Arbutus Skin ~ Weekly Photo Challenge ~ Layers

Arbutus SkinArbutus menziesii, often referred to as Madrone or Madrona, is an evergreen tree that grows up and down the Pacific coast from British Columbia to California.  I see them most often when I visit Orcas Island, one of the San Juan Islands, in Washington state.  Their outer bark is an orange-red that peels away naturally revealing a silvery-green under skin that is smooth to the touch.  This photo is of a knot hole surrounded by concentric layers of older bark.

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Fungi ~ Weekly Photo Challenge ~ Eerie

Open Maw

Open Maw

Living in the Pacific Northwest where the weather often is damp and cool, and the ground strewn with evergreen and deciduous tree duff, fungi of all sorts pop up and flourish year round.  The bigger they are, the more otherworldly they seem.

Slime

Slime

When I snapped these shots using my micro setting, I wondered if I might just catch the shadow of a leprechaun or faint wing of a fairy hidden beneath these platter sized mushrooms.

Come into my vestibule

Come into my vestibule

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Same Horizon ~ many years and seasons ~ Weekly Photo Chalenge

The view from Cabin 1 Beach Haven, Orcas Island, WA towards Waldron Island (foreground) and Saturna Island (behind Waldron).

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Rainbow ~ Weekly Photo Challenge ~ The Hue of You/Me

I looked through my catalog of photos wondering what color represents the me of me.  Could it be green, the hue of plants – one of my favorite life forms?  Or maybe blue?   Yes – the name we give to light filtering through air – sky – water – a favorite color for calming.  No!  Yellow!  The sun, golden sunsets, so many lovely flowers, and then blue + yellow = Provence.   But what of rich red?  Roses, garnets, velvet, wine, blood of life.  And lavender, pink, turquoise, cream, orange sherbet…I love all the hues and shades of life.  It is impossible for me to choose only a few ~ I want them all.

This shot (a happy accident) sums it all up.

IMG_3011

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Warmth ~ Weekly Photo Challenge ~ Good Morning

Home made late and fire.

Home made late and fire.

Mornings are cold now and a fire in the wood stove takes the nip and dampness out of the air.  Coffee fuels me as I finish a drawing that will be one of the illustrations in my short story Studebaker.

Empty mug, rabbit done.

Empty mug, rabbit done.

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PINK Hydrangea ~ Weekly Photo Challenge (Saturate)

Winning Edge Hydrangea

Winning Edge Hydrangea

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Repurposed Poems ~ Hope Wish Belief Want

Hope forever flutters
like a baby bird
featherless – naked
will it fly
on fledgling wings
or fall, a soft sack of
tiny broken bones –
bereft.

Wish is hope
suspended
a floating feather
drifting ever closer
then sailing away
on hidden currents.
Will it return fully fledged
or is it lost forever?

Controvert sensory experience
disregard intellectual analysis
trust intuition only.
Belief is soul needs
seeking sustenance.

Gnawing hunger
nourishment in sight
only just out of reach.
Delicious desire poses
beyond gossamer veil –
illusive elusive.
Displaying bright feathers
want sweeps close
then perches atop a distant tree.

bird

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Crow’s View ~ Weekly Photo Challenge (Perspective)

Crow PerspectiveA favorite perspective of mine is to look up and see what’s going on in the world above me.  Glimpsing patches of sky and light filtering through branches of big trees is always a pleasure.  Today I was delighted when a young crow landed on a branch and gave me yet another point of view.

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Where Rocks Are Born ~ Weekly Photo Challenge (Sea)

at the edge
ocean motion
slaps and tugs
earth mother
heaves slabs
births boulders

Rockon

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From Dreams to Dull – Post A Day – Dull=Yawn

yawnI was having this incredible dream where I was off my leash in a big ol’  field when I scared out a rabbit.  It was running like heck in the mown grass, heading for the Blackberry brambles and I was right on its tail…then I woke up.  Dang!  

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