In our last post the spotlight was on vintage postcards from Yellowstone National Park featuring the Roosevelt Entrance Arch. The arch appeared in many images in addition to postcards, for example, the menu cover shown below. This was a menu used in the dining car on the Northern Pacific Railroad around 1915. If you missed our last post, please take a look here to get the background story on the Roosevelt Entrance Arch.
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| Yellowstone National Park Thru Gardiner Gateway Northern Pacific Railroad Dining Car Menu Cover ca. 1915 |
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| Story of the Park inside the menu. |
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| Back of the menu featured the famous Northern Pacific Great Big Baked Potato and a place to add an address to mail to a friend. |
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| How long has it been since you've seen a menu that the restaurant will stamp and mail for you? |
Postcards
"Sunrise/Sunset" is the theme this week at Postcards for the Weekend. You won't be surprised at the card we selected to share. Sky View Observatory is atop the tallest building in Seattle and the photo was probably taken a few minutes after sunset. Check out the link up for more sunrise/sunset postcards and thanks to Maria for hosting!
Eagle Watch
These photos are not going to win any awards. But here's the story ... There are a couple of eagles living right here in the neighborhood. They have been here now for at least two years and can be seen flying around anytime of day. On this particular occasion they landed in a tree about 150 yards from my window. The first two shots show the larger bird watching the other bird, in the third photo, as that one seems to be enjoying a nice lunch. It's rare to have the opportunity to snap a picture of them as they are rarely stopped anywhere long enough to get the camera ready for action. These birds seem to be doing just fine right here on the edge of a large metropolitan area.
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| Lunch time. |
Sky Watch
Photos of the sky taken from my place in Seattle.
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| Panorama of the Olympic Mountains just after sunrise. March 9th 6:42 AM |
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| Colorful early morning light on the clouds. March 11th 7:32 AM |
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| On the right side: Snow falling on Bainbridge Island On the left: Partly sunny in the distance. Title: Snowfall from a distance? March 5th 5:47 PM |
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| Sunset over Eagle Harbor March 6th 5:54 PM |
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| Sunset, the Olympic Mountains, and Elliott Bay Marina at bottom. March 10th 6:12 PM |
The next two photos are nearly identical and only a few minutes apart but I like the difference. I'm curious which one you like the best ... the first one with the little boat and its wake, or, the second one, with the still waters?
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| March 10th 6:18 PM |
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| March 10th 6:20 PM |
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| March 16th 6:57 PM Two giant anvil clouds forming sort of an arch and sun setting in between. Curiosity: Most of the rest of the sky was clear. This is zoomed out as far as we could go. Hard to say how far to the clouds ... 20 miles? |
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| March 16th 6:57 PM Zoomed in. |
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| March 16th 7:20 PM Glowing embers? |
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| Nice and sunny up on Two Brothers peak. Layers of clouds below. March 18th 7:23 AM |
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| A few minutes later. March 18th 7:28 AM |
See more sky photos at Skywatch Friday. Thanks to Yogi for hosting!
And we can't pass up this sky spotting ... paragliding! These three are high over the Magnolia neighborhood and out over Puget Sound. Saturday afternoon, March 17th.
Ship Watch
Here's a big Cosco arriving March 11th and some other maritime activity. We enjoy watching ships come and go. Seattle/Tacoma ports combined are the largest international shipping facilities in the Pacific Northwest.
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| March 11th 1:07 PM COSCO Asia This is a giant ship ... our camera is about 2 miles away. |
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| Small boat pulling a spill containment berm. Seen when a ship has docked at the port and may be leaking fuel. (Unusual, thank goodness.) |
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| Bulk Carrier departing on March 13th 3:45 PM The best thing about this ship is the name ... Navios Harmony Sails under the flag of Panama |
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| OOCL Vancouver Arriving March 17th 12:11 PM OOCL = Orient Overseas Container Line Now you know! The thing I like about this photo is the sailboat which provides scale. |
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| Almost included this one in Sky Watch above. However, the Bainbridge - Seattle ferry is looking good this morning. To the right of the ferry is Eagle Harbor. I like the name! The taller peak, just right of center, is Mount Washington. March 18th 8:19 AM |
Walk
Photos from a recent walk. Just keeping track of some new blooms in the neighborhood.
