An unexpected mountain

I have shared mountain photos before, and they are dramatic, but they are also pretty expected.  I know that this is a stretch to believe if your are from NW Ohio, where you have the geographic  diversity of an airport. Any view of a local mountain would be unexpected and as a former flatlander, the mountains like Baker and Shuksan area exceptional--I am not getting jaded, I promise.  Today, though, I came down the mountain a different way and while I was driving along, I looked to my left and saw this mountain.  I almost drove off the road in my haste to grab a a camera. 

I told someone the following  today, and it is true.  You can have a terrible day, and I have had more than once these past few weeks.  But driving around this county calms you.  And if it is a crappy day, you can feel that ease a bit.  So, despite the sometimes not so exceptional days, it at least is not that bad of a place to have them...and it helps even more to share these views with others to perhaps ease their days as well.

A false spring

I live about 30 miles from one of the biggest tulip producing areas in the world--only Holland Michigan and Holland, well, Holland,    "makes" more tulips than the area just south of Bellingham.  In spring the area is amazing, with fields of solid yellow or red stretching for miles.  Today it was 55 and sunny, and it does encourage wishful thinking. These flowers were at a local grocery store and were probably from Honduras but they still were notable.  

Take two

These are yet to be the definitive views of the falls that you see near Lake Whatcom, but they are different than I showed last time.  I have no doubt that I will revisit them again, and certainly refine my vision.  Same falls, different views--the closer perspective is a bit lower down on the same falls, which makes a journey of at least 125 feet before it splashes to a creek below and helps fill Lake Whatcom.

Sky and water

Sometimes the sky, the sun, and the water combine to present a dramatic image.  The still waters are from Lake Whatcom, and the dramatic vertical sky photo is of the sun on the Sound, just south of Bellingham.

Water

For those of us old enough to remember Jonathon Livingstone Seagull, you might appreciate this photo.  While we might appreciate the species from the good karma we all received from reading the book (more than 10 million of us actually bought the book), around here, the seagull is less highly regarded.  I think the term is "rats with wings."   Still, kind of fun.

And the color today is green...

I have recently posted and gloated about how green the area remains even though it is in the dreary days of winter.  What I think that I need to point out is that while it is green, it is really about 15 different shades of green.  There's light green, dark green, lighter light green and middle green, etc.  Almost like the Bubba Shrimp Co. menu, if you get that reference.  I was lucky enough to take several walks these past days, and I here are a few shades of green that I saw.

Signs of Bellingham

Bellingham has a huge number of neon signs, as these photos attest.  Key among these is the sign on the Herald building.  This is among the best newspaper signs I have ever seen, and it is a landmark of the city.  I worked there for more than 2 years in the mid-90s, and I just sort of took it for granted.  Now that we all know newspapers are in danger, it seems a touchstone of what is good.  The other signs (except the Mallard Ice Cream sign)  are all on one street, State Street, and it is a fun street to drive down at night.  

Neon lights

Foggy...

I was up early in the fog today, and I saw this wonderful alley.  All it needed was someone walking on the other end.  I waited and as they say, good things come to those who wait!  Not high art, but it captured the mood of the early morning.

It is difficult for me sometimes to know how to use this blog.  Is it a journal of my life?  Is it a sketch book of what I see and of what I am doing?  How much of me should be or is in this, or is the goal of this just to be.  Just to be.   I hate the phrase, "it is what it is" as those words basically ended a pretty good friendship, but I don't know what else to say.  This is what it is, and like I just told someone today, it is a multi-faceted mirror that shows different views to different people.  I see me in it, I see me with those who shape my life, and others see me in different light in this silly blog.  It is fun for me, and lets me show little bits and pieces of my life.  Some will see big things, others little things, and still others not much at all.  That is OK--it is what it is, and that's OK.

With apologies to Paul Strand...

There is a photographer named Paul Strand who made a career of taking photos that sometimes had only a few tones.  I saw this side of a small house in the sun, and couldn't pass it up.

the color of the day is yellow

Again, color, lots of it.  I think that I see it, watch for it, and actually work hard to try and find it.  Nothing significant, just something bright.

Another walk, more photos...

Of course I live in Whatcom County, and there is a Lake Whatcom, Whatcom Falls, etc.  I went for a walk today along Lake Whatcom. Again there is tremendous potential for more (and better) photos from this venue.  Wow, physical activity two days in a row--it wasn't like I ran anywhere, but you have to start somewhere.  

If nothing else, it shows that we still have a bit of green around.  Where I walked is a micro climate, of which we have many near Bellingham.  Here, while cool, it is some kind of a coastal rain forest, as it is by a quite large lake.  So the ferns are green, and with so many types of evergreens, there is almost always some green.  So there is the balance to the fact that it rains a zillion days a year and the clouds are around your shoulders for days on end.  Hey, be happy, its green out there!

But the many waterfalls which are balm to the soul and for me, an instant cure for gray days.  Of course, there weren't exactly waterfalls in NW Ohio, though a friend has made some fantastic photos of waterfalls located in other parts of Ohio.  But it is therapy to stand in front of some of the falls that I have seen in the past two days.  For some reason, when water falls more than 30 feet, or hundreds like the one above, it  generates a sound slightly more soothing than one of those little fountains in your office.  Music for your soul.

Just some tourist pictures...

A very nice day yesterday, and a good day for a walk.  These were taken at Whatcom Falls park, a city park if you can believe it, and its just a few miles from my house.  I only scratched the potential--sorry, you can expect more photos from here...

The main falls is the big falls, the other falls is the Lower Gorge.  I like the B&W--I think this is accessible and has enough potential to try this all in large format.  Soon, I hope.