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| The Last Great Race Is Underway Check out the 2026 Iditarod The race got underway in Willow, Alaska, last Sunday. As of today, Saturday, March 14th, the lead musher has made it more than half way to Nome, Alaska, in the 975 mile (1569 km) race. |
Birds
I took an extended blog break between late last September and February 26.
Not blogging but still snapping photos and here are a few bird pics to share ...
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| I love the way the flash of color on one of my Anna's Hummingbirds matched the color of the leaves in a tree out front last fall. |
Linking up with my favorite critter-photo sharing site,
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| Canada Goose Conference Spotted on a waterfront walk. |
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| Watching the Eagles in the Big Bear Valley of California encouraged me to end my blog break in order to share this fascination. My previous 2 blog posts February 25 and March 5 have been documenting the Eagles as they are incubating 2 eggs in their nest. Nest activity is being streamed live 24/7 on YouTube. The screen capture above was taken on March 11 at 6:16AM PDT. Momma is sound asleep but ON DUTY! |
Ships
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| Just to set the scene, here is my ship watching view looking west over Elliott Bay and Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island and the Olympic Mountains in the distance. |
Here are a bunch of ship pics taken during my blog break ...
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| National Geographic Sea Lion departing Seattle on an 8-Day Expedition, October, 2025 |
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| Evergreen Container Ship on a sunny, fall afternoon. This ship is southbound enroute to Tacoma, Washington |
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| The Lady L yacht in Elliott Bay in October, 2025 If you had the $, would you buy a yacht? 😊 |
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| Argosy tourist vessel. These boats cruise around Elliott Bay, entertaining tourists and locals alike. |
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| OOCL Container Ship arrives in Seattle. The Orient Overseas Container Line is one of the world's largest shipping companies. I am surprised to see the rust! OOCL Company Profile |
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| Washington State Ferry enroute Seattle to Bremerton Alki Point (West Seattle) beyond. |
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| An MSC Container Ship with very small load departing Seattle ... Bainbridge Island in background. For scale, note the sailboat at the yellow arrow. (I know ... barely visible!) |
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| An Evergreen Container Ship with a full load of containers. Northbound to the Pacific Ocean. |
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| Coast Guard Cutter Storis Icebreaker #21 in Elliott Bay early November, 2025 |
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| Matson Container ship southbound to Tacoma with a very small load of containers. Small load due to tariffs??? |
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| SAFESEA Container ship with exceptionally small load departing Seattle mid-December, 2025 |
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| Unusual barge and tow vessel with a small number of containers probably bound for Alaska or a small port in Canada. |
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| Looking over the Marina to see an MSC Container ship with a good load of containers arriving in Seattle, February 10, 2026 |
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| US Coast Guard Cutter 87360 The "Blue Shark" - a Coastal Patrol Boat February, 2026 |
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| AIRSHIP Good Year N3A The Wingfoot Three Floating by in September, 2025 |
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| The Wingfoot Three heading north above northwest Seattle |
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| Another AIRSHIP Boeing 777X passing by -- probably headed to Boing Field, Seattle |
Thanks for stopping by! Be well and take care!
John
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Hello, John: I am sure you will appreciate that the conference of CANADA Geese was involved with issues of great moment. Actually, they are part of an advance guard we have sent to your part of the USA to formulate plans for Washington to become a Canadian province. Just think how great that’s going to be, with a maple leaf on your shirt and a leader who speaks in complete sentences. I bet you can hardly wait! All the best - David
ReplyDelete...would you buy a yacht? NO!!! John, I'm intrigued by all the ship that see, they all have a story to tell. It's great to have you back, be well.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're back. The ship pictures are really exciting, especially container ships from the other side of the continent from me. And pictures of places in and around Seattle I've heard of, never seen.
ReplyDeleteHello John,
ReplyDeleteI love your sweet Hummingbird photos photos, the falls leaves look pretty too. The Geese do look like they are having a meeting. I have been watching the Big bear Eagle cam too. Thank you for sharing that link too. Great captures of the ships, yacht, the airplane and the airship. I like the background views of the Elliott Bay and the mountains too. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a great weekend. PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.
