John's Island: Trees

Showing posts with label Trees. Show all posts

Saturday, May 10, 2025

May Days

I decided the paw prints should stay. 😊
Haystack Rock near Cannon Beach, Oregon.
One of my favorite snaps from a recent visit.

The Blogger I Am*

I wander through blogs like a garden in spring,

Stopping to ponder each post that they bring.

A tale of a tulip, a memory shared,

A chuckle, a sorrow, a moment laid bare.

With coffee in hand and a curious mind,

I follow the trails that others designed.

Sometimes a poem, sometimes a prose,

Sometimes just watching a bluebell close.

I pen a reply with humor or grace,

Trying to brighten a faraway place.

A note in return, a ripple of cheer—

Proof that a blogger has truly been here.

For blogging’s not merely words on a screen,

It’s building a bond in the spaces between.

We write, we reflect, we visit, we roam—

And somehow this circle feels warmly like home.

*Blogging friend Baili suggested I add a little poetry to my blog after leaving her a poetic comment she enjoyed. I've left similar comments for other bloggers and they seemed to enjoy it, so I thought I would give it a try here.

New Books

Clouds

Clouds ... How to Identify Natures Most Fleeting Forms
by Edward Graham
I discovered this book thanks to an excellent review by
blogging friend David on his blog Travels With Birds
The beauty of this book is in the art of the illustrations.

Sharp

I subscribe to a health newsletter published by
the Mayo Clinic Press. This book was mentioned
in the newsletter and I decided to add it to my Kindle.
This is truly an interesting book by
Therese Huston, Ph. D
(I snapped a picture of the Kindle for the photo above.)

Stamps

USPS Birds and Flowers for all 50 States
Stamps issued 1981 - 20¢

Fleetwood was a company, later known as Unicover, that specialized in creating and distributing stamp-related collectibles, particularly first day covers. The story of the stamps above begins in 1978, when Fleetwood hired father-son wildlife artists Arthur and Alan Singer to create 50 original paintings of state birds and flowers. When U.S. Postal Service officials saw the high-quality paintings, they immediately decided to issue 50 stamps, one for each State, showcasing the father-son team’s watercolor paintings. Arthur created the birds, while son Alan painted the flowers. Each stamp is unique – making it the first series of its size to feature original artwork for each different stamp. At the time of their issue, these stamps were the most popular in U.S. Postal history.

Enlargment to show detail.
For Washington State, our flower is the Rhododendron
and our bird is the American Goldfinch

In a previous post I mentioned my stamp collection and got a lot of postive comments. So, as we go forward, I'll be sharing more of it.

USPS 1996 Souvenir Sheet
Endangered Species

Collectors enjoy these “Souvenir Sheets” published by the Post Office. Souvenir sheets are essentially small sheets of postage stamps, often commemorative, designed for collecting or display rather than for postal use. They usually have a wide margin and an inscription or design commemorating an event. There isn't a strict definition, and they can be single stamps, small sets, or even larger sheets, as long as they are smaller than a standard sheet of stamps. The one you see here celebrates Endangered Species. The stamps were issued in 1995 and had a value of 32¢.

Enlargement to show detail.
Top left: Brown Pelican
Top right: California Condor
Bottom right: Woodland Caribou
Bottom left: San Francisco Garter Snake

See lots more critters at
Saturday's Critters

Ships

Imagine my surprise when I spotted this ship.
I always like to get a shot of Coast Guard vessels.
Wow, zooming in, I noticed it is
Vietnam Coast Guard.
What are they doing in Puget Sound? 😊

The National Geographic Venture
At anchor, April 22, near the Marina, in this photo.

In another capture ... I didn't notice until looking
at the image on the computer ... someone out in a kayak.
It's fairly unusual to see this out on the Sound.

Holland America's Koningsdam
arrives early morning April 23rd.
The cruise ship season is underway.

My first time to see the Hapag Lloyd MS Europa 2.
MS Europa 2
April 23rd

Washington State Ferry
on its run between Seattle and Bainbridge Island.
In the background ... West Seattle and in the distance
Vashon Island and Colvos Passage

Click to see the large view what I hope to show you ...
a tug pulling a barge of containers ... probably from Alaska.
Notice the distance between the tug and barge.
Mariners beware of the tow cable! 😂

Looking out over the sailboats in the Marina, a
bulk carrier at anchor, and in the distance, a
Matson container ship. In the far distance,
the Olympic Mountains.

Early morning departure of MSC container ship on
May 2nd. Note the small load of containers ...
probably due to the tariff situation.

I always enjoy catching a sailboat. This is an
unusually large one. I could not identify a name other
than the 15 on the mainsail.

Maybe this should go in the SKIES section.
Afternoon sunshine on the water creates
an interesting look. There are literally
hundreds of sailboats in the Marina ...
and most of them STAY in the Marina. 😊

Skies

April 13 Full Moon on Puget Sound

Just before sunset on a cloudy, somewhat
stormy, afternoon.
In next image, taken after sunset, note
the rain in the far distance,
creating an unual sky effect.

