Scratcher of heads, rubber of bellies
I know where the treasure is! And I didn’t have to wait for the ice to melt to find it, as this is my favorite spot to watch bitterns (at least it is when there are tall grasses here, which there haven’t been when I’ve visited the last couple of years).
Two cats emerged in a window, and I —
I took their picture by and by,
And that has made all the difference.
Late on a winter afternoon I took a de-focused image of one of my favorite places, Rest Lake at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, to use as a background. The orange at the top is the reflection of the grasses of the marsh onto the surface of the lake.
Seeing Han Solo getting frozen in carbonite broke my heart as a child but it saved my life as an adult. I was hiking along the Hoh River Trail, reveling in the rain in the rain forest, when I saw this unusual formation in an old tree. I stepped back when I recognized the pose, like Solo all those years ago, an unfortunate photographer must have turned his back too long to the tree and was captured, enveloped, erased, as he slowly disappeared into the tree. Thinking back to that scene I’m glad they didn’t freeze my beloved Chewbacca too, I think that would have radicalized young Boolie and sent him over to the dark side.
Sam has all the angles covered.
In this crowded space in a tide pool at Enderts Beach in California’s Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, goose barnacles fill the gaps left by California mussels while acorn barnacles attach directly to the mussels themselves. The snails and black limpets are a little more mobile but all have evolved some sort of hard enclosure to protect against drying out at times like these when the tide has receded, and also against the birds who prey upon them. They may not be able to evolve fast enough to survive their biggest enemy as we not only warm the oceans but acidify them too. But for the moment I will bear them witness, this beautiful little world that exists only in the narrowest strip up and down our coasts, halfway on land and halfway in water.
Easter arrives at Augustana Lutheran Church with a wreath of flowers on its cross and a tree in flower behind. Augustana is a neighborhood church, snuggled in at the corner of 15th Avenue and Knott Street between the homes of Irvington. Homes such as the one below, a short walk from the church, taken a few minutes later as Ellie and I made our way back home. There is much I love about this old Portland neighborhood, from the walkability to the old trees to the variety in the landscaping and the homes. And especially what you don’t see in the pictures but I see in my mind when I look at them, the faithful pup beside.
One of the downsides to getting older is seeing your vision get worse and worse. The latest example for me personally was believing I saw Boo on the kitchen counter, right next to the stove, but knowing this could not be the case. Boo is not allowed on the kitchen counters and knows he is not allowed on the kitchen counters. I’ve had such visions before, but they usually vanish as I approach, a form of far-sightedness I suppose. This time the vision stayed until I was so close I could have reached out and touched him.
My eyes betray me.
Stand Up: Is the pizza for me?
Stand Down: The pizza is not for me.
Boolie 