December Holidays

To: You    From: John
From our postcard collection ...
A vintage card from early 1900s
Artist unknown.

Back of the unused card.
Note: One cent domestic postage,
"Foreign" two cents.
[Please click on images to get a larger view]

More December holidays postcards at Maria's Postcards for the Weekend. Take a look ... there are some neat ones! Thanks to Maria for hosting.

Oh Boy!

Not a postcard but a "first day of issue" for the
Electric Toy Trains 32 cent stamp May 28th 1998
[Reminds me of a Christmas way before '98]

Closer look at the Electric Toy Trains stamp.

Sky Watch

December 10th  4:10 PM
Maybe some of the orange is due to smoke from California fires.
On the right:  A Washington State Ferry enroute to Bainbridge Island
from Seattle.

December 10th  4:13 PM
Just a couple of minutes later than previous shot.
Tiny speck is a tug ... gives some scale to the scene.
Note: Contrail shadows on cloud layer above.

Check out more sky photos at Skywatch Friday. Thanks to Yogi for hosting!

December 13th  4:15 PM
Just about the moment of sunset.
Be sure to note the dark cloud at center.

December 13th  4:30 PM
After the previous photo ...
Just enough later for the sun to light up the clouds.

And a Happy New Year ... 

Yes, this is our old music box, and, yes, we've shared this before, and, yes, we wish you a very Happy New Year.  All the best to you in 2018!

TO: All

Thanks for stopping by John's Island. This will be our last post for 2017. See you again in 2018 as we begin our 8th year. A BIG Thank You to all who have visited and each one who has left me a kind comment! Best wishes of the season and a Happy New Year!

John

Tree - Ships - Skies - Postcards

One word: Resolute
[Please click on images for larger view.]

In last week's post we showed you some pictures from our recent visit to Canon Beach, Oregon. Thank you for all the kind words about those photos! The pic above is one we didn't share last week. Actually, this one is one of our favorites from that group. This is an old tree at Ecola State Park right at the crest of a hill along the beach.  If you walked forward, in this photo, right past the tree, the trail (if it existed, which it doesn't) would go right down to the Pacific Ocean. The prevailing winds from the ocean have shaped this tree. To us it seems to suggest resolution.

Ship Watch

By way of explanation, for new visitors, our place in Seattle allows a view of ship traffic in and out of the Port of Seattle, Washington, USA. We enjoy snapping pictures of these ships and sharing the photos here on the blog.

December 7th  4:27 PM
A Matson Container ship arriving just about 15
minutes after a beautiful sunset. 

December 10th  10:01 AM
Atlas Bulk Carrier departing today for
Tomakomai, Japan  ETA: Dec 25th
What's inside? Probably grain.

December 10th  10:38 AM
USS Nimitz - CVN-68 Nuclear-powered Multimission Aircraft Carrier
"THE NAVY'S OLDEST AND FINEST AIRCRAFT CARRIER"
The Nimitz arrived Naval Base Kitsap today after a 6-month deployment.
In the photo, the ship is about 3 miles from our window!
Note the tiny sailboat for some scale.

Sky Watch

All of the sky photos below were taken from our place looking out over Puget Sound.

Stormy afternoon.
December 1st  3:42 PM

Enjoy more sky photos at Skywatch Friday. Thanks to Yogi for hosting!

Panorama - Olympic Mountain Range from Seattle
December 7th  4:58 PM
About 45 minutes after sunset.
Very clear air.

Very smoky air from California fires.
December 9th  3:53 PM

December 4th  4:09 PM
Ten minutes before "official" sunset time.
This is about as far south on the western horizon
as the sun will set as we near winter solstice.

Postcards

This weekend Maria's Postcards for the Weekend link-up theme is "Museum/University." Those of us who collect postcards are to dig through our collection and find some cards to share that match the theme. Those of you who have followed us for a while will know that a large part of our postcard collection is related to Yellowstone National Park. So, sure enough, we found a card showing the Museum at Mammoth Hot Springs. Thanks to Maria for hosting the link-up.

Mammoth Hot Springs Museum
Photo by Haynes, Official Photographer

Back of the unused card
Note:  One cent postage required.
The current rate in 2017 is 34 cents.

Description enlarged.

Closing thought ...
     Ninety percent of this game is half mental.
     Yogi Berra

Canon Beach - Skies - Postcards

Canon Beach, Oregon

We spent a couple of days on the Oregon Coast. Here are some pics from that trip ...

Looking South from the lodge on the beach.
Canon Beach, Oregon

Looking North from the lodge.

Iconic Haystack Rock
Yes, that's a person, below and with a yellow jacket.

View of Haystack from the beach,
looking to the North.

Way down the beach, looking North,
yes, shadow is mine. :-)

More info about Canon Beach.

Keeping the lawn clipped at the lodge

More critters to enjoy at Saturday's Critters. Thanks to Eileen for hosting.

This guy wasn't afraid at all!

Looking South along the beach from Ecola State Park

From Ecola State Park, looking South
Coast Range mountains to the left.
Haystack way down there.

Ecola Park picnic area.
Looking to the West and out to the Pacific
Next land ... Japan?

Driving out of Ecola Park
Sunbeams breaking through after a heavy rain.

Sky Watch 

Not our usual view of the Olympic Mountains
but one from Camano Island, north of Seattle.
November 18th  5:41 PM

Olympic Mountains from Seattle
Clouds breaking before sunset
November 7th  4:35 PM

More sky photos to enjoy at Skywatch Friday. Thanks to Yogi for hosting.

Ship traffic in Puget Sound
Two Brothers Mountain in the distance.
November 7th  4:36 PM

November 10th  4:34 PM
Sunset over the Sound

A Postcard for the Weekend

We've been thinking about a postcard to include in this post for Maria's Postcards for the Weekend. Thanks to Maria for hosting. This week the theme is "Anything you wish." The card we are sharing is a very old one: Rain in the Face, Sioux Warchief. Here is part of what Wiki has to say about him:  "Rain-in-the-Face (c. 1835 – September 15, 1905) was a Warchief of the Lakota tribe of Native Americans. His mother was a Dakota related to the band of famous Chief Inkpaduta." Biography is here.

Rain in the Face
Sioux Warchief
Copyright 1904 by F A Rinehart

Back of the unused card.

Thanks for stopping by John's Island!