all ahead full

As if this old door latch were a power lever.

More architectural details from batteries Kinzie and Vicars at Fort Worden.

guns to weeds 2

A variation on the "gun base to planter" theme at Battery Vicars, Fort Worden State Park.

zig zag

More architectural imagery from batteries Kinzie and Vicars at Fort Worden State Park, WA.

passage

Another photograph from Battery Kinzie at Fort Worden State Park, near Port Townsend.

latte and laptop

Yesterday afternoon was the second gathering of an informal local sketch group, this time at a coffee spot in Port Townsend.  Graphite on paper.

guns to weeds

In a variation on the "swords to plowshares" theme, this coast artillery gun mount base now serves as an impromptu planter.

This image is from Battery Vicars, next to Battery Kinzie at Fort Worden State Park.

battery kinzie

Kinzie is another century-old coastal artillery battery at Fort Worden, near Port Townsend.  Unlike some of the batteries I have featured before, which sit atop Artillery Hill, this one is down near the beach, close to the Point Wilson light.

strait view

Here is a view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca from atop the bluff just to the west of the Dungeness Spit.  The waves break on the beach far below.  A ship, inbound in the shipping lane, is probably headed for Seattle or Tacoma.

discovery bay madrona

Sunny and calm today- a pleasant change.  This Discovery Bay scene presented itself while returning home from Port Townsend.

lembert dome

This digital photo was taken a number of years ago near Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park, California.  To celebrate the new millennium, the Park Service had kept the road to Tioga Pass, normally closed in winter, open for the holidays.

the cove palisades

It's pretty soggy here today, so how about an image of someplace a little less rainy?  This is a view of Lake Billy Chinook in the Cove Palisades State Park in central Oregon, just a little west of Smith Rock, which was featured in some of my earlier posts.

The lake is actually a reservoir, created when the Round Butte Dam was completed on the Deschutes River in 1964.

another snowman

No fine art today!  It was the last chance to build a snowman before the rains start.  All aboard!

snowman

For the last few days the place where we live has turned into snow country.  To commemorate the weather, here is a snowman.

rialto beach

More driftwood!  This time it's at Rialto Beach on the Washington Pacific coast.  I like how the upper left piece mimics the shape of the island behind it.

snow bird

A local snow bird, not the kind who winters in Florida, takes his share of today's weather.  The garden sculpture was created by Sequim artist Dana Hyde.

Here is a view of the approaching storm, taken near the head of Sequim Bay three days ago.

More snow is on the way!

molson farm

Here is another old Eastern Washington homestead, in not much better shape than the Palouse farm, from the looks of it.  This one is just outside of Molson, WA, a ghost town two miles from the Canadian border.

palouse farmhouse

A boarded up old farmhouse in the Palouse, Eastern Washington.

midday clouds

This view is from the same time and location as yesterday's post, in the southeast corner of Washington state.  The clouds were quite spectacular that day.

clearing storm

Here is another clearing storm, this time in black and white and in Eastern Washington.

heceta head light

Here is an early winter view of this scenic oregon coast landmark, taken after a big storm a little over a year ago.  The building to the right in the photograph was the residence of assistant light keepers and their families.  It is now a bed and breakfast.  Visitors should be aware: it is reputed to be haunted.

hurricane ridge lodge

A winter afternoon in Olympic National Park.

paper mill #3

Here is another black and white view across the mill lot and parked trailers, from the bluff trail just south of the Boat Haven in Port Townsend.

paper mill revisited

Here is another black and white treatment of the paper mill near Port Townsend.  This is the same mill which was featured in the 1982 film, "An Officer and a Gentleman."

got any apples?

We came across these characters yesterday, while hiking on the Olympic Discovery Trail west of Sequim.  They were keeping an eye on the hikers.

'twas the season

The decorations are still up at The Buzz - BeeDazzled, or at least they were yesterday.

Another computer-colorized sketch from yesterday's "sketch-out."

the buzz

It's the name of a local coffee place.

No photo today- I'm turning into a sketcher!  Today was the first sketch-in of an impromptu, informal, unofficial Sequim sketcher group.  Three members so far...

Followers of British sci-fi TV will note that The Doctor may be in the vicinity.  Or would it be Superman?

Graphite on paper with digital color.

dungeness driftwood #5

These are the last two of my images from our walk on the Dungeness Spit on Sunday.

"Echo"

Are the clouds mimicking the logs, or is it the other way around?

"Sentry"

Ever watchful.

dungeness driftwood #4

Here are two more photos from our recent visit to the Dungeness Spit, on the Strait of Juan de Fuca north of Sequim.

"Split"

"Ribs"

dungeness driftwood #3

Here are two more photographs from Sunday's walk on the Dungeness Spit.

"Fracture"

"White and Red"

dungeness driftwood #2

Here are two more driftwood photographs from yesterday's walk on the Dungeness Spit.

"Lookout"

"Dancers"

driftwood revisited

We started the new year with a hike on Dungeness Spit, a popular local natural feature within the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge.

The spit extends five miles to a lighthouse, so there is plenty of hiking available.

The cloud-shrouded mountain behind the lighthouse is Mount Baker.

Many people had the same idea- it's a good spot for a holiday walk.

And it's a great place to see driftwood.  Click here to see M's painting of some people sitting on a big driftlog.

"Red and White"

"S Curves"