Decatur Island, WA

2019 The Year of Sunshine, Soft Colors and Decatur Island: Week 3

Sometimes a look back at soft, summer pastels is a nice way to pass through the dark days of January.  Our warm winter continues but by this time of year the short days start to wear on me and I dream of long evenings outside until 10:00 pm enjoying the sunsets and visits with good friends.

Like this weekend in September on Decatur Island with Ryan, my friend Suzie and her daughter Naiah taking senior pictures.  Ryan and Naiah have been friends since daycare and we’ve shared more than a few vacations here in Suzie’s family cabin by the beach so when I got the chance to have the two of them together for official portraits I jumped on it.  They were great sports and we walked all over the island finding favorite locations and making new memories.

I you’d like to see Ryan and Naiah as little ones on Decatur take a look at one of my first posts here 6 years ago.  Forward

As for me this week has been a rush of working a few extra hours before attending to a long overdue matter followed by a stretch of enforced downtime.  I’m not one for quiet hours on the couch, or naps during the day so the thought of two weeks of doing nothing has been more than a little worrying.  I know plenty of people dream of something like this but I’ve actually been making lists of activities I can do while still following instructions and resting.  If anyone has a great book to recommend or a tv series/movie that I need to binge watch now’s the time to share!

As with past year-long photo challenges I don’t plan to post here every day, I’ll save that for my Instagram and Twitter accounts, but you faithful blog readers will get one weekly recap every Sunday.

 

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Travel Theme: Round

Round

We found this old wagon wheel just down the beach from the driftwood pirate ship I posted yesterday.  The owners of the property have a knack for collecting and re-purposing old items and interesting pieces of wood but I think this wheel is at the end of its road…

Posted as part of Alisa’s weekly Travel Theme:  Road.

Lisa26 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge: On Top

On top can be a feeling, a perspective, or a physical location.

The Daily Post – Sara Rosso 

On Top

This eagle perched on a weathered driftwood pirate ship had to feel like he was sitting on top of the world…

Posted as part of the Weekly Photo Challenge:  On Top.

Lisa51 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge: Beginning

Beginning. Hello, 2014. And hello and happy new year to our readers, old and new. This week’s theme might be obvious, but I couldn’t help it — it’s a simple and common word, yet can evoke very powerful, emotional images.

Cheri Lucas Rowlands – The Daily Post

As many of you know we try to spend part of every New Year’s Day at the beach. There is something about the calming sound of water and feel of brisk ocean air that signals a fresh start and if we are anywhere near a coastline we bundle up and find a patch of waterfront. The photos above are from our last five New Year’s days and they were all taken on rough and rocky beaches in Washington state. Our 2014 image shows more cloudy sky than beach behind us but if you look closely at the reflection in Ryan’s sunglasses driftwood and sand appear.

Posted as part of the Weekly Photo Challenge:  Beginning.

As a side note but also in the spirit of beginnings I’ve added a new Facebook link to my sidebar that connects you to the brand new Northwest Frame of Mind Facebook page.  I will feature links to my blog posts but I’m also posting more casual photos and adventures as they happen instead a few days later.   If you want to know what we are up to in real-time I hope  you’ll “like” me and join in the fun!

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A Word A Week: Wind

Wind

January 1st 2010 was the stormiest day I’ve ever spent on a beach with wind gusts reaching up to 70 miles per hour.  I snapped this photo during a brief moment of relative calm but when the tide came up a few more feet the wind speed surged and hundreds of driftwood beach logs began rolling through the surf like toothpicks.   Very dangerous toothpicks…

Posted as part of Sue’s A Word A Week:  Wind.

Lisa15 Comments

Weekly Photo Challenge: Curves

Curves. I bet you can find curves wherever you are. Show me!

Sara Rosso – The Daily Post

Sara’s right, curves are everywhere when you begin to look.  I have a gallery of curvy images to share from some memorable summer vacations around the Pacific Northwest.

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Journey

Photographers, show us JOURNEY – The Daily Post

Journey - Spring Break 2012

Spring Break 2012:  Four beach front Island cabins filled with 9 adults, 7 kids and 4 dogs.  Boat access only, no grocery stores , plenty of warm clothes, hiking, exploring and great memories.

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Travel Theme: Pathways

Path across American Camp on San Juan Island, WA.
Hiking on Mt. Rainier, WA.
Stream from Mt. Rainier, WA.
Path from the boat dock in Olga, WA.
Path to the beach on Orcas Island, WA.
The end of a cold, wet hike on Decatur Island, WA.

This week Alisa asked us to share photos of pathways we have travelled.  These are a few of my favorites from our adventures through Washington State from the water to the mountains.

To see more paths from around the world take a look at Where’s My Backpack and the Travel Theme: Pathways.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: In the Background

In the Background: The places that we pass through day after day, or even once in a lifetime, leave in their small way, echoes and traces of themselves upon us. But so often when taking self portraits or pictures of friends, the places themselves become a soft blurred mush of indistinct semi-nothingness, the limelight stolen by our smiling faces. In today’s challenge, let’s turn the tables. Take a picture of yourself or someone else as a shadow, a reflection, or a lesser part of a scene, making the background, or the foreground, the center of attention.  Michael Pick – The Daily Post

I am usually the one behind the camera snapping pictures everywhere we go but every once in a while I show up in an unplanned reflection or shadow…

Background 2

In Ryan’s sunglasses at the beach

Background 1

Trying to line up the perfect shot of our favorite Bookshop.  You can see my final (reflection free) version here – Phoneography Challenge: Neighborhood.

Background 3

A beach shadow during one of our New Year’s Day walks by the water.

Take a peek at the Weekly Photo Challenge: In the Background for more fun photo surprises.  What’s in your background?

Lisa20 Comments

Dawn

Decatur Dawn

Dawn usually finds me curled up on the couch with my first cup of coffee.  I like to get up early but rarely step outside until after the sun is up so it took me a few days to find a picture to meet A Word in Your Ear’s latest challenge – Dawn.  New Year’s Day is different though and while most of my family is sound asleep I get up as early as I can and take a walk to begin the new year with a fresh start.  This picture was from my January 1st, 2010 walk during a wind storm on Decatur Island.  The clouds were dark and heavy when I began but as the wind blew an opening for the sun I shielded my camera from the salt spray and quickly snapped this photo.

If you would like to see more images of Dawn around the world please visit A Word in Your Ear and the Word A Week Challenge – Dawn.

Lisa38 Comments