Spokane

Towers holding up their high-tension power lines march into the sunset on a clear, winter’s evening near our home.

For our 39th anniversary, Elaine and I spent the night at the classic Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane. It was the first time that either of us had stayed there, so they upgraded us to a corner suite on the 12th floor that had this impressive view of downtowns different architectural styles.

During the cold days of mid-February, I enjoyed finding crackle patterns in the ice along our street.

Sunshine illuminated the frost on these weeds one morning, setting them aglow for a few minutes before melting the ice crystals. Beauty is often found in the most unlikely places, if you keep your eyes open to it.

An inch of fluffy snow can make even prickly weeds look interesting. I noticed these when walking my dog past a vacant lot in January.

Delicate clouds leave feathery trails in the sky as the jet stream blows these “wings” above Spokane on a cold but sunny January day.

Looking up into a high voltage power line tower on a sunny winter afternoon reveals a symmetrical structure of triangles disappearing into the sky. I dare you to count them all!

Power lines, and the towers holding them up, look a little shaky when reflected in a puddle after a winter rain in Spokane.

The pattern of clouds on a lovely November evening was lit by the full moon above and the lights of Spokane from below.

The full moon in the middle of November was peeking through the clouds in Spokane every now and then.

Flying back to Spokane, the recently harvested wheatfields of the Palouse create patterns similar to integrated circuits when viewed from a mile overhead.

The grassy lawn outside Saint George’s School attracts deer in the evening to manicure the grass between mowings.

As the roiling reds of this intense sunset filled the sky, I found myself in front of this aluminum tower, striding across the horizon like the proverbial God of War.

As a particularly vivid sunset advanced, I found a viewpoint that placed it just above a power pole like a halo.

Flowers offer a pastel contrast to the gnarled bark of a massive cottonwood on the campus of Saint George’s School.

Look toward the setting sun, and even ordinary weeds take on a luminous glow.

Arrowleaf balsamroot is a rather pedestrian name for the showiest native wildflower around Spokane. It’s bright orange-yellow blooms cover the ground during late April and early May, especially under a canopy of Ponderosa pines or on sun-warmed hillsides.

I live close to high-tension power lines that march across the Spokane River valley. On a night like this (May 10th), the Northern Lights offer an alternative source of power from solar flares that competes visually with the metallic, man-made towers that we all rely on for light and heat.

May 10th was a remarkable night. At first the Aurora was just a faint whitish blur in the sky, but then it expanded and pulsated in ever-changing patterns. The colors in this photo were only barely visible to the eye, but a four-second exposure on my phone’s camera brought them to life.

“The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust Driving home along Rutter Parkway on March 5th, I stopped at the Painted Rocks parking lot to get some photos of the dramatic sunset. Passing a large mud puddle, I turned around and saw this view.