This week, guest host Ritva summons us to invite followers into our kitchens. Throughout my life, togetherness often started in the kitchen; warm ovens on cold days, fragrance wafting through the house, and a welcoming place to enjoy good food and conversation. On one end my kitchen opens to the dining area which flows into the living room. When we have a party or family gathering the whole space is “the kitchen”!
Joy in the kitchen starts with making the space aesthetically pleasing to me. I want loveliness when I raise my eyes from the pots and pans, and I insist on functional tools.
I also want fresh produce. Every spring I plant a small garden of tomatoes and basil. The tomatoes are shared with neighbors and some are frozen to add to winter soups. The basil is dried or processed into pesto or used to infuse olive oil for a whif of summer fragrance throughout the year.
Last week I shared the camp kitchen with my sister at our annual fishing get away in central Oregon. Diana and I make sure we have delicious dinners daily. We plan our menus in advance, decide who is responsible for what, and delight in sumptuous spreads every evening!
Ritva requested that we include our best-loved cup in this post. Below is a photo of my current favorite, a handmade pottery mug purchased at Bay Street Gallery in Ocean Park, WA. I love to fill it half with milk and half with coffee, and its big enough to last for a while. What a pleasure to sit on the deck of a cool overcast morning sipping my warm mix, as the day unfolds to hot afternoons!
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
Thank you to Ritva for a journey into the heart of our homes!
This week Patti Moed, invites us to tell a story with a maximum of five photos. Recently I had a leisurely road trip from Spokane to Pullman WA, driving the network of old highways now called the Palouse Scenic Byway. Lightly traveled, it was easy for me to pull over and stop whenever I wanted to take photos.
Rosalia WA, population 615. The site of a battle between US troops and Palus and Spokane Native American tribes in 1858, Rosalia was officially incorporated in 1894.
The Rosalia Railroad Bridge, built in 1915 is impressive with its concrete arches. In 1980 the bridge and right-of-way were acquired by the State of Washington. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places due to its design. Framed by the arches are yellow fields of Canola.
The McCoy grain elevator near Oakesdale, is a fine example of contemporary agricultural structures throughout the region. Grain (usually wheat) is stored in these huge containers and then transported by rail to market. Oakesdale, population 412.
Oakesdale Flour Mill built in 1890, is the last of 19 that once operated in Whitman County. In operation until 1960, the mill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The old mill is being maintained and is open periodically for tours.
Old and new technology live side by side west of Oakesdale. On a forty acre site, 58 wind turbines generate 105 megawatts of energy.
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
Thanks to Patti for an inspiring challenge this week!
This week Tina has challenged us to show through our photography, sites that represent spirituality to us. In my life, natural environments have always provided a profound sense of connection with my inner self and the world as a whole. For this challenge I’m focusing on the spiritual lessons of water.
“Water is a representation of wisdom, peace, and purity. The spiritual meaning of water lies in its reflection of the human spirit and the interconnection of all creations.”
“As a symbol of life, water represents divine generosity. Indeed, it’s a personification of healing and suffering, protection and vulnerability, change and constancy, stillness and rage. Water in all its glory is considered a purifier of the soul.”
“To be like water, we need to be fluid; we need to change and grow from the circumstances of life. Furthermore, we need to imbibe the formless, calm, and conscious nature of the water.”
“In essence, water is the life force that centers our spirit and our body, signifying wisdom and conscious awareness. Take time to ponder the spiritual meaning of water and celebrate its gifts on earth.”
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
Thank you Tina, for this beautiful challenge. I’ve enjoyed the many offerings of other Lens-Artist followers. Such a treat!
Welcome to Brian of bushboy, this weeks Lens-Artists challenge guest-host. He introduces the subject by noting that there has been “a bit of fragmentation happening around the world, a disconnect.” I agree. Yet, bushboy reminds us that “we always have been made up of pieces,” and he invites us to reveal “some of our fragments – distant or recent.”
On the mile-long sandy stretch of Long Beach, Washington, USA, all manner of detritus arrives from the Pacific Ocean. Above, a nonbreeding, adult Black-bellied Plover is making a meal of a Dungeness crab claw. Parts of crabs often wash ashore providing feasts for many different shorebirds.
Gooseneck barnacles (Pollicipes polymerus) are another common sight along this beach. *”They attach to rocks or other objects by a strong, rubbery stalk, the peducile, which is up to 10 centimetres (4 in) long.” While I see them more often attached to driftwood stranded on the beach after high tides and strong winds, this cluster looks like it was torn whole from its home.
The remains of trees, such as this huge root remnant tossed upon the shore, are a constant reminder of both the lumber industry history in this area, and the formidable power of Pacific Ocean storms.
