Goodbye 2018

Screen Capture - First Post
December 28, 2010

Eight years ago, on December 28, 2010, I published the first post on John's Island. Blogging friends, do you ever go back and look at your first post? Perhaps I'm just easily entertained, but honestly, I find it fascinating to be able to so easily go back and look at what's happened over 8 years in a (fairly) organized way. Without really intending to do so I think I've organized my photography and life events in a way that has exceeded my expectations back at the start. Several of you out there have been with me for a long time and I thank you for all your supportive comments.

2018 Reflections

IMO Best Photo of Year not Previously Shared
Grand Tetons at Sunrise
Series of photos combined for Panorama
July 12  5:00 AM
Taken from Jackson Lake Lodge, Wyoming
[Click on images for a larger view]

January 3rd

Colorful sunset to start the year.
4:24 PM

January 11th

Watching ships come and go all year long
at Seattle, Washington, USA

April 20th

Bulk carrier at anchor before sunrise.
4:25 AM

May 3rd

Visit to Alcatraz
Hard to find a better word than "amazing"
10:44 AM

May 14th

Great Falls of the Yellowstone
Great visit to YNP before the crowds arrived!

May 20th

Flowers blooming everywhere.
Love flower pictures!

May 27th

Glad I'm an early riser on mornings like this.
Moonset over Puget Sound
4:38 AM

June 9th

Watched Justify win the 150th running of the Belmont Stakes --
Can't forget this moment.
Bringing the horses to the paddock.
Look at the crowd in this screen shot.
No, they are not saluting ... they are holding up their
phones to video the event.
Gotta luv it!

June 16th

Won't forget the little kid's face.
Enjoyed the Magnolia Farmer's Market all summer.

July 27th

Watched cruise ships come and go all summer.
This one is Royal Caribbean's
Explorer of the Seas
with full moon above
5:28  AM

Aug 7th

Loved seeing arrival of Peace Boat
despite the orange light from smoke filtered sun.
6:12  AM

August 9th

Wildfires are choaking Seattle and the Northwest
Sun setting into Olympic Mountains  8:16  PM

October 11th

Clear air is back!
Colorful sunset  6:21 PM

October 17th

Visiting Vancouver, BC
Gorgeous fall afternoon.
Vancouver Harbour
12:18 PM
(Yes, Vancouver is more beautiful than Seattle!)

October 23rd

Visiting San Francisco and stopping at famous
Boudin Bakery to snap this pic.
Can you believe this critter?

December 30th

Last sky photo for this year.
Storm yesterday left fresh snow on the Olympics.
Beautiful view  with clouds in valleys.
Looking west over Puget Sound.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island. See you next year!

Merry Christmas

December 23, 2018  10:14 AM
Looking west from Seattle to the Olympic Mountains

While looking through my postcard collection for a card to share this holiday, suddenly the clouds to the west parted and the morning sun brightened the fresh snow on the Olympic Mountains. I thought ... maybe I can make my own post card and that is what you see above.

After snapping the photo, I continued looking for a paper card and the one I found is shown below. It's pretty old ... probably early 1900s. Hope you have a fine celebration be it Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa.

A Merry Christmas
Postcard from early 1900s

Back of the card.

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Cold December Sunrise

Welcome to John's Island. This is post #44 for 2018 and maybe I'll get in a couple more before it's all over. In reflecting on 2018 I tried to come up with one word that would describe it and settled on "unbelieveable". According to the dictionary, the word means "not able to be believed; unlikely to be true". Well, here's my thought process on that ... Looking back to the years when I was just a kid (yes, a few decades ago) I didn't really believe Dick Tracy's Wrist Radio would be reality during my life. The Apple Watch is reality. I could not have imagined driving around with a little device that would tell me exactly how to get somewhere and how long it would take. Nor that the same little device would let me carry around the answer to almost any question in my pocket. I could go on and on all the way to the state of civility in this world, but I think you know what I'm saying. So, how about it ... is "unbelieveable" a good word for 2018? I hope you'll let me know in the comments and thank you!

Mostly Skies

Seattle from Kerry Park
Cold, mostly clear, December 6th  7:49 AM
Always happy to link up with Skywatch Friday
and thanks to Alan for hosting!

Braving the cold for photos December 6th at Kerry Park.
No, this is not a selfie! :-)
I do admire the camera gear.
However, I wonder how much better their pics turn out
than my little Canon Powershot sx730 used here.

Elliott Bay Marina, Puget Sound, Olympic Mountains
Nearly sunset, December 5th

Cold afternoon sun over Puget Sound
December 5th

November 6th  4:33 PM

November 29th  4:26 PM
Unusual, to say the least.

What a difference a day makes ... next two photos ...

December 2nd  4:17 PM

December 3rd  4:15 PM

December 1st  7:53 AM

Coast Guard Cutter Haley

November 30th  10:33 AM
See the Cutter's Facebook post (screen shot below).

Healy home after 4 months away.

Love the Healy's Logo

 Winter Solstice Soon

The older I get, the more fascinated I am with the seasons. On my wish list ... Visit Stonehenge. However, the Stonehenge Solstice Festival looks pretty crowded ... see last photo below.

Stonehenge
(By garethwiscombe
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13278936)

Solstice in Seattle will be next Friday ... and thank you timeanddate.com for the info.

https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/winter-solstice.html

Stonehenge Solstice Festival Dec 22nd 2015
via UK Express

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Ships and Skies - November 2018

Welcome to John's Island
All pics in this post taken from home ... Seattle, WA, USA

November 17th  4:26 PM
[Please click on images for larger view.]

November 17th  4:26 PM
(Seconds later than first photo.)
As the sun sets it is reflected in windows of homes
across the Interbay Valley appearing almost like fire.

November 11th  7:49 AM
Visiting for a few days and docked at Pier 91
National Geographic's Venture
Preparing to head south for the winter.

Zoomed in ... National Geographic Venture
I may have found my next adventure.

November 7th  7:20 AM
A most unusual overnight snow in the Olympic Mountains
coated Mount Olympus but not the closer mountains.
Mount Olympus - Washington

From home ... normally difficult to distinguish at this
distance ... Mount Olympus clearly defined by snow.

November 6th  4:57 PM
Just after sunset Mersk Cargo Vessel arriving in Port.
In this photo I like the lights along the top edge of the hull.

November 11th  7:19 AM
Early morning fog had just cleared.
MS Shanghai Express
Docking this vessel must be a challenge.

November 22nd  8:17 AM
Hamburg Süd - Cap Jervis departing in the early morning sun.
Hamburg Süd Shipping Website

November 25th  8:07 AM
Evergreen Cargo Vessel
and
The Victoria Clipper
both northbound in Puget Sound.
Note the fog in valley on other side of Bainbridge Island.
Mostly sunny skies, about 40F.

November 8th  4:36 PM
Special treat ... Sun Pillar

November 8th  4:45 PM
Always happy to link up with
Skywatch Friday

November 2nd  9:23 AM
Unusually bright and wide rainbow over
Puget Sound.
Lucky boat at rainbow's end?

November 18th  5:11 PM
** Happy Holidays from Expedia Construction Team **
Expedia Announces Move to Seattle in 2020
(The new Headquarters Campus will be right below me.
Views will be changed, but hopefully not water views.)

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.
Postscript: This year, for the first time in 55 years, on November 22, I did not hear, see, or think anything about John F. Kennedy. Amazing!