The Blue Tree Picture

In the summer I don't think of this as a particularly striking tree, but in the winter its vine-like branches create a unique silhouette.

Puget Sound

Last January we had an inversion that resulted in the temperatures in the mountains being being a lot warmer than in the lowlands. Lizziviggi took the girls on a hike up Blanchard Mountain to take advantage of the weather. A hang glider launch on the mountain offers fantastic views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula on the horizon.

SkyWatch Friday: White Bird

This seagull was eying a park ranger eating lunch at the Marine Park to see if he had a chance at some scraps. The ranger obliged and the gull and several of his buddies had a feast.

Click HERE for more SkyWatch Friday images.

Haiku Workshop

winter haiku group
more people
than chairs

Lake Whatcom Sunrise

A flock of canada geese have a front row view of the sun rising over the hills at Lake Whatcom.

Whatcom Creek

This piece of creek is quiet.
Too near the ocean,
the salmon have gone by it
And this piece of creek flows on,
Indifferent to the messy miracle upriver
of births and deaths that continue forever.

Bellingham Theatre Guild

The Bellingham Theatre Guild, one of several community theatres, is one of the oldest continuously running theaters on the west coast. It has been operating since 1929, and since 1944 has been located at the old Congregational Church on G Street. The old church was purchased from Aimee Semple McPherson, the colorful founder of the Foursquare Church.

I try to get to a show at the Theatre Guild once or twice a year. Yesterday I enjoyed their take on the farce "Taking Steps," by Alan Ayckbourn. It was quite funny-- a good, local show for the price of a movie ticket.

Bellingham Bay

There's gold in them hills... Olympic gold that is. Home to the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Canadian Pacific Range looms beyond Bellingham Bay.

Mutual Curiosity

My youngest daughter and I were wandering around Fairhaven yesterday enjoying the mild weather when we passed a shop that was being remodeled. The carpenter building shelves caught her eye so we stopped to watch for a bit. We caught the eye of the carpenter's dog and he returned the favor.

Skywatch Friday: Lake Louise

On yet another remarkably warm day for January, I couldn't resist a quick stop at Lake Louise when I was out in Sudden Valley recently. With the birdsong, the mild breeze, and the sun warm on my skin, it felt a lot more like spring than winter.

There is some concern over the warmth of our winter-- the folks in charge of the Olympics at Whistler, just a couple hours north of us, are particularly nervous. Also, we're not building up the snowpack necessary to keep up our water supply come summer.

Still... it's awfully hard to get too worked up about it when it's such a beautiful day.

Click here to see other skies.