Here we go again

January 2025

Books

Bob King's Magnificent Aurora is one of the most 
beautiful and informative books I've seen in a long time.
I purchased my copy direct from the publisher: Sky and Telscope
As far as I know, the book is not available in a digital version.
Link for more info or to order.

A new Coloring Book

On my recent West Coast Adventure, described in my 3 blog posts last October, my BIL (Brother-In-Law) was along and introduced me to a delightful adult drawing book printed in Japan. The book consists of postcards and gives an example of a completed drawing on one card, with another of the same image that needs to be colored in. Link for more info about Daiso Products.

Cover

Example of inside page.
The left side is a completed image
on a postcard size of paper.
The right side is for you to 
color in! And send!

All you need  ... Color pencils and time.
This is fun!

History - Postcard Folder

As most of you will know, I collect old railroad memorabilia. Some of my favorite things are the postcards published by the railroads in the early 1900s to entice travelers to take the train on their next adventure. What you see below is an unused folder featuring scenes on the Great Northern Railway which provided service from Chicago to Seattle and is referred to as one of the first transcontinental lines.

Scenes on Great Northern Railway
From the Oriental Limited
Chicago - Seattle early 1900s

Combine Harvester in the Grain Fields
Big Bend Country, Washington

Harvesting Grain in the Red River Valley

Passenger Train in the Cascade Mountains
of Washington

Oriental Limited Emerging from
Cascade Tunnel on Great Northern Railway

Oriental Limited through the Cascades, Wash.

Trout Fishing on the Skykomish River,
Washington. On line of the G. N. Railway

Washington Log and Loggers.

Totem Pole, Pioneer Square,
Seattle, Washington

Mount Tacoma and Part of City of Tacoma, Wash.
(Printed BEFORE renamed Mt Rainier!)

27 Wenatchee, Washington Apples

Power Station, Tumwater Canyon, Wash.

Wenatchee, Wash. fruit orchard in bloom.

Kootenai Falls, Montana

Falls, Spokane River, Spokane, Wash.

Wheat raised by Irrigation in Montana

Hotel at Belton, Montana
Entrance to Glacier National Park

Steam Breaking in Montana

Back Cover of the Folder
The Great Northern Oriental Limited
on Sea Wall between Everett and Seattle, Wash.

Swindoll Quote

I happened to find this on another blog where the person used it as their profile statement. Although it doesn't say anything about the blogger, it sure is a powerful statement and one I thought worth sharing.

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our Attitudes." Charles R. Swindoll

Ships

As usual, I have a few pics of ships to share. I love watching the ships come and go in the Port of Seattle.

The early morning fog had just lifted and the sun
was lighting up this container ship nicely.

A Foss Tug on a windy/rough afternoon.
Wonder what the Captain thinks on a day like this.

Skies

Waxing crescent moon with Venus bright below
and to the right.

Clearing sky overhead but clouds to the west
created an unusally colorful sunset.

Birds

Thanks to my SIL (Sister-in-Law 😊) I just discovered SWANRISE which is an event north of Seattle. A company called Skagit Land Trust puts together tours to see Trumpter Swans who spend the winter in our area. The tours go out in the morning to watch the birds wake up and take off for the day. In the evening tours watch the birds return to Barney Lake where they spend the night. All of this year's tours are sold out, but I plan to get on the list early next fall. 

Link for more information.

A good source of info is Cornell Lab

Love birds? Check out 
Saturday's Critters!

Range Map for Trumpter Swans
provided by Birds of the World
at Cornell Lab

My first picture of one of my hummers
visiting the feeder. I never get tired of
these little birds.

Progress

This is what progress sounds like ... click the video below. The activity is going on at Pier 90 right along the Waterfront Trail I've posted about. What they are doing is driving piles into the ground to provide for new construction at the Pier. City leaders tell us this may take the better part of a year. We will see. The video is probably longer than you'll want to listen. The first two images show you the scene. The large crane is one of the largest marine cranes I've ever seen.

Pile Driving at Pier 90

The whole process for the crane to pick up a pile and
drive it deep into the soil takes almost 2 hours.

Thanks for stopping by and have a good rest of January!

Winter Wishes

It's Winter again.

My end-of-the-year gallimaufry of images celebrating the Winter Solstice and the holiday season.

Holiday greetings
to all of you!

Skies 🌝

Full Cold Moon - Dec 14 2024 7:55PM
Last Full Moon of the year.

At Latitude 47N Winters can be dark.
One of the earliest sunsets of the year,
December 18th 4:15PM.
Amazing cloud reflections.

They say Montana is Big Sky Country -
But this Washington sky is pretty BIG.
For scale, the tops of the mountain range in
the lower right ... 43 miles away.
[Be sure to click on images for better view.]

Vintage Holiday Card ... 📪

A favorite from my Postcard Collection.
I featured this card in my December 2014 post.
Still a favorite, so wanted to send it to you again.
Wow ... 10 years has flown by!

Address side of the postcard.
Postmarked 1907 ... stamp is missing.
Mailed 117 years ago!

As of 2023, about 10 trillion images were stored online via cloud storage and other media platforms. Thanks to Google we can find a 1907 stamp. 

A one cent stamp, 1907.

Extended Flower Joy  🌺

Ok, here is the story. I love fresh cut flowers. In the image above, on the left, you'll see fresh Gerbera Daisies purchased on a Monday. On the right, same flowers on Friday. A couple are drooping, but I don't want to toss them out. Found an ice cream dish, added a little water, and positioned the Daisy on top. Easy to move around and add a little color to any part of the room. I don't think I'm unique in doing this sort of thing, but thought it worth sharing. 

Holiday Decorations  🎄

A home in my neighborhood. (Not mine ☺)
I like decorations when they are done tastefully.
These neighbors did it perfectly.

Many of the sailboats in the Marina
have lights on their mast.
Can you imagine living on a sailboat?

Ships  ⛴

Sometimes the light and clear air give me a good 
opportunity to capture one of our State Ferries.
This Ferry sails between Seattle
and Bainbridge Island.

Despite the ship moving to the north, the wind
was so strong, engine smoke is also blowing north.
(In this image north is to the right.)
You know it's rough when you see the white caps.

Birds  🐦

Reposting 3 of my favorite hummingbird captures ...

My favorite Hummer at Sunset
[First posted in 2023]

👉 Critter lovers check out Saturday's Critters 👈

Here's lookin' at ya
[First posted in 2023]

More Hummers at Sunset
[First posted in 2023]

Closing thoughts by Nat King Cole ...

Thanks for stopping by and best wishes for the holidays.

                         John