earlier... just like I have.

Happy Skywatch Friday!

Welcome to Bellingham

It's not a very exciting picture, but one that is essential for the Bellingham Daily Photo! The "Welcome to Bellingham" sign on State Street, pointing out the direction to Mount Baker one way and Chuckanut Drive, one of the most scenic drives in the world, the other.

Boulevard Barnacles

barnacles cling to pier posts

like soap bubbles on a woman's wrists

when she's washing the dishes

Dobro Player

The Dobro is a certain type of resonator guitar, but like how people call all facial tissue "Kleenex" (um, you know, TM or whatever), most people use the term to mean any type of resonator guitar. Personally, I just think "dobro" is fun to say. Kind of like "tuba." The Dobro was invented by the Dopyera brothers in the 1920s, and the name is both taken from their name ("Do"pyera "bro"thers) but also from their native Slovak, in which dobro means good or goodness.

Here's a clip of Jerry Douglas from the Union Station Band explaining the Dobro.

And here's Union Station playing "Man of Constant Sorrow," in which you can see him playing the Dobro.

Lastly, an interview with Jerry Douglas on NPR, as well as links to some of his songs.

Happy Summer Solstice...

...Especially to those of you who actually get to see the sun today. Here in the Pacific Northwest, it may be the longest day of the year (sunrise at 5:06 AM, sunset at 9:17 PM) but the hours of daylight will still be short if we're measuring by wattage. It looks like the sun is getting plenty of adoration from other parts of the world today, so we'll let her hide behind her blanket of grey clouds in our corner of the globe, and give her a little break from all the chantings and ululations.

Happy Father's Day

Four and a half years ago, this miniature person's arrival turned a wonderful man into a wonderful father. Thank you to the daddy of my girls and my own daddy, for gracing my life with their strength and humor.

What the #@!!?

After a grueling 15 hour drive the day before, we were driving through Seattle rush hour traffic on the way home when this monstrosity slowly passed on the left. When this came into my field of vision, I'm embarrassed to say how close I came to shrieking and swerving into the next lane!

Skywatch Friday: Hoodoos

Hoodoos and Cumulus clouds on the horizon at Bryce Canyon National Park.

My dad watched the girls one day at camp so we could get out for a "big person" hike. We hiked around the rim of Bryce Canyon and then dropped into the basin to walk through the hoodoo and canyons. Spectacular!

For more Skywatch Friday images click HERE!

Fairhaven Farmers Market

On Wednesdays from 12-5 the Bellingham Farmers Market is in Fairhaven on the Village Green. Yesterday was the first day I went, and it was nice-- way low-key in comparison with the uber-bustling Saturday market at the Market Depot.

Tree Swallow

This pretty little tree swallow had a nest in the rafters of one of the shelters at Lake Padden. The eggs weren't hatched yet, but I took this before our vacation so I'll have to return to see if there are babies now.

Chain Nail

Morning light makes everything pretty... even garage stuff.

C'mon, Guys!

We can hide from the grown-ups here!

We're Back!

This was taken through our dusty, bug-riddled windshield as we sped by on I-5, anxious to get home to our kitties and our shower. Five minutes and an eternity later, we were home.

I'll be relying on some of my archived images for a few days-- that is, unless everyone wants to see pictures of piles of dirty laundry and vegetable gardens overrun with weeds, because that's all I'll be looking at the next couple of days!

Once I have some time, I'll post some pictures from our trip on my other blog.

Ah, it's good to be back!