2020 – A year behind glass

Hey there 2020, I’ve spent so much time silently glaring and swearing at you it’s hard to believe we’re almost at the end. Like many of you I’ve read and followed each ugly news story knowing I need to stop the doom scrolling but it’s tough to turn away from so many stories of sorrow and outrage. I’m taking baby steps toward more positive online interactions, dipping my toes back into Instagram and reaching out to friends I’ve not connected with in far too long hoping the simple exercise of looking for share worthy moments reminds me things weren’t terrible and frightening all the time.

One thing stands out to me today is how much of this year has been lived behind or viewed through glass. Windows, electronic screens and yes, even wine glasses have become our new connection points bringing both joy and frustration while also framing of some of my favorite photos from the past 12 months. In classic Northwest Frame of Mind style let’s take a look.

February 29th, Leap Day, was the last time John, Ryan and I attended a large gathering, spending the afternoon at a wine tasting event filled with fresh food, live music and plenty of lovely wine. COVID was a nervous whisper in the background, no one was sure if it would really change things, but we were starting to consider stocking up on a extra groceries and maybe staying home for a few weekends just to be safe.

Three months later we were still home every weekend watching the world transform into a strange and scary place. As essential workers our days were condensed to quick commutes (no traffic) and changed workplaces filled with the new norms of masks, sanitizing stations and very few coworkers. All of this left me with very little to see that was new so I turned my gaze back to happier days and picked some favorite photos for artistic makeovers. All editing done through a screen on my iPad.

By July a few areas of our state reopened for small gatherings and we decided to risk a trip to the islands. We rented a house, filled our car with a weeks worth of groceries and took the quietest summer ferry trip I’ve ever experienced. A normal travel year meant 3-4 hour waits to board a boat, then windswept walks along the outside upper decks while sailing to our destination. This year there were no lines, half empty boats and loudspeaker recordings announcing we weren’t allowed to leave our cars for the duration of the trip. The silver lining was a front row position where we could watch the water through our windshield. Safe in our bubble, behind the glass.

We had a lovely week, sleeping in, hiking on quiet trails, skipping rocks on empty beaches and on our last night away I took this photo from the car window as Ryan drove us back to the rental for one final sunset BBQ.

We remained close to home for the rest of the summer, avoiding crowds and trying to make simple life feel fun while hoping we could escape the small circle of our new reality for some fall hiking. Wildfire season put a stop to that as you can see from this photo, taken from my dining room window at noon on September 12th. With air quality ratings in the very unhealthy/hazardous range our last month of potential PNW sunshine was spent inside, in front of windows and more screens.

The end of summer meant election season was front and center and with it came more changes, this time to my volunteering plans. I usually spend hours in September and October phone banking and canvasing for favorite candidates and in 2020, with so much on the line, we had planned to spend most weekends in October getting out the vote. I still logged plenty of volunteer hours but this time they were spent virtually as a member of both national and state level digital outreach teams. Yep, more screen time. Most of our chosen candidates won their races though and on November 10th John, Ryan and I toasted Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as they were announced President Elect and Vice-President Elect.

My final image is the December photo that inspired this year-end post. Once again I was inside looking out but an evening of couch time, quietly editing photos on my phone while John and Ryan watched tv left me with one image I really liked. Thoughts of a years worth of views filtered and compressed through lenses, windows, mirrors and screens came together and here we are closing 2020 behind two layers of glass, facing forward with the past in a mirror. Cheers to a brighter, clearer, safer and happier 2021!

Lisa22 Comments
Porthole view on a Washington State Ferry

I Knew Who I Was This Morning…

I knew who I was this morning, but I’ve changed a few times since then.” Lewis Carroll

A quick scroll through my posts makes it pretty clear my approach changes from day-to-day.  Sometimes I want as little to no change and other times I enjoy playing with color and shadow to create something new from my original photo.  There is a time and place for each view here and usually I know which look I want to go for but this morning I ran into a little dilemma. Too many choices.

I’ve gone back and forth with these six images all day trying to pick my favorite and finally decided to just give up and post them all.  If you have a chance to click inside the gallery to see each image full size I’d love to hear if you’ve got a favorite!  Each photo is labelled for easy voting and I’ve included a poll below so we can all see the results.

Porthole 1
Porthole 2
Porthole 3
Porthole 4
Porthole 5
Porthole 6
Porthole Unedited

The final image is the original, unedited photo for a good before/after comparison.

Lisa10 Comments

My Year In Pictures: September Week 2

Processed with Snapseed.
Processed with Snapseed.
Processed with Snapseed. Processed with VSCO with b6 preset
Processed with Snapseed.

