Pumpkins, not Jack-o-Lanterns

I love the little, never-got-ripe pumpkins. All the different shades and visual textures are so much more interesting than plain old orange.

Just for Halloween--- conjoined pumpkins!!! Wouldn't this be fun to carve?

Faces in Strange Places

I love it when I find faces in strange places. It is such a fun scavenger hunt, and it is amazing how many things combine to make faces...for instance, some bug creatively ate a face into this leaf.

The faucet handles, faucet, and drain created a pretty exotic looking face...

Unfortunately, I became a little too familiar with the "faces" on these machines at the hospital.

And this spooky face showed up one day in one of Rick's IV bags...

Autumn Walkways

Don't you love the way trees line sidewalks, and then lay down the loveliest carpets imaginable?

Overhead and Underfoot

I LOVE it when we get some blue sky this time of year. The sunlight through these oak leaves was stunning!

Puddle-licious

"The world is mud-licious and puddle wonderful." e e cummings

I love the way rain puddles become magic mirrors in the pavement, like windows with a glimpse into another world...

Autumn at the mill pond

A grey cloudy day, but the water was still and the sun was at just the right angle to illuminate the trees on the far side of the pond.

And, I put together a panoramic shot. Autumn here is mostly butterscotch, gold, yellow and green. The vine maples that have the intense colors are pretty much gone by now.

Water drops

I love the way mist and rain can transform even the most mundane things, like weeds and spider web lines, into beautifully embellished objects.

Pathway

Took a break today when R was napping and went over to the botanic garden near the hospital. Had my macro lens on, so couldn't get too much of the path, but found a path nonetheless!
And--this was in a furniture store window by the Subway across the street from the hospital. I could NOT pass this up!! Color, contrast, reflection, curves and lines... My DD was with me and she was mortified that I would take pictures through the store window. She ain't seen nuttin'!!!

Blue sky and accessories

A window of blue sky, and an aspen that refuses to turn yellow. It is down the street from me, in a clump of conventionally yellow ones. Every year it turns this marvelous red-orange.

Had a gorgeous sunset the other night. I usually don't get to see much of the sunset unless there are high clouds. Between living down in the valley, and having huge trees all around, only the highest clouds show up from my bedroom window. Great sunset color for October!

Illuminated

It was a grey day, but the light shining through this leaf made it glow like a stained glass window. Love the delicate shadings and color flow, and the red veins.

Where the Wild Things Are

Last night on the way home, a little earlier than usual, I decided to take the "back way" part of the way. There on the side of the road was a black bear! NO WAY am I going to get out of my car for a photo!!! Besides, my reasoning was that there was too much traffic. About 1/4 mile beyond the bear were 3 deer grazing on the side of the road, too. About a half mile further down a coyote crosses the 4 lane, divided parkway in front of my car. By this time I was bouncing in irritation that I can't stop for these photo ops.

About a mile and a half further on is the "Elk Field" where the local elk herd has a tendency to hang out. The herd is now somewhere between 200-300 strong, so they usually aren't ALL there at the same time; there are sub-herds that rotate through the valley (including my neighborhood--and yard, curse them!)

Anyway, I stopped for the elk. Didn't have my telephoto, so I had to crop in a little with these. I was using my macro lens--I always have my camera in the car; just haven't had much of a chance to use it!!

Colors underfoot

Isn't Mother Nature incredible? Look at the amazing carpet she provides for us every fall! And every fall it is different.

I loved the way this spray of oak leaves added such a punch of color to the back of this weathered bench.
RICK IS OUT OF CRITICAL CARE!!!!! Moved today to another less intense floor. :-)

In praise of rain

Our rainy season is setting in, which means that when it isn't raining, everything worth photographing is wet. But look at the beauty in simple raindrops, and how they turn into jewels. Even the underside of a leaf becomes more interesting...

Autumn at the gazebo

Under the Sea

...or at least in the aquarium. There are several very large aquariums in the hospital lobby, and I like to watch the fish when I take a break. Why is watching fish aimlessly swimming around soooo soothing?
I love this lion fish. Check out all those fancy duds!!!
And I couldn't resist this crab coming out of his shell, checking out potential new digs. Don't you love those eyestalks??

Greenbank Farm

Greenbank Farm, on Whidbey Island, used to be the largest grower of loganberries in the world. Now, the farm is a living history farm, with wine tasting (loganberry wine, of course), jams, pies and art galleries.

color and light

Couldn't get over the colors in this heuchera (coral bells). I think the variety was called Creme Brulee. Sure is delicious looking!
And, just a little late afternoon sun coming through some decorative grasses.

Flying Fish

It's salmon season! The chinook, coho, pink, sockeye and other kinds of salmon are returning from the ocean, and making their way back up their spawning streams. There is a salmon hatchery near where I live, and I love to go watch the salmon fight their way upstream, and then onto the fish ladder. We've had enough rain recently that the creek isn't too low; some years it has been so low that the salmon almost have to walk to get to the fish ladder. The run starts late Aug or Sept, and goes until about the end of Dec., and between 10,000 and 30,000 salmon make their way up the creek to the hatchery.

Once they get there, they throw themselves time and time again at the falls, until they finally find the fish ladder and go up that. These guys are HUGE--probably at least 30-50 pounders. Some of the Chinook can get up to 120 lbs. That's a LOT of salmon!!
I LOVE it when I can actually catch them "flying"!

This is a coho--isn't he a beauty???
Once up the fish ladder, they are in a huge holding tank. There the hatchery personnel get the eggs from the females, and the milt from the males. Five to six million eggs are fertilized and raised in the hatchery each winter. In the spring, the young salmon (fry) are released into pens to grow larger. About half larger younglings (smolt) are released into the creek, and the others are sent to other locations.
The salmon will spend 1-7 years at sea, depending on the species, and will return to its spawning ground to mate and die.

There, you now know more about salmon than you wanted to know!!!