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| Two buds and a bloom. March 10th |
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| Me and my shadow. March 10th |
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| The Power of One March 10th |
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| Purple Power March 10th |
Closing Thought ...
Most of us spend too much time on the last twenty-four hours and too little on the last six thousand years.
Will Durant
Thank you for stopping by John's Island.
Hello, John! Your eagles photos look great to me! Stunning collection of Skywatch and sunset captures. I love them all. You are ahead of us seeing blooms. It is too soon here. The paragliding shots are great, I would be scared to death to try it though. Thanks so much for linking up your post. I always appreciate your visits and comments. Happy Sunday, enjoy your day and new week ahead!
ReplyDeleteGood Morning John, well it looks like Spring has sprung in the Seattle area. It is so pretty over there in the Springtime. Great Eagle shots!
ReplyDeleteHave a sweet day,
Connie :)
Amazing eagle!
ReplyDelete"Most of us spend too much time on the last twenty-four hours and too little on the last six thousand years.
Will Durant"
Hmm...that means a lot to me right now. Things mean so much...less?...when we consider how long these things have been happening.
Well John,I can't begin to pick favourites in this post. The two you asked about, the second one is my pick, but all the others, all I can say is WOW! I love those Eagle shots.I would love to see them that close.The arch in the sky sunset is stunning.Those pictures send shivers up my spine.Love the mountain/sunset scenes and also the ships. This post is just so full of beauty.Thanks so much for sharing these photos. Hope you have an excellent week.
ReplyDeleteYou really knew what you wanted when you chose this place to live. You have awesome views of sea and sky right from your balcony!
ReplyDeleteLove those Eagles shots indeed! And you did witness magnificent sky!
ReplyDeleteOh, I love your skywatch
ReplyDeleteNo, your choice of postcard doesn't surprise me at all :D
ReplyDeleteHow lucky are you to have spotted those eagles!
What a wonderful blog post...so much to see and love. It does my heart good to see the wonderful west coast...the water, the mountains, the eagles! I spent most of my life just across the border in Beautiful British Columbia and, oh, how I miss the mountains and the ocean! I regularly follow posts from Hancock Wildlife, on the Canadian side of the international boundary. And BC has a fabulous wildlife (especially eagles) photographer named Christian Sasse. I think you'd enjoy looking into both. Meanwhile, I love your mountain photos. I used to live near the border myself, with a view of Mount Baker when it wasn't wearing a crown of clouds, and I'll never forget hearing Mount St. Helen's erupt!
ReplyDeleteKay
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel
Skies are beautiful, nice to see some pretty flowers and how exciting to have eagles in the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteI like the second picture with with still waters best.
John, I always enjoy your sky shots. So nice to see the Eagle. We have a few not too far from us. Always such a treat to see them.
ReplyDeleteYou cover so much here that I hope I remember most of it to comment. I love the eagle pictures; you are lucky to have them in residence. And I like the sunset picture with the boat and its wake the best. Oh, and the snowstorm from a distance, too! :-)
ReplyDeleteGorgeous sunset and eagles too. We've had a family of eagles living in a woods next to a pond about a quarter of a miles aware. Nice neighbors...:)
ReplyDeleteHi John...thank you for the lovely complimentary comment! I'm going to be watching for more fabulous photos from you.
ReplyDeleteKay
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous
Had a look at the arch in last weeks post and it is amazing to see, glad it is still there. Your sunsets from last and this week are always wonderful to look at.
ReplyDeleteI think I've received a similar SkyView Observatory postcard from you, John! You prompt me to get my collection organized, haha!
ReplyDeleteHello John, how many fine images, all delightful! Very nice the Eagle and the sky photos.
ReplyDeleteHave a pleasant day!