A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
For several weeks Laura had been admiring this view from our front yard…
This is a view of Anacortes with the Olympic Mountain Range back behind. She’s been wanting to take a trip out to the Olympic Peninsula and head up into the mountains. Some friends of ours took that trip recently posted photos of fields of lavender. We decided that the time had come, so we took a spur-of the moment trip up into the Olympics.
Every time I drive up I-5 to Bellingham I see a brown sign for the Lake Padden Recreation Area. In Google Earth the lake doesn’t look very large, but it still intrigued me. Would it be a good place to paddle? I had an errand to run in Bellingham, so on the way back I decided to check it out. A paddling event was in full swing that Saturday and a parking place could not be found. However, it looked like an interesting spot, so I decided to come back. On Sunday, Father’s Day, a couple of weeks ago I did just that.
Rampant racism, internment camps, Nazis holding rallies, and just this past weekend I saw WWII bombers flying overhead. Did I fall through some sort of wormhole into an alternate universe? Is “The Man in the High Castle” actually a documentary? Regardless, the whole space-time continuum seems to have decided to take a nap. I thought some pretty pictures of flowers might be comforting.
Read More “Random Skagit – Volume 9, Yard Flowers and Non-Linear Time” »
Since most of this takes place in Whatcom County rather than Skagit County, I couldn’t title this post “Random Skagit.” Anyway, here are a couple of the places we’ve been lately.
Yep, I’m behind on blog posts. We’ve taken some cool trips lately and those photos have been posted to Flickr, but it seems that every time I sit down to write up a post something comes up. I’ve got at least four posts in the hopper right now.
The biggest distraction has been our preparations for the big Samish Island Yard Sale, held this past Saturday. Our participation was relatively small, but it still took a lot of time and effort.
A couple of months ago I had an unexpected windfall by selling a large number of photographs. I decided to reinvest that into another hobby – music. I bought two fine instruments at exact opposite ends of the tonal spectrum.
When you start digging into family history you’re bound to uncover some scoundrels. In my own family I’ve got Samuel Campbell Clegg, who was hanged as a British spy at Star Fort during the Revolutionary War. Then there are the two uncles that spent time in prison, one of whom I visited when he was incarcerated. Of one branch of our family a fellow genealogy researcher said, “They weren’t nuthin’ but horse thieves and ne’er-do-wells.”
Here in Washington we’ve uncovered at least one potential scoundrel in Laura’s family. While his story is interesting, I think the real story is that of his daughter, Vinnie Alethia Reed Burdick, Laura’s great-grandmother, and her ability to overcome what could have been a disastrous family situation.
This past week we took the opportunity to visit Laura’s Aunt Ellen in Coos Bay, Oregon. Ostensibly we were there to help her with some tech support issues, but it also gave us a chance to reconnect, review some family history, and see some incredible scenery along the coast.
Where did the time go? Before I knew it the first of June was upon us, meaning that we only have two more months left on the island. We haven’t accomplished anything near what we wanted, and panic sets in as we contemplate our next steps.
During the bleak cloudy days of winter it seems that all we did was pray for a bit of sunshine. Now, as a dusty pall hangs in the air turning blue skies to ochre, all we want is a good shower to knock down the dirt. It seems we can’t be satisfied. Such is life in a farming community.