Signs John Likes [and more]

Skywatch

From the archives ...

A Rocky Mountain sunrise

More recently, within the last week, ...

Seattle city-view sunset
Small dot right in the center is crescent moon

Be sure to check out Skywatch Friday.

Weekend reflections ...

Digging through the archives for reflections, we found the two photos below.  Snapped while driving through a small mountain town in Montana, the scene is reflected in the hood of the car.  Hadn't noticed this before and hope it qualifies for entry in Weekend Reflections! :-)

Be sure to check out Weekend Reflections for more reflection photos.

Signs John Likes

John says:

Since my earliest days of interest in photography (not exactly the dark ages, but pretty close) I've enjoyed snapping a photo of unusual or interesting signs.  I haven't taken it to the extreme of trying to actually find signs worthy of a picture, but rather just snap a photo when the camera is along and the sign captured my attention.

Here is my earliest one, from a Texas back road at a railroad crossing.  Unusually candid:  If it's a tie, you lose.

Since I love trains, I'm always on the alert for railroad crossing signs.  Have you ever seen one with the tracks shown like this? Maybe back in those days the workers at the sign shop had a little more time on their hands.

(Can't really remember, but think it may be at the same RR crossing as the first sign, and was a replacement for the older one that was getting pretty weathered.)

More vintage:  Do you read this "Slow Trucks" ... or "Slow, Trucks ..."?  Either way, watch out for the "explosive"!!!!

Somewhere, way back there, I came across a list of "Prohibited Items" posted on a chain link fence.  Seems comprehensive, but recall being amused by "camera OR film" ... well, how dangerous is film without a camera? Also, they were concerned about matches, but not just any matches ... the "strike anywhere" kind could get you in trouble.

Here's a list of "don'ts" ... again, it seems to cover quite a lot.  You will have to look at the large view to appreciate these, but how about that "no loud or rowdy activity"?  Wow, where's the number to call the cops?

In more recent years, I spotted the next sigh in the Treasure State (Montana) where I guess you have to understand these things.

What happens if it starts raining when you're half way down this road?

Even more recently, this sign in downtown Seattle amused me.  How kind of us, as taxpayers, to reserve parking spaces for foreign organization licensed vehicles.  This is what I call treating visitors right!  Does your city do this?

Lastly, a sign or maybe not ... it doesn't have any words on it ... but it's Seattle, after all ...

Thanks for stopping by John's Island!  Your comments often lead me to a new and interesting blog, so thanks in advance!

Dahlias! [Part 5]

If this is your first visit to John's Island we are continuing our January feature:  The dahlias of last summer.  These flowers were all in the Volunteer Park (Seattle) Dahlia Garden maintained by the Puget Sound Dahlia Association (in an earlier post incorrectly referred to as the "Northwest" Dahlia Association -- sorry about that).

Flower names are on labels on stakes as you can see.
This one is a "Kenora Wow"

John likes the color variation in this one.

"Snowflake" with busy bees.

"Snowflake" without the bees.

A "Camby Centennial"

The lighter colors are harder to capture.  This exposure is pretty close.

One of John's favorites: "Sean C"

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Frosty morning at Green Lake

A frosty, but pretty, morning today at Green Lake, Seattle, Washington.  27F at the time the video was made.

You know it's cold in Seattle when a thin sheet of ice forms on even a small part of the lake ...

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Dahlias! [Part 4] and more ...

Before we get to our January feature (the dahlias of last summer) here are a couple of more recent views. First for our friends at Weekend Reflections we couldn't resist the next photo.  Snapped while walking around Green Lake, within the last week, it really seemed impossible to tell where the real tree stops and the reflection in the lake starts.  Can you tell?

Then, on another day, we were looking at what might be another John's Island profile picture.  Compare our bare "winterness" to last summer's glory (posted August 18th) ...

And, as for our friends at Skywatch Friday today's sky:  As you can see, it's another blue-sky morning in Seattle.  The view is from our window and, in the next picture, an enlargement of the snow-capped Olympic Mountains in the distance to the west.  Yes, it is chilly out there!

Dahlias! [Part 4] 

This seems like a great time to enjoy archived photos from last summer.  Continuing our pictures taken at the Northwest Dahlia Association garden in Volunteer Park ... Thanks to all for stopping by John's Island and we really appreciate all the kind comments!

"Kari Fruit Salad"

"Aipen Matthew"

"Raeann's fun"

Dahlias! [Part 3]

Continuing our January feature:  the dahlias of last summer.  Starting below with an overview of the dahlia garden.  The next photos were taken on August 8th.  Lastly, another overview of the garden.

The garden is located so as to be shaded in parts of the day.

The bees are often at work on the dahlias.

Delicate coloring on tips of each petal.

The petals will "unroll" in a day or two.

Red-ish colors are often seen in dahlias.

One of the brighter reds.

Fresh

Don't miss the green bug

Warm and not so

For the warm ...

Dahlias! [Part 2] 

Continuing to feature our photos from visits to the Dahlia garden last summer ... the types of Dahlia are identified with labels on stakes for those who are curious. The next few photos:  Tacoma Eli

Up next:  a Weston Pirate ...

And for the not so warm ...

More recent photos (since January 1) ...

A red-winged blackbird at Green Lake seemed to not mind us stopping nearby.

In the next photo the reflections are the thing ... and does this feel as cold as it was?  (About 30 F)  Be sure to check out Weekend Reflections for more reflection photography.  To all my friends on Weekend Reflections:  Hope you will follow John's Island for my non-reflection posts.

We've had some cold, but really blue-sky days since the beginning of the year.  Not to worry, our rain and milder temps are back today.  Be sure to check out Skywatch Friday for more sky photos.  To all my friends on Skywatch Friday:  Hope you will follow John's Island for my non-sky posts.

Thanks to all for stopping by John's Island and have a great weekend.