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Tag Archives: reflections

November Walks

The mostly gray weather has not kept us inside at all. We try to get at least one walk everyday. The dogs (and I) would go stir crazy if we didn’t get out regularly.

 

Ken’s friend Bill came up from Yakima with his dog Rani
Black and Blue
Ahhhhhh
Sky wanted Rani to be her mentor but Rani would have none of it. She has become a curmudgeon.
Hairy Woodpecker listening
And looking
Listening
And pecking
Oregon grape in front of an unnamed pond.
Nice fall colors and reflections
Buffleheads and mergansers
Reeds and reflections
Sky makes her way through tall grass
Another view of the same pond
Nice color
Sky keeps up with Mary Ann

Frosty Morning Walk

Luna and I walked at the Twisp Ponds this morning. She is still recovering from her unfortunate incident on Sunday so I am trying to keep her calm and it is not always easy. The leash helps but then I was also carrying binoculars and my big camera in addition to making a few shots with my phone. It was a bit of a juggling act. Luna needs to recuperate for one to two weeks before she can get back to being Luna again. It will be a challenge. Rimadyl helps.

Cottonwoods reflected in an opening in the ice

 

Grasses frozen in time

 

Frosty leaves on a bridge in black and white

 

and color

 

Whose nest?

 

The only bird I saw this morning. I heard crows in the distance

 

Remains of a bird

 

Frosty oregon grape in black and white

 

and vivid color

 

Remains of a paper wasp nest. Where do they go in the cold months?

 

Ice near the bridge

 

San Poil Moments

Along the way, Luna and I stopped in the San Poil valley to visit Dixie and her people. It’s a beautiful valley and sparsely populated. Our friends live on an old ranch with about a mile of riverfront – excellent habitat for birds, bears, moose and other animals. We walked and walked while Luna and Dixie ran and jumped and rolled in the mud! After the agility trial where dogs don’t get to play with other dogs, Luna was entirely relieved to see her old pal Dixie and bounded out of the car when we arrived.

 

 

On July 20th, a huge storm known as a micro-burst hit this area and tore down thousands, if not millions of trees. You can read about it here. Power was out for a week or more. Everywhere you go, you can see the damage. One area I saw looked like it had been clear cut.

 

Now that the wet season has started, people are burning debris leftover from the storm

 

Old farm machinery

 

They have draft horses to pull this sleigh and also for farming and logging.

 

So much dog fun!

 

Dixie is a McNabb, similar in appearance to a smooth-coated border collie

 

Rope growing moss. How cool is that?

 

Canada Geese flew off the river

 

The front yard. Peregrine Falcons nest there. Rattlesnakes den in those rocks.

 

A well-constructed beaver dam

 

These trees are full of birds in the spring and summer. Pretty quiet now.

 

Very pretty place

 

More moss

 

The neighbors’ cabin does not have indoor plumbing.

 

 

Winter Begins

Yesterday Luna and I and Guthrie and Guthrie’s person Marcy went for an afternoon hike at Blue Lake. From the valley it was easy to see that the first snow had fallen in the North Cascades so we knew we would see snow along the way. We drove through it at Washington Pass and the trailhead was covered with white stuff. The dogs were thrilled to see fresh snow! Luna has been lucky to find snow every month this year. The north-facing slope didn’t provide terrific lighting for the afternoon hike however the grandeur of the scenery lit up our senses and we quite enjoyed the short trek to and from Blue Lake. The views were full of graphic bold images and reflections that left me wondering what was real and what was reflected. Lots of images were made.

This is an avalanche chute full of debris along the trail

Guthrie relished the snow

These brown icicles dripped off of an old log

Blue skies, fiery larches and new snow!

This larch seems to be waving goodbye to fall or hello to winter

The outlet

Reflections everywhere

What’s real

The iconic viewpoint for Blue Lake. It looks much different in summer.

It is almost too much to take in with one image

With the fading light, the mountains and sky provide a bold graphic image in black and white

Guthrie – who could resist this guy?

Gray Jays stopped to see if we had any food to share

Otherwise known as Camp Robbers

Color?

Or black and white?

Reflections in black and white

Goodbye to fall and Blue Lake for another year

Luna in her birthday buff

Again, what’s real and what is reflected?

Down the trail in the late afternoon light

Two peas in a pod

This tiny pond is a delight

Reeds, all bent in the same direction

With frosted Christmas trees across the way

And still, Blue Gentian blooming. In the snow.

A Walk in Twisp

Last weekend I had the opportunity to take a documentary photograhy class at the Confluence Gallery in Twisp. Lyn McCracken, of Seattle, who is showing her work, Mujeres de la Guerra, at the gallery, taught it. Lyn is a teacher at the NW School in Seattle and also has worked on several documentary projects of her own. I was very impressed with her large format black and white darkroom prints.

We were a small and varied group of students. One person borrowed a camera, another used only a cell phone. We all had stories to tell. I worked on a couple of different story lines and when it was time to show our final projects, I did a simple walk through Twisp.

 

I started with an image of Lyn giving us direction. Please excuse the typo in the first slide! Egads.

 

 

 

 

 

This fellow has a great story. I hope to follow up on it at some point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At some point we were supposed to include a self portrait.

Many thanks to Donna Keyser, Confluence Gallery manager, for inviting Lyn to come to Twisp, show her work and teach for us. And many thanks to Lyn for coming.