Hi John, so nice to see you sharing your wonderful photos again--loved the ships, you are blessed to live in such a scenic part of the country. And so nice seeing that Good Year "airship"! :^)
ReplyDeleteWe tzook an Alaska Cruise through the inner passage in July. thta left from Seattle. On board the ship were a few former Ididerod racers who spoke to the passengers and showed photos of their sleds in the race, etc, as well as some new puppies being raised to race. It was all so interesting! I also love hummingbirds--when I lived in NYC I never sawe them but thye visit us here along the Colorado Fr ont range, as well as an occasional eagle.
ReplyDeleteHello John
ReplyDeleteLovely photographs on your post.
I enjoyed seeing the dogs, beautiful birds and various ships :)
All the best Jan
Thanks for starting to blog again. You need a good place to display photos.
ReplyDeleteNice to see a post from you and to see all the ships.
ReplyDeleteThe hummingbird photos are gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteHi John, great to see you back posting again! I really enjoyed the mix in this one. The hummingbird photo with the fall colors is beautiful. The ship shots are fascinating too.
ReplyDeleteI do love a Hummingbird, and this particular one is a new one to me, and shares the same name as my Mum.
ReplyDeleteDear John, I have cat Austin tucked under my right arm, so this reply is slow going. I can understand the disillusionment sometimes with blogging., and if you close down for good, I will mourn the empty space that will be left. I always look forward to reading your posts and also your comments.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the wonderful comment about the uniqueness of my blog. I work hard at creating that element, mostly by searching the clipart program available to me for many hours to download anything that speaks to me. Sometimes all it takes is one picture for me to write an entire story around it. Sometimes I will spend weeks thinking I'm washed up.
Since I reinvented my blog after 2016 to more about my garden and pets with the best quality of interesting photos I could produce with my Samsung Galaxy phone, I have never looked back. Trying to compete with the bird blogs and travel blogs is futile, so I gave up that notion. I more look for quality blogging bloggers to put into my world, and that is enough.
Since my blog is the creative side of me, and the project that gives me purpose, I think I will always be here, no matter how much I slow down. You're right about finding it difficult to sleep. It's my quality of life filled with neck pain, that I usually can manage, some days better than others. I try not to bog myself down thinking about that issue.
I'm writing a book here, so I'll close this. I can't get over the photo of that ship with the sailboat for comparison. What a difference. Your Hummingbird photos are so endearing. You have what it takes to make your blog whatever you wish it to be. Whatever you chose, I wish you all the happiness in the world. Always your friend, Yvonne. Big Hugs!
Yvonne, OMG, your comment almost brought me to tears. It is one of the kindest comments I've ever received. You are amazing! Happiness and big hugs back to you. Always your friend, John
DeleteYou are right about the Hummingbird's "flash of color", you have to be quick with snapping a shot at just the right second! That night Jackie did not return to the nest and Shadow held duty all night long, I was worried for Jackie. I found it easier to watch news about the war! I breathed a sigh of relief when she returned.
ReplyDeleteI love your photo of the hummingbird. Very exquisite. I also love all your photos of various ships and boats out on the water. If I was a gazillionaire I would rather have an executive jet. For cruises I would sign up for the luxury cruises where I could meet people. Having your own yacht would involve too much management and awkwardness.
ReplyDeleteI like your hummingbird photos! They are scheduled to return here next month and I am looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming back dear John 🥰
ReplyDeleteYou have been missed surely!
It’s joy to go through your delightful and wonderful post once again 🤗♥️
Hummingbirds shots are so amazing 👍
They are prettiest birds I believe 😊
The Canadian geese conferences is certainly show stopper 👍♥️
They look serious so it’s maybe about current affairs!
I see you spent your time of break in taking awesome pictures of nature and ships which I enjoy always!
The aeroplane photos are new exciting addition which is great 👍
Dear John you are such an honest and sincere blog friend that nobody wants to lose.your posts are always inspiring and joyous so stay tuned dear friend 🥰🙏
Blessings to you and yours 🙏