White

Astoria, Oregon ~ January 12, 2010

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Jan 4, Astoria: Vessels in the Rain

The air was so filled with rain today that my camera didn't even want to focus. The pilot boat Arrow 2 is hard at work with its lights on.

Here the Carl Oldendorff rests at anchor in the Columbia River beyond the radio tower. My close-up was so fuzzy, I could barely make out the name of the ship, and I'm not sure which orange ship that is beyond Carl. It was interesting looking up the Carl Oldendorff online, because I was able to see the ship as it appeared on clearer days here in Astoria as well as in New Orleans, Portugal, and somewhere in northern Germany or one of the Scandinavian countries. I've seen in in the river before, but I don't have a photo posted.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Dec 31, Part 2 - Bend: Snow day

It snowed during the night. For reasons not quite known, I woke up and 4:30 and didn't go back to sleep. No doubt, it has to do with helping Lee pack for his trip. We muscled and coaxed all of the stuff he wanted to take into a backpack and one smallish carry-on. It felt like a sustained effort in puzzle-solving. The trip is four months long, and he's going to be in quite an array of different places with who-knows-what requirements. We were both a little stressed afterwards, but I was thrilled with how well it all fit together, including some bulky things we thought we might have to leave out. I should have taken a few pix of the process, but I was focused mentally, and not with the lens. I'm sure I'll have pictures of the bags before he leaves on Sunday.

It was still snowing when we left for Starbucks.

And it was also reasonably early - and dark from the weather. I like the way the light glowed as we pulled out of the garage.

Snowing. . . .

At the Starbucks parking lot in Bend. I love the colors provided by the guitar van.

From inside Starbucks with reflection. I posted it here also.

By the time we left Starbucks, the world had progressed a bit more in its transformation.

This was our view from inside the Pathfinder. Snow during coffee = a little more build-up.

Home again, and the street is buried a little further. They said it could snow an inch an hour today for much of the day. As it turned out, precipitation was lighter than predicted, but it was fun to watch, and we opted not to drive to Portland today, which was the original plan. Freezing rain is supposed to follow the snow around noonish today. The Christmas lights that were on in the first picture are now off.

The bird feeder looks bleak, and snow blows from the rooftops as it continues to fall from the sky.

I upped the shutter speed to show the flakes.

It isn't really that cold. Snow is melting off the kitchen window.

Finches (?) at the feeder. This is a male with his red head.

I didn't get many chances to get a good pic of the female. They were inclined to scatter when they saw me.

Nice finch. Thank you. He'd take a seed from the feeding tray behind the tube, then poke his head out this side and spit out the shell, or at least that appeared to be the process.

Dec 31, Part 1 - Bend, Oregon: Weekend Reflections, "Warm Inside"

We were supposed to drive to Portland today (three hours, crossing the high desert and the pass over Mt. Hood), but a snow storm started early with anticipated freezing rain still to come, making today one of the worst driving days all year if it pans out. I took this photo at Starbucks around 8:00 a.m, while we were still discussing whether or not to hit the road. Now at 10:48, I'm home, still watching the flakes turn into inches. We'll put off the drive to Portland until tomorrow. The photo? Nothing special, just a reflection of the day, but I've always liked these hanging orange lamps.

See more Weekend Reflections here . . . but I'm a day early. You may have to wait until Saturday.

Dec 28, Bend: Cold and warm

The wall across the street that retains the ground for the church and its parking lot finally looked interesting today with snow emphasizing its lines.

Usually Safeway is one of the coldest places in town, but today it seemed positively warm in contrast with the outdoors, and the colors felt warm compared to the outside black and white winterland.

Some apples and eggs. Let's just ignore the M&Ms and Reese's Bars. We've been snacking on cookies this season already. Mmmmmm.

Safeway from the outside. Cold.

Toward evening we went out again. I thought the antennae on this truck were amusing. Someone adapted it rather creatively to hold pipes.

This is Paul's building. It's just been painted. I like the colors and I like the lights.

Speaking of lights, I haven't taken that many photos this year with Christmas lights (nor in any other year, but I've taken a lot more photos this year, so it would seem that I'd have more of lights, too). I think it's been cold both here and Astoria, and not very tempting to stand outside and try to get exposures right. Inside this rug store, I thought I'd take a pic of this funky reindeer. Kinda cute. He has personality, anyway.