Winter pond...

I was in the mood for a big bowl of oatmeal this morning, one I didn't have to cook. So we headed off toward Mt. Rainier and had breakfast at one of our favorite little cafe's, then drove up into the hills for my snow fix. We stomped around in the snow to find some geocaches, then headed home. DW made a sudden decision to take another road home, and when we spotted a flooded pasture, made another one of those sudden turns. And lucky him, there's a geocache here. So while he searched for the cache, I braced my camera on a handy fence post and photographed the water fowl and the pair of eagles hanging out at this new pond. This wide plateau is one of my favorite haunts when I want to photograph barns, and today the light was beautiful. If you look closely, you'll see one of the huge eagles sitting on a fence post at the water's edge, to the left of the scene.



As soon as I got out of the Pilot, the ducks took flight. Sure that the eagle would also leave, I quickly snapped a few shots without messing with any settings. And the eagle just sat there, while the ducks got all excited.

So while the birds are in focus, the background unfortunately is also in focus, which makes it hard to see the birds. Oh, well... tomorrow I'll go back with the tripod, and camp out by this pond, and try again.

Basic black...

Ever since I watched my sister walk right across the Tahuya river one fall, I've wanted my own Bogs. Living on acreage with horses, I always had farm boots. Clunky, too-big, bone-chilling-cold rubber boots, that never lasted more than a couple of years. I wanted something better, so I can get down to our pond in the wet months, and go watch the salmon go up the rivers to spawn.

The short Bogs boots with the side hand grips are everywhere, even the local discount stores. But I guarantee this: any water I attempt to cross will be just over the bottom of those side openings, and my feet will get wet. No, I wanted the tall, knee-high boots with neoprene uppers for warmth.

And finally, I found the perfect pair at a local farm store. I had a choice between pink patchwork (not me), bright green cammo (I don't think so), or plain black.

Basic black is cammo enough for me.

Centennial...

In 1989, Washington celebrated its centennial statehood. As a way to give tribute to the state's number one industry (agriculture), it published a list of 400+ farms that have been in the same family for a hundred years or more. Last year, they followed up on these family farms, to see how many were still owned by the original families.



This 1900 English Gambrel barn stands proud on the Maple Valley farm that is still owned by the original family. I think that's extremely cool.

Today was one of those beautiful winter days, with fresh snow in the foothills, and golden afternoon light. Which meant shadows. But sometimes you just have to record the moment, even if the photograph isn't what you want. If you're lucky, you can come back again at a better time of day. I'm feeling pretty lucky today.

The colors of winter...

Down by our pond, everything is soft and green, silvery gray, yellow and gold and brown. The pond is the only dark color, deep mossy green and still, reflecting everything around it.

People who say winter is dull and lifeless... just aren't looking closely enough.

Vashon barns...

Researching barns for a photography trip next spring. Playing with Madison, and holding her when she crashed. Watching it rain... and snow... and wondering what happened to the sunny day we were supposed to have. Running out for a quick cache, then hauling in firewood to warm up a cold house. Staying up way too late, working on my barn document and thinking about how nice it is to live in a place that cherishes heritage barns like I do.

Paper trees and origami stars

Tattered sheet music and worn-out paperback books became Christmas decorations this year. Combined with the snowmen-themed pieces that a friend gave me, they make a display that I can leave out through winter. 

You can never have enough snow karma, right? If you want snow, that is. And I do.

The 25th day...

We were greeted at the front porch by our 7-year-old niece, and spent a few happy hours with home-made pastries, lots of catching up, a tour of Anna's new preschool classroom, hide-and-seek, and talking with the guys while playing pool. Then we moved to my sister's house for more talk and watching the rain pound the roofs and cooking and sampling wine from Plain. The cats got braver and braver with all the family and the skies turned dark, and we shared a simple dinner of lasagne and salad and bread and dessert, sitting around the table until well after dark. No messy kitchen meant more time to talk with everyone, and I treasured the time.

The girls liked the earrings I made for them, and the packaging: the tiny lilac twig that held them inside an Altoids tin, wrapped in pages from an old paperback book.

Our gifts were all about light this year: homemade beeswax candles and a candle holder fashioned from a round of hardwood. A beehive candle. A solar light that will be perfect for backpacking next summer. And a motion-activated light for the outhouse at the cabin.

Christmas morning

Every year, we spend Christmas on an island with my sister and her family, and it's wonderful. Their home is true country, and if there's such a thing as a spiritual home, I think this is mine.

This morning I woke early, and lay in bed, thinking about the day ahead of us. Then I noticed how white it was outside the windows.  It snowed! The front pasture was white, and the trees were frosted with snow.

It was a half hour before I could get outside with my camera, and by then it had started to melt. But it was beautiful while it lasted.

Surrounded by snow...

This is what I want for Christmas...  simple and pure and white. Just a few inches of snow, so I can make a snowman and enjoy the view out my windows.

I don't need this much snow, though... back in January 2012, there was enough snow to use as a wine chiller!

Snow is all around us this week:  up north in Snohomish County, throughout the Cascades to the east, and west in the Olympics.

But whatever the weather where you are, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

Being indoors...

A 14,410-foot mountain is hiding behind those streaky white clouds

There's a pretty solid theme to my musings this month...  mostly about the weather, going out into it, and staying inside to escape it.

But there have been brilliant days interspersed into all this soggy gloominess. Days with blue sky and wild white clouds. Days so still that absolutely perfect reflections are possible.

This morning I walked my favorite trail for a while, into a wind so strong I had to hold my hood with both hands. My daily cache in hand, I turned around to head back to the car, just as the heavens opened up and soaked me. Grrrr....

Back home (and dried off), I settled down with hot tea and finished wrapping Christmas presents, while watching Antiques Roadshow. The wind was blowing outside the windows, but I was surrounded by the warmth from the woodstove and the smell of pasta sauce cooking on the stove. It's 38 degrees and raining outside... that makes being indoors even better.