Spokane

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.