A suburban stroll in the Pacific North-Wet

Nope, the title is not a typo. Western Washington has the nickname Pacific North-Wet since we get a fair amount of rainfall in fall and winter. Not the kind of deluges you see on the East Coast where the heavens open and everything is soaked through in moments. Just a steady light rain, where you …

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Fall colors are still around in my neighborhood.

I feared that the recent winds would have brought down all the colorful leaves from the trees around here. But, happily, I was wrong! Yesterday I took a short walk around my house and found some bright colors still hanging around (literally!). Let’s start with our own backyard. We have three Japanese maple trees, which …

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Scenes from the backyard

We have had a stretch of pleasant weather lately, and I have spent some time in the yard, refilling the bird feeders and standing around watching and listening. Here are some of the highlights. Fluffy, the Japanese Maple tree Downy Woodpecker on suet feeder Also notice the solitary yellow flower. A coworker gave me the …

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The waning days of Summer

This is the final week of summer vacation for Washington schools. School normally resumes on the Wednesday after Labor Day. I took a stroll by Silver Lake, and here are some observations. On a very warm Tuesday, the lake is usually packed with kids swimming, kayaks and paddle boards with people standing and paddling around …

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Come on, People, it’s SUMMER! Summer weather is always hot.

We have discovered that our local media MUST have something to get upset about, and try to get the public to panic. This week, it's the summer weather. The last time I checked, it was the end of August, and if I remember correctly, it's always hot, and the hot weather sometimes continues into September. …

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Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere!

Yes, it’s that time of year again. The aroma of pumpkin spice lattes fills the air, and seemingly every store and doorstep has its obligatory orange gourds. Here are some from my travels recently. Franklin, Kentucky Kirkland, Washington. Cheekwood, Nashville Tennessee These were for sale at my local grocery store. Ugly ducklings! Everett, Washington With …

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #277: Empty Spaces

This is the time of year when emptiness can predominate.  All the leaves have fallen off the deciduous trees, leaving their branches empty.  But still beautiful. In the autumn, most beaches are empty of people, since the vacationers are gone.  We were fortunate to visit Cape May, on the Jersey Shore, in October, when the …

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