Friday, December 28, 2012

We are Two!



Yes, today we celebrate our 2nd birthday here on John's Island.  Two years of blogging and it has been a lot of fun.  We take this opportunity to thank all our followers and especially those who have given us the kind comments!

Our 5 most popular posts so far (by number of page views) ....

Back Trackin' to Fort Worth



Geyserland



Four Days at Sea



Yellowstone Invitation



Port Stop Hilo, Hawaii



Thursday, December 20, 2012

Season's Greetings from John's Island


We caught a fleeting glimpse of Santa and Mrs. Claus thanks to Gregg's Cycle shop in a classic old Seattle neighborhood.  We are not sure if Santa is giving us a left-handed salute or perhaps that the whole thing is giving him a headache.  Either way, it is sure nice to see them together and Mrs. Claus with such a nice smile. This spotting reminded us to pass along Season's Greetings from John's Island.  Wishing you and your family the best for the holidays.

We will leave you with a memorable 2008 mountain sunrise from our archives.  The scene is in the Madison Valley of Montana. Not exactly the middle-of-nowhere, but pretty close. Thanks for stopping by John's Island.


Monday, December 17, 2012

Glacier Park Handcolored Art Views


Heavens Peak

If you had traveled to Glacier National Park about 90 years ago you might have stopped at the gift shop in the Lodge and picked up a little something to help you remember your trip.  Perhaps it would have been this little playing-card sized box of Handcolored Art Views of the Park. The little 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 cards, offered in a slip-cover box, are called "handcolored" because this was before color photography.  Black and white photos were taken and then hand colored by artists.  And, of course, it would be nice to pick up "half a hundred" of the cards for only $1.00.




Here at John's Island we collect this sort of memorabilia.  We are especially interested in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.  This time of year when we are inside we like to go through and enjoy some of these things in the collection.  These little cards were produced by T. J. Hileman, who was the Official Photographer of Glacier National Park and you can read more about him here.

Baring Falls

Bear Grass on Iceberg Lake Trail

Cut Bank Chalets and River

Garden Wall and Valley

Glacier Park Hotel

Going-to-the-Sun Mountain

Grinnell Lake and Glacier

Josephine Lake and Gould Mountain

Lake Ellen Wilson from Gunsight Pass

Lake St Mary below Narrows

Lobby Glacier Park Hotel

Lobby Many Glacier Hotel

Many Glacier Hotel

Morning Eagle Falls

Mt Rockwell

Ptarmigan Lake

South from Granite Park

Sunset McDermott Lake

Swift Current Glacier and Trail

Switchbacks Swift Current Trail

Tourists at Many Glacier Hotel

Trick Falls

Twin Falls

Two Medicine Chalets

Two Medicine Lake from Chalets

Two Medicine Lake
As you were looking at the cards you may have noticed some deterioration.  They are, after all, somewhere around 90 years old. In several ways they can actually be enjoyed more now looking at them online. For example, they are enlarged here about 3x and it is easy to click through them. Thank you for stopping by John's Island. We welcome and appreciate your kind comments.  

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Friday, December 14, 2012

Pathway of Lights 2012

Join John on a walk around Green Lake's Pathway of Lights, December, 2012.  The Seattle Parks Department and the Green Lake Community do a wonderful job of putting this together. The walk around the lake is almost 3 miles and the entire trail is illuminated.









John thought about Skywatch Friday when snapping this one.
If you were watching the sky this night, you saw little blue lights floating around
up in the sky. In this photo they look like stars.

Holiday Wizards playing classical music.

Joyful sounds included.

Don't miss the smoke trails from lights in the sky


More joyful sounds

John thought these last two shots would qualify for
Weekend Reflections


Thanks for stopping by John's Island and a good weekend to all!

For Critter Friends

  A Post for My Critter Friends Have you discovered the trove of treasures within YouTube? In my journey of exploration through the digita...