Weekend Reflections: Dali's Tulips

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Skywatch Friday: Scouring the Skies

scouring skies

with featherduster wings

she sweeps up clutter

when she spring cleans

like mice

and other small things

Green that Grows and Green that Doesn't

New green grows around the old at this abandoned train trestle on the Railroad Trail.

I'll buy a beer...

...for whoever correctly guesses this establishment first.

Mostly because I want to go there and have a beer.

Railroad Alley

The back of an old building, taken on Railroad Alley downtown.

I hope you had a happy Easter...

...and that you found what you were looking for.

Weekend Reflections: Tulip Fields Forever

A field of yellow tulips is reflected in my daughter's sunglasses.

Well, actually, they're MY sunglasses. The borrowing has started already.

If she was a folk singer in the 1970's, this would totally be her album cover.

Skywatch Friday: Clouds and Pebbles

The pebbled beach gives way to clouds at Birch Bay State Park.

White

the white tulips are

echoes of clouds

on the ground

White Lions

The Lions, which are actually in British Columbia, look in this photo as if they are right on the edge of Birch Bay.

Tulip Town

It may officially be the coldest April on record for our area, but the rainbow hues of tulip fields warm our hearts, if not our chilled fingers and icy noses.

This was taken at Tulip Town, Skagit Valley.

Sea of Green

While camping in Birch Bay State Park, we came across this sea of green plants, rioting out of the spring-warm soil. We thought they must be some kind of lily, and we were sort of right-- they're called false lily of the valley. They're also known as snakeberry and two-leaved Solomon's seal, and from root to berry have been used for their medicinal properties for thousands of years.

Skywatch Friday: Sunset Through a Tree

the wispy tree

lays her spindled fingers lightly

over the sun

caressing it like a departing lover 

she can't wait to see again

This is my last post until Monday, because we're headed to nearby Birch Bay for a teensy little camping getaway. Hopefully we'll have decent weather and I'll return with some lovely photos to share.
Send warm weather thoughts our way, and happy weekend to all!

"Spring is here,"

the daffodil insists,

despite the wet snow

falling outside the window.

Tulips

Red-brushed tulips from the farmers market ignite like flames in the evening sun.

Collins Wireless Telephone

This wireless telephone from 1909, at the American Museum of Radio and Electricity, is the last known surviving Collins Wireless Telephone.

Archie Frederick Collins was a controversial figure, and possibly a fraudulent one. He toured the United States with his Collins Wireless Telephone Company, setting up demonstrations and selling stock. While his wireless telephone allegedly sent communication, in one instance, from Newark to Philadelphia, Collins and his associates were accused and convicted of using wildly misleading claims of the technology to sell worthless stocks and bonds. In addition, Collins was charged with giving a fraudulent demonstration of his technology at Madison Square Garden. He served one of his three years sentenced, and afterward wrote books for teenagers about radio and science.

The American Museum of Radio and Electricity, on Bay Street in Bellingham, has artifacts ranging from the earliest electrical experiments in the 1600's to the golden age of radio in the 1940's. AMRE boasts the largest private collection of 19th century electromagnetic apparatus, rare and original books and papers by Galileo, Benjamin Franklin, Newton, Gilbert, Hertz, Volta and Marconi, and over 1,000 antique radios, among many other amazing exhibits.

For a recent Bellingham Herald article about the museum, click here.

Doting Parent

This stately mother/father is always somewhere nearby her/his nest at the edge of Whatcom Falls Park. This was taken across the street at Bloedel Donovan Park-- still within an eagle-eyed view of her/his babies.

Everybody's Store

Tucked in a valley along the south fork of the Nooksack River, Everybody's Store is a a throwback to a simpler time. A foodie's destination in what looks like an old gas station on the side of the highway, it's stuffed with unique cheeses, wine and all kinds of funky knick-knacks and crafts. When the proprietor slid our sandwiches across the deli counter they reminded me of the kind of sandwich Dagwood might have made.

Spring is here and I feel the urge to...

...finish some home improvement projects!

Skywatch Friday: At the Playground

Blue sky beyond a children's chain-link ladder at Roosevelt Elementary School.

Raising the White Flags of Surrender...

...to rising energy costs.

Anyone else hanging their linens out to dry?

Spring Scarves

One scarf dangles over the others where someone pulled it out to look at it. I wonder why they didn't buy it?

This was taken outside Sojourn on Railroad Avenue.

Functional Art

The 10th Annual Recycled Arts and Fashion Show kicked off this weekend in Bellingham and Seattle. Brought to our community by the wonderful RE Store, in conjunction with local galleries, artists, educational organizations and non-profits, this ode to sustainable beauty is something I look forward to every year.

In the "functional art" gallery at the RE Store, you can find a lamp made out of CD's, a roller-skate clock, a bench made from a headboard and some doorknobs, and this-- a Space Needle floor lamp by Pat Tassoni, constructed from warehouse light lenses, shelving rail, hubcaps and high-voltage insulators.

I've only visited the gallery at the RE Store so far, but I hope to make it to at least one of the other galleries at the Allied Arts Center on Cornwall, the Smith & Vallee Gallery in Edison, or Blowing Sands Glass Studio in Seattle. Along with the gallery showings, there are also two trash fashion shows coming up: April 16 in Seattle and April 23 in Bellingham. Together, the events create the biggest showcase of salvaged-goods art and fashion in the Northwest.

Opening Day at the Farmers Market

Bellingham mayor Dan Pike holds aloft the green cabbage that has been chosen for the Cabbage Toss-- a tradition that opens the Bellingham Farmers Market every spring. The other tradition-- rain and low temps-- also happened this year, but didn't stop the throngs of hardy Bellinghamsters from enjoying opening day at the market.

Weekend Reflections: Windows

American Museum of Radio and Electricity

Bellingham is home to the American Museum of Electricity and Radio with collections spanning from the dawn of the electric age in the 1600's to the golden age of radio in the 1950's. Many of the displays are rare or one of a kind apparatus and texts collected by founders Jonathan Winter and John Jenkins. This display is a replica of the Marconi Wireless Room on board the Titanic. The equipment is from a sister ship of the Titanic and is still functional.

April Theme Day: Edges

There are plenty of edges to be found in this pile of grape boxes at Mount Baker Vineyards.

Even better is drinking the wine itself, which takes the edge off!

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