Unexpectedly captured a chopper too.

Blooms

Wrapping up this post with some blooms I thought worth sharing ...

These are tulips along my driveway.
I kept watching them as they bloomed
this Spring, and couldn't help stopping
to snap a photo of them in bright sunlight.
So beautiful!

OK, I can hear you saying, What's this? 😊
This is my Cottonwood Tree which I
planted in June, 2023, as an expiriment to
see if I could grow a tree. LOL. I've posted
about it two times before. I think it's looking
pretty good!
Starting a Cottonwood Tree Experiment
and
More on my Cottonwood Tree

I am amazed at my neighbor's Wisteria. He is quite
the gardener and has been training the plant to grow
along the edge of his deck for years.

Here is what Wiki says about Wisteria: Wisteria is a woody, deciduous vine in the pea family (Fabaceae) known for its fragrant, pendulous clusters of pea-shaped flowers, typically blue-violet, but also pink or white.

Closing thought ...

When I first saw this back in 2019
I thought it was pretty accurate.
Today it is getting a little bit scary.
😊

Thanks for stopping by John's Island!

Friday, November 22, 2024

Autumn Transit

The usual gallimaufry of images with an emphasis on the seasonal change as we move through autumn.

Trees

In my neighborhood.
[Click on images for better view!]

Another in the neighborhood.

Thankful for all of nature's beauty and linking up with Thankful Thursday

Looking up!

The tree I saved.
1. My favorite tree in summer 2023.
A beauty.
2. My favorite tree late fall 2023.
A beauty.
3. After re-potting spring 2024.
Almost dead. Soil not holding water.
4. First signs of recovery early summer 2024.
Watered with gallons daily!
5. October 2024.
Almost total recovery.
6. November 20, 2024.
Leaves on the way to RED 😊
A beauty again.

Details:

I love this tree. A person in charge of the property thought it needed to be transplanted into a larger pot. And so it was. And then, I began to notice the leaves turning brown. At first, I wasn't sure what was causing the leaves to turn brown. Then it hit me ... the soil in the new pot was a bit on the sandy side and was not holding water as well as the soil in the previous pot. Although it was not ultimately my responsibility, I decided to try extra watering. Quickly, as seen in photo 4, I noticed some new green leaves. I vastly increased watering and the result is in photo 5. Usually, in the fall, the leaves turn to red as seen in photo 2. This year, the leaves are late turning red, but they are turning quickly. I happened to have some nice sunshine today, November 22, and snapped the picture of leaves below. This is a beautiful tree. Although I'm pretty sure the water saved the tree, I also spoke to the tree daily telling it how beautiful it is. 😉

Autumn leaves, my favorite tree,
November 22, 2094

Skies - Linking up with Skywatch Friday

This pano shows the western sky as viewed from home,
around sunset in mid-October

Red sky at night ...
All of the sky pics in this post are taken from home.

Zoomed in on the shadows created by mountains.

Cross-Sound ferry on a stormy evening.

Tiny break in the clouds near the horizon
moments before sunset.

Late afternoon ... occasional sunbreaks

Note the "sun pillar" ... part of an exceptionally
red and unusual sunset.

Ships

I enjoy snapping pics of (mostly) large ships coming and going in this port city. All of the photos below were taken from home during October and November of this year. We have a great variety of vessels. When capturing them, lighting is always a challenge.

Fully loaded container ship,
arriving Port of Seattle.

This is a bulk carrier. Frequently seen in Seattle for
transporting grain to Asian countries.

Passenger only fast ferry.

FOSS is one of the major tug operators in Seattle.
All FOSS tugs are named after members of
the family. This one is Wedell Foss.

The position and sunlight made this a difficult
capture, but I like the way it turned out.
A container ship heading into port in late afternoon.

A mostly cloudy sky with a break near the eastern
horizon allowed the morning sun to really
light up this EVERGREEN container ship.

After sunset, a departing MSC
(Mediterranean Shipping Company)
Olympic Mountains in the distance.

This sailing vessel is a popular option with tourists.
Mostly a summer activity.

My newest old book.

Rex Brasher's Treasury of Bird Paintings
Published in 1967

Title page.

Watch an excellent 6-minute video to get the full story of Rex Brasher (Be sure to turn on audio.) I discovered the video thanks to Field Notes, a publisher of pocket size notebooks. They recently released notebooks with covers featuring Rex's bird paintings. (See examples below.) Rex made it his life mission to paint every known species of bird in America. And he did it! He published his paintings in Birds and Trees of North America. After researching Rex, I tried to find a copy of his book. They are now selling for around $20,000 so I decided to go for something more economical like this Treasury of Bird Paintings. The cover of my copy is quite worn, but the interior is in good condition. The paintings are wonderful! How did I live so long with an interest in birds without knowing about Rex? What an amazing human!