Lindy Low LeCoq

~ Lens-Artist Photo Challenge #40: Something Different ~

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Lindy Le Coq

This week Tina challenges us to show something “out of the norm…something we wouldn’t normally expect from you.” Since most of my posts feature nature, this time my subject is man-made metal objects.

Ropeless

Ferry

Before Creighton and I bought the condo on Long Beach, we vacationed yearly on Orcas Island. To get there involved a wonderful hour on one of Washington State’s Ferries. I loved getting out of the car to explore the vessel and breathe the fresh air. The images above were taken on one such walkabout.

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The Astoria-Megler Bridge is an amazing engineering achievement. Its construction bears witness to what happens when two states cooperate, as Oregon and Washington did to complete this major infrastructure improvement. Creighton and I gladly paid the toll to cross when we visited Astoria, then drove up the Long Beach Peninsula on our honeymoon in 1969. Driving across this bridge still is a thrill!

Random Acts of Metal…

Old farm equipment!

Old plow?

“Once, even the simple metal needle

challenged the conventional thinking of a time.” Jonathan Ive

“Looks real to me, mom!”

Lens-Artists Challenge #40 – Something Different

Posted in architecture, Art, Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, pacific northwest, photography, travel | Tagged architecture, astoria bridge, Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, man made, metal, photography, travel | 7 Comments

~ Wordless Wednesday ~

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Lindy Le Coq

This gallery contains 2 photos.

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~ Lens-Artist Photo Challenge #39: Hello April ~

Posted on April 5, 2019 by Lindy Le Coq

As April arrives, birds continue to call for mates and pairing-up is in full swing. Building or re-furbishing nests is in process, and every once in a while I hear what may be the cheeps of chicks.

While Jello and I were on our daily walk, a Song Sparrow, perched upon a blackberry vine, belted-out a melodious invitation.

Twining along the rail to my front door is an Evergreen Clematis, it makes a pretty welcome.

Clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom‘

Spring invites us back outside, and since I like messing around with dirt and plants, this is my favorite time of year.

There’s much cleaning out and planning to do – I call it playing outside!

March winds linger, scattering Flowering Plum (Prunus cerasifera) petals into pink drifts. Here they are floating in a birdbath while April showers patter.

Prunus cerasifera

My neighbor has an admirable copse of Forsythia (seen in the background above) with a lovely Flowering Quince anchoring each end of the border. Such a wonderful shrub!

Primula “Blue Zebra”

A few years ago I learned that Primroses, sold locally as annuals, actually are perennial evergreens in my zone. They are thriving in a rock garden I can see from the kitchen window – my “Primrose Lane” cheers me all winter.

“Flowers are beautiful hieroglyphics of nature, with which she indicates how much she loves us.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Hello April

Posted in birds, flowers, landscape gardening, Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, nature, pacific northwest, photography | Tagged flowers, landscape gardening, Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, nature, pacific northwest, primroses, song-sparrow | 5 Comments

~ Wordless Wednesday ~

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Lindy Le Coq

Posted in nature, photography, Wordless Wednesday | Tagged nature, photography, Wordless Wednesday | 2 Comments

~ Lens-Artist Photo Challenge #38: Weathered or Worn ~

Posted on March 29, 2019 by Lindy Le Coq

This week Leya invites us to feature photos of things weathered and worn. Since I enjoy taking pictures of old dilapidated structures and manmade things that are being ravaged and reclaimed by the forces of nature, this was another fun challenge! Here are some gems from my exploration of the Long Beach peninsula.

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Boats of many kinds are moored on water and land throughout the area. This little old craft caught my eye as I drove by, and beckoned me back to take some shots!

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Earlier this month, in response to Amy’s challenge #35: Architecture, I featured three churches. At the one most in need of restoration, The Sanctuary in Chinook, the chapel bell rests on the ground. If my interpretation of the maker’s mark is correct it was created at The C.S. Bell foundry in Hillsboro, Oregon in 1938.

Heaps of old crab pots, mountains of oyster shells, and coils of rope are another feature in this coastal community.

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At Fort Columbia State Park, this storage building is slowly being consumed by blackberry brambles and the hillside.

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A hand-crafted memorial marker in Lone Fir Cemetery.

https://lagottocattleya.wordpress.com/2019/03/23/lens-artists-photo-challenge-38-weathered-or-worn/

Posted in aging, Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, nature, pacific northwest, photography | Tagged Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Long Beach WA - USA, nature, pacific northwest, photography | 10 Comments

~ Wordless Wednesday ~

Posted on March 27, 2019 by Lindy Le Coq

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Posted in nature, pacific ocean, photography, Wordless Wednesday | Tagged Long Beach WA - USA, nature, pacific ocean, photography, Wordless Wednesday | 2 Comments

~ Al Young ~ Portland Roadster Show 2019 ~

Posted on March 25, 2019 by Lindy Le Coq

Recently I enjoyed a couple afternoon hours with Al Young at the Portland Roadster Show. Al has been a friend since our undergraduate years at the University of Washington. When Creighton and I met, both he and Al resided in The French House of McMahon Hall. Creighton was Al’s tutor for French. I remember one time hearing Al appealing to Creighton: “Man, I need your help here – please!!! I just have to pass this one class and I’ll be done with foreign language!” What a fun, thoughtful and insightful person he was then and continues to be. His story is compelling and one I encourage you to read (see link below).

Al with his 1973 Plymouth Roadrunner

Since the first 8,000 mile cross-country USA road-trip with his wife Vicki in 2011, they have toured Europe three times, attending the Power Big Meet, where he was awarded first-place trophy for longest distance traveled at The Power Big Meet in Vasteras, Sweden, 2014.

“Over decades of competition, Al raced his Challenger at speeds over 150 miles per hour, winning everything from state championships to thousands of dollars as a three-time world champion of Hot Rod Racing. His titles include the American Hot Rod Association World Champion, the National Hot Rod Association Division Champion, and American Hot Rod Association World Finals Champion.”

“Al Young retired from competitive racing in 2003 and donated his racecar to the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle. The lime-green car presides over the museum lobby and displays the decals of Al’s many supporters, a dense pattern of stickers reminiscent of the colorful patchwork of paint on Al’s first Mercury. Al paid $1,100 for his Challenger, in 1975. Today, it is worth $600,000.”

https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-challenger-the-al-young-story/book_segments/chapter-1-68

Posted in pacific northwest, photography, travel | Tagged al young, drag racing | Leave a comment

~ Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Shadows ~

Posted on March 23, 2019 by Lindy Le Coq

On our last visit to Long Beach, on a cold morning the frosty edges of wave-rippled sand intrigued me. In a way they looked like sparkling feathers, so I took several photos to try to capture the sensation. Here are three with nice shadows for this week’s fun foto challenge!

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Posted in Cee's Fun Foto Challenge, nature, pacific ocean, photography | Tagged Cee's Fun Foto Challenge, dune runes, Long Beach WA - USA, nature, photography, shadows | 2 Comments

~ Lens-Artist Photo Challenge #37: History ~

Posted on March 23, 2019 by Lindy Le Coq

The mouth of the Columbia River, as it flows into the Pacific Ocean, has been claimed to be discovered ‘for the first time’ by many explorers.

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Jello walked me around – her nose to the ground – my camera in hand.

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Battery 246 was intended to form a “triangle of fire” with similar batteries at Fort Canby in Ilwaco, and Fort Stevens near Astoria. After the end of WWII, they were declared surplus. What once was high tech, is old tech – History!

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