It’s obvious I’m running a little behind real-time as my photo project is reaching the middle of September while the calendar says October is almost here but I’m actually liking the opportunity to stretch out summer for as long as possible.  Fall has its own beauty but summer is truly my favorite so I hope you don’t mind spending a little more time flipping through my vacation photos and a few random images from our regular life here in the Pacific Northwest.

This week you’ve got a blend of some Olympic Peninsula shots mixed with views from my days at home so we’ll start with the lovely Lake Crescent.  If it wasn’t for the brisk wind and worry about a long wait in the Ferry line we would have been in those canoes paddling around the shore… maybe next time. 🙂  Instead Ryan had some fun goofing around in an old phone booth in the main lodge and we settled for a brisk walk along the shore before getting back in the car to finish our trip home.   Once we were settled it was back to business and I started by listing a new item in our Etsy store.  The next day Finn and I enjoyed a quiet moment on the grass watching clouds and Friday evening I took the hint and decided to “stop” on my couch after a long commute and relax with a tasty gin and tonic.  Saturday afternoon Ryan and I went out to walk our local fishing pier and as luck would have it a ferry entered my shot at exactly the right moment.

Next week will be a return to some vacation out-takes and if you’re curious about where we’ve been this month I’ve been keeping up with my daily share project on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. If you’d like to learn more about any of the images but you don’t follow me on these accounts please feel free to clickhere for IG, here for Twitter and here for FB or select a photo from the Instagram previews in my sidebar.  You don’t need an account at either place to view my photos, everyone’s welcome.🙂

 

Lisa13 Comments

My Year In Photos: June Week 2

I see a lot of blues, grays along with some warm patches of gold in my latest set of photos which is just about right when it comes to June in the Pacific Northwest.  Blue skies and flowers mixed with heavy gray clouds and warmed by the sun during our longest days of the year.  We had a full schedule with all the end of the year school activities, a quick day trip across the water and a busy work week so for the first time you’ll see I posted more than one photo without any editing.  In contrast, other images are more heavily edited than usual but both approaches are a reflection of how I felt in the moment.  I either wanted move on and post quickly or I tried to add a little color and interest to something that was just a small moment in the day.

The week started with this view from the passenger deck on one of our state-run Ferries and Monday afternoon I began writing the Etsy listing for this new blanket.  Tuesday I wanted to experiment with the new pinhole lens available through Hipstamatic and Wednesday was Ryan’s final band concert.  I made him pose for the usual “hurry up mom” snapshots in his Tuxedo but this spontaneous click taken after John told a slightly off-color joke is my favorite of the night.

Thursday is a look through a large pane of shattered glass and Friday shares one of my favorite ways to relax – watching clouds float over the islands.  Saturday I visited our local bookshop for some last-minute Father’s Day gifts and was happy to see they’ve expanded their hours for the summer season.  Now we’re looking forward to long summer nights with plenty of new books to enjoy.

Coming soon I’ve got a great set of new photos almost ready to share here from our latest adventures and if you’d like to follow along in real-time don’t forget I post my daily photos on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. If a once-a-week blog read is more your speed my weekly recaps will continue here along with caption notes containing editing information for each photo.

 

Lisa12 Comments

A Word A Week: Transport

Transport

It’s hard to pay a visit to the Puget Sound area and not see at least one green and white Washington State Ferry cruise by carrying commuters, tourists and travelers across the water.  These large vessels serve the areas surrounding Puget Sound as well as provide vital and reliable transportation to the San Juan Islands and Canada.  I’ve always loved riding the boats and have hundreds of Ferry photos in my archives  but it wasn’t until I spent a few minutes researching the fleet for this post that I discovered  it is the largest passenger and car system in the United States and its 22 active ferries mean it is the third largest in the world by fleet size.  If you count by vehicles carried the WSF system jumps to #1 in the world with an annual 11 million cars driving aboard.

The ferry system has its origins in the “Mosquito Fleet“, a collection of small steamer lines serving the Puget Sound area during the later part of the nineteenth century and early part of the 20th century. By the beginning of the 1930s, two lines remained: the Puget Sound Navigation Company (known as the Black Ball Line) and the Kitsap County Transportation Company. A strike in 1935 forced the KCTC to close, leaving only the Black Ball Line.[3]

Toward the end of the 1940s the Black Ball Line wanted to increase its fares, to compensate for increased wage demands from the ferry workers’ unions, but the state refused to allow this, and so the Black Ball Line shut down. In 1951, the state bought nearly all of Black Ball’s ferry assets for $5 million (Black Ball retained five vessels of its fleet).[4] The state intended to run ferry service only until cross-sound bridges could be built, but these were never approved, and the Washington State Department of Transportation runs the system to this day.

