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Tree Hanging On
This tree in the Yaquina Head Natural Area was hanging onto the steep rock wall with its curved trunk. Another remarkable example of life successfully surviving on the edge.
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Pelicans
These pairs of pelicans were found in the rocks just off Yaquina Head north of Newport on the Oregon Coast.
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Tower Light
Looking up at the top of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, the iron railings around the light and the painted brick walls below make an interesting, symmetrical study in black and white.
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Sea Bird Colony
Just yards away from Yaquina Head Lighthouse, this rock was covered by an entire colony of squaking sea birds.
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Yaquina Head Lighthouse
A day trip down the Oregon Coast led us to the Yaquina Head lighthouse just north of Newport.
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Deer
This is what we saw when looking out of my parents’ front windows down to their garden below — a doe and fawn making themselves at home for the afternoon. Even though the house faces an intersection, the deer had found a secluded spot above the traffic and below our window.
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Three Arch Rocks
Sunset orange divides the dark blue sky from the darker blue Pacific in this view of the Three Arch Rocks. This is the view from near my parents’ house in Oceanside. It only lasts a few minutes, but it’s worth the trip!
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Sunset Tree
The sun going down into the Pacific off the Oregon Coast left an orange glow behind this Sitka spruce in Oceanside, OR.
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Marching Gnomes
The Netarts Gnome Owners marched in the 4th of July parade in nearby Oceanside. Now you know what garden gnomes do when they are off on a holiday!
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Oceanside Yacht Club
Looking very dapper, the ‘members’ of the Oceanside Yacht Club waved to the crowd at the 4th of July parade right below my parents’ house.
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Dancing Starfish
A 4th of July parade at the Oregon Coast can include some surprising characters like these dancing starfish.
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4th of July Parade
Oceanside and Netarts combine to host a small town 4th of July parade that included costumes like the Statue of Liberty.
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Oceanside Beach
A panoramic view from our favorite beach of Oceanside and the Three Arch Rocks.
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Oceanside View
The beach, Maxwell Point, and the Three Arch Rocks are key features of the town of Oceanside in the Oregon Coast near Tillamook. My parents retired here in the 1990s and we love staying at their home that overlooks the ocean.
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Intersection
The white contrail of a jet and the black power lines made a momentary intersection above my head on a blue-sky afternoon. It makes a nice “y” in the sky, becoming an “x” shortly afterwards.
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Sunset Weeds
Even random flowering weeds in the field near our home display a complex beauty in the evening light.
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Spherical Flowers
These spikie, vaguely alien-looking flowers caught my attention in Manito Gardens on Spokane’s South Hill one sunny June day.
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Coal Miner
This sculpture in front of Fernie’s city hall represents the generations of coal miners who have worked in this part of the Canadian Rockies. The sculpture is three dimensional, so the parts of the face only line up correctly when viewed from directly in front of it.
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City Hall
Fernie, BC has a stately city hall, which was formerly the headquarters of the local coal mining company.
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Fernie Court House
This impressive brick structure houses Fernie’s court house. The statue on the left honors local veterans who died in the wars of the 20th century. The longest list is for those who died in WWI when the area’s economy was booming.
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Fernie Main Street
Visiting Fernie, BC on our way back from the line dancing conference in Alberta, we enjoyed walking around this historic coal mining town that now draws more tourists than miners.
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Canary in the Mine
It’s true, coal miners in the Canadian Rockies did use canaries to detect CO2 and other dangerous gasses underground. But these fortunate birds also had an oxygen tank for the miner to revive them after they fainted from gas in the mine at Frank, Alberta.
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Frank Slide
A big chunk of Turtle Mountain in Crowsnest Pass near the continental divide slid down and covered the valley below early one morning in 1903. The Frank Slide is a dramatic location with an excellent visitors center overlooking the rubble-covered valley.
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Burmis Tree
This limber pine has guarded the eastern entrance to Crowsnest Pass for 700 years. Even after it died in the 1970s, locals propped it up as a reminder of the endurance and resilience required to live in this beautiful valley.
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Rolling Thunder
When a storm sweeps down from the Rockies onto the Alberta foothills, it can fill the horizon with ominous clouds, sheets of rain and thunder that keeps rolling around overhead for minutes at a time!
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