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Local Vistas

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I’m late. Lost a couple of days because we headed over to Dad’s to enjoy the low tides.

We live a block below the good views. Here is a random gallery of photos taken within walking distance of my house or my dad’s house, my two centers of orbit in response to last week’s lens artists challenge: Local Vistas.

One block up the hill from our house
Dramatic late afternoon from Dad’s deck.
Mount Rainier from the ferry.
Sunset from a couple of blocks east.
City view from a small park a couple of miles from our house.
City view from a small park a couple of miles from our house.
Creek at a nature preserve near Dad’s.
City view from Grandma’s nursing home parking lot.
Almost sunrise in winter from our front walkway.
Mount Olympus.
Mt. Olympus from a couple of blocks south of our place.
Winter sunset Colvos Passage.
Winter sunset from Dad’s.
Local vistas

To see any photo larger just click on it.

Black & White, Snapshots from a Happy Life

Early morning waves and rocks in black and white

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Early morning waves on Sandy Beach on Oahu
A big splash

Sandy Beach on Oahu really is sandy, but toward one end it has these interesting lava rocks. Watching the waves crash on the rocks is rather hypnotic. Even though the sunrise colors were very lovely I think black and white brings out the drama of the water.

For Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge: Rocks, Boulders, Stones, Lens-Artists Challenge: Water, and Brashley Photography’s Mid-week Monochrome.

I used a combination of the black and white tools built into the GIMP and Nik Collections Silver Effects Pro to create the images above.

Africa

Three Amazing Days

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Certainly one of the most memorable things in my life was a three day safari at Masai Mara National Park in Kenya. It was about ten years ago now but the memories have not faded. Words can’t describe being in such an awe inspiring place. I was there for only three days but…wow…I look back and have a hard time believing all of the amazing wildlife we saw.

Elephants and crowned cranes at a watering hole at Kichwa Tembo at Masai Mara in Kenya.
Watering hole.
A male lion in the grass.
Afternoon nap time.
Mother and baby elephant.
Baby looks so tiny, but it’s about the size of a normal adult human.
Mother leopard licking her cub.
Tender moment.
Two lepards in the grass.
Echo in the grass.
One year old leopard at Masai Mara.
The little one.
Three leopards, mom, two year old and one year old at Masai Mara.
Small, medium and large leopards.
Cubs playing while lionesses sleep.
“Nap” time.
Cheetah stretching after his afternoon nap.
Nothing like a good stretch.
Sleepy lion cub in a mass of sleeping littler mates.
Cheetah looking through the grass.
An al fresco champagne breakfast at Masai Mara in Kenya.
Best breakfast EVER!
Cape buffalo with bird accessories block a dirt road in Masai Mara through the window of our safari vehicle.
Traffic stop.
Lioness in the foreground and a group of elephants in the background.
African morning
A male lion during the morning golden hour.
Just out for a stroll.
Elephant at dawn.
A couple of hippos in the Mara River in Kenya.
The do look a bit like horses when they are in the water.
Family of crowned cranes at Masai Mara in Kenya.
Lilace Breasted Roller at Masai Mara in Kenya.
An opal of a bird.
Ostriches, Thompson's gazelles with a Topi just entering the frame.
Savannah mixer.
Topi at Masai Mara in Kenya.
Sleek and handsome.
Herd of giraffes at Masai Mara in kenya.
Watching us watching them.
Small plane arriving at an airstrip at Kichwa Tembo in Masai Mara.
Safari Link
Masai Mara Safari

For Len’s Artists Photo Challenge: Memorable Events, and Sunday Stills: Wildlife.

Picture Galleries, Snapshots from a Happy Life

Words and more

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Sometimes it’s a chat…

A shared laugh….

The universal language of music…

And sometimes something more…

A quick snarl from this lioness sent the cubs obediently off. I wish my kid had been so obedient…

My dog, Ginger (the smaller one, she belonged to my grandma at the time) and my Dad’s dog Sam (now deceased) were really good friends. One visit when Ginger espied Sam she raced off and they looked like they were hugging. I managed to grab a picture of them hugging on our arrival before they ran toward me to say hi to me.

For the Lens Artists’ Challenge: Communication.

home, Snapshots from a Happy Life

Everyday stuff

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My daily grind. Father-in-law made the lovely coffee grinder as a decorative piece (he did amazing woodwork) when we switched to the French Press we discovered that it worked better for getting the grind consistent than the electric one we had before.
Another form of daily grind: checking on social media.
I spend more time than I should on the daily crossword puzzles.
I don’t make bread everyday but the wooden spoon, a gift from a friend in Africa, the knife set, a wedding gift (has served us for over 34 years!) the bowl and pans are things I use most days.

For Lens Artists Photo Challenge: everyday objects.

Picture Galleries, Snapshots from a Happy Life

A search of memory lane

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I think I found a photo with everything on the list, plus a couple of the extra credit items.

A bicycle.
A church, York Minster.
Mountain landscape and waterfall, Myrtle Falls at Paradise on Mount Rainier.
Dog in an expressive portrait.
Bird, a great blue heron.
A double rainbow and a boat, near Punte Arenas.
An airplane at sunset, near Beijing Airport.
A musical instrument, sculpture in La Conner, Washington.
A hot spring in Kurobe Gorge, Japan.
A funny sign, at least it makes me smile…it is a “keep off the grass” sign in Weifang, Shandong Province, China.

For Lens Artist’s Challenge: Treasure Hunt.

  • Challenge Items: Sunrise and/or sunset, Something cold and/or hot, a bird, a dog, a funny sign, a bicycle, a seascape and/or mountain landscape, a rainbow, a church, a musical instrument, a boat, a plane, a waterfall
  • Extra Credit Items:  An expressive portrait of one or more people, a very unusual place, knitting or sewing, a fish, an animal you don’t normally see, a bucket, a hammer, a street performer, a double rainbow, multiple challenge items in a single image. My opening image, for example, includes a sunrise, a seascape and birds in a single shot. See how easy it is?! 😀
family, Random Reflections

Never blink…you might miss something

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My second niece graduated from high school last night. It seems impossible that she is an adult already, about to head off into the future…and feeling like all of our futures may well be better because of her.

One of my favorite things through the years has been spending time with my nieces. Here are some pictures from the recent graduate’s murky past, in no particular order.

Two girls and a heart shaped birthday cake decorated with berries and five candles.
A girl in a green shirt uses a turkey baster to carefully add red water in a science experiment.
An almost three year old proud of the tower she built with duplos.
A toddler wearing a large tee shirt with Australian animal footprints with a crown made of a ring of plastic beads.
A toddler holding a Duplo car and person beside a fanciful tower she built.
A toddler and young girl with an elderly man playing with Easter eggs.
A four year old surrounded by her parents prepares to blow out the candles on the cake she helped to bake.
A young girl sitting on the shoulders of a bearded man.
A three and six year old standing on either side of a space toy set up.
A toddler licking a beater covered with chocolate cake batter.
A toddler looking through binoculars. Her older sister is seriously working on a drawing.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge: Favorite Things