Source – Wikipedia Washington State Ferries

Posted as part of Sue’s A Word A Week Photograph Challenge:  Transport.

 

Lisa34 Comments

iPhoneography Monday: 2-17-14

iPhone Monday 2-17-14

Without fail, by the time February arrives with its mixed bag of wind, rain and snow I can’t help dreaming of warm afternoons spent at the beach.  There aren’t any tropical vacation plans in my near future but I do  have plenty of photos from some fun summer days by the water to share and this one fits nicely with Sally’s 3rd Monday of the month theme:  Black and White.

Lisa32 Comments

Black and White Tuesday: 1-7-14

B&W Tuesday 1-7-14

Winter trips on the Washington State Ferries offer some amazing photo opportunities if you have a warm coat and don’t mind some extremely cold wind.   John, Ryan and I took a beautiful trip on the Edmonds – Kingston ferry a few days ago and I left the comfy, warm bench to explore the top deck and take photos for as long as I could before my fingers froze and my hair tangled into permanent knots.

The bright blue sky against this green roof and white trim on the boat is what I set out to capture in this photo but when I revisited it in black and white and decided I liked it this way even better.  Of course I have plenty of color shots too and if you’d like to see Mt. Rainier at sunset a new photo is up on my Facebook page.

Lisa15 Comments

My Favorite places in Washington (State) Part One – The Puget Sound

Washington Tourist Map Scenic

If your view of Washington State begins with Sleepless in Seattle and ends with Grey’s Anatomy you’ve seen some beautiful scenery but happily my home state has a lot more to offer.  As the population center, Seattle receives most of the publicity but did you know there are six distinct geographic regions within the state borders? Through my next several posts I want to take you on a road trip across the Evergreen State to see the Puget Sound, the Pacific Coast, the Hoh Rainforest, Olympic, Cascade and Rocky Mountains and the Columbia Basin.

Located in the Puget Sound region, Seattle is a beautiful city with a thriving waterfront and just a few short hours from mountains, the Pacific Coast and The San Juan Islands.  This is the home of Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon and Costco and iconic landmarks include The Space Needle, a legacy from the 1962 Worlds Fair and the Pike Place Market which has been open since 1907 and is the longest continuously operating farmers market in the US.

A few Seattle fun facts:

  • Seattle is ranked the most Literate City in the US by Central Connecticut State University and the Seattle Public Library System has the highest percentage of library card holders per capita in the country.
  • Seattleites buy more sunglasses per capita than any other city in the nation.
  • While the city has more than its fair share of cloudy days Chicago, Dallas and Miami all get more rain per year.
  • The worlds first gas station opened in Seattle in 1907 on East Marginal Way.

Pike Place Market
Space Needle

A short trip North brings you to one of my all time favorite vacation destinations, The San Juan Islands. The San Juan archipelago includes 172 islands, 4 of which are accessible by the Washington State Ferry System.  Most others can by reached by plane, charter and private boats or if you are feeling adventurous, by Kayak.

Island fun facts:

  • There are no traffic lights on the Islands.
  • San Juan County has more miles of shoreline (375) than any other County in the US.
  • The Islands receive half the annual rainfall of Seattle or Portland.
  • Lime Kiln Point State Park on San Juan Island holds the only Whale watching park in the world.

Decatur Island
Sucia Island
San Juan Island
Roche Harbor, San Juan Island

If you make an early spring trip to the Islands you could be one of the one million annual visitors to the tulip fields in the Skagit Valley or travel a little farther and see Mt. Baker which holds the record for the most snowfall ever measured in the US in a single season; 1,140 inches during the 1998-1999 snowfall season.

View from Mt. Baker Highway
View from Heather Meadows Mt. Baker
Artist Point trail Mt. Baker

A few hours south of Seattle is the beautiful Mt. Rainier  National Park.  With an elevation rise of 14,411 feet above sea level Mt. Rainier is the highest mountain in the lower 48 states and the 21st most prominent mountain in the world.   President William McKinley established Mt. Rainier National Park in 1899 and every year between 8,000 – 13,000 people attempt to climb Rainier. About one half successfully reach the top.

Mt. Rainier
Mt. Rainier
Mt. Rainier

I would love to hear your stories of travels in Washington .  Let me know if you like what you see, I’m looking forward to sharing more pictures soon!

Lisa39 Comments