Along the interior dune trails are scraps left from earlier times, perhaps from when this part of the dune was close to the shoreline and therefore the recipient of beach flotsam long ago.
Oysters abound in Willapa Bay, and their shucked shells can be found in huge dump sites, or sometimes sun-bleached and used as ground cover, and as above, in a local heap of discarded, decaying left-overs.
Thanks again to bushboy for this fun challenge. It is an honor and a huge responsibility to provide a LA challenge subject, and then respond to all of us out here in Lens-Artists land who enjoy participating!
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
Donna from Wind Kisses invites us to get up close and cozy with bugs this week. I grew up where Black Widow Spiders hung out in dark corners, and now and then a scorpion would appear on the trail and scare the heck out of me! Still, I remained curious about those smaller critters, and today I find it a sometimes quite satisfying exercise in patience to photograph them.
Damselflies and Dragonflies are favorites of mine. For one thing they are voracious mosquito eaters, and another is the variety of lovely colors they come in. The photo above is a perfect example of what characterizes Damselflies: their eyes are clearly separated, the body is long and slender, the back and front wings are of similar size and shape, and are held close to the abdomen when at rest.
The Dragonfly above was resting out of the wind when I got this shot. Notice that it’s eyes touch, it has a more stocky body in comparison with the Damselfly, it’s front and back wings are different shapes and sizes, and are held open horizontally when at rest. Below another Dragonfly in motion.
Canadian and Northwest USA folklore holds that Banded Woolly Worms are a harbinger of what the weather will be in the upcoming winter season. Though their spiky, hairy outside (a protection against predators) looks dangerous, they are innocuous.
Caterpillars metamorphose into moths or butterflies. The Banded Woolly Worm transforms into the Isabella Tiger Moth. Wish I had a photo of one, however here are some of my better flutterby photos.
The honeybee has been seen as a messenger from the Gods in Greek and Roman mythology. The ancient Celts also saw honeybees as messengers between worlds. Honeybees brought wisdom and were revered for their role in the metaphysical. Today we celebrate their work as pollinators.
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
Thanks to Donna for this fun challenge. There are many more images in my archives, however I’m already late, so I’ll finish here!
Anne-Christine invites us to “find fascinating structures that capture our attention, tell a story or are just beautiful.” As I combed my archives, I found a few photos I had taken just because the subject caught my fancy. I’ll start with this building from the Lloyd district in Portland, Oregon. I don’t know if it is an apartment complex or office building – maybe both – the windows are what drew me to it!
From high tech to low tech, my next subject is quite a fancy tree house. When I was a kid, my brother and I would build forts in the tall poplar trees near our home. It was a wonderful hide-away and I still love looking out over the world from a lofty vantage point.
Where there is slow moving water, it is likely you will find a community of house-boats. Portland, Oregon has several such watery neighborhoods. The photo below is of a settlement on the John Day River, just south of Astoria, Oregon.
In a previous Lens-Artists challenge (#216) I featured the town of Oysterville, Washington. It is a fine example of a community doing its very best to restore and maintain the original wood buildings built in the mid 1800’s. I especially like the house below, built in 1865 by Captain J.W. Munson, which was the site of Oysterville’s first Pacific County Courthouse.
I’ll finish with another early Long Beach Peninsula structure, the Doupé Building in Ilwaco, Washington, which has been vacant for several years. Below is a photo I featured in my Lens-Artists Challenge #45 in 2019.
*”Built around the end of the 19th century, the first tenant was the Aberdeen Packing Company. In 1919, Joseph and Harry Doupé bought the building and opened Doupé Brothers Hardware. They added a furniture store in 1967 and women’s apparel store in 1968.” Yesterday, I decided to take photos of the now being restored exterior of the Doupé building. It retains its architectural charm and looks loved again, with caulking and fresh paint.
Kudos to those who are taking on the monumental task of keeping this landmark building alive!
*By MADDIE DICKERSON Aug 16, 2010 Updated Dec 20, 2018, Chinook Observer
On your walk with life, please honor our earth, encourage dignity and share kindness. 🐾
Thanks to Anne-Christine for this stretch of my photography preferences! It’s good to be challenged.
Walking With Eagles is a collection of original poems and photographs by Lindy Low Le Coq. A lifelong naturalist, amateur photographer and bird enthusiast, Lindy’s verse, composition and photographs open a window into the essence of her subjects. Her poems and photography reflect the rich natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest.
Bald Eagles mature over the course of five years. Walking With Eagles invites the reader to take a poetic and visual tour of this odyssey.
view ~ Walking With Eagles ~ in top menu bar for a preview, though the folio is much nicer!
Lindy Low LeCoq 