Saddle Weary

 

"Ridden hard and put away wet." The phrase can be used to describe mistreatment of a horse, or the appearance of a person who seems to have suffered the same fate. In this case, it applies to a saddle which has come to the end of its days and now hangs over a fence rail at a local rent-a-horse with several others. I get blisters just thinking about the miles this leather has seen!

Inner Dimensions

A double torus created by two spirals with their ends linked, a mathematical conundrum of intersecting dimensionalities, wormhole physics come back to bite itself on the bum, Ouroboros...I wish I could have worked the Onion into this abstract of Slinkies, but it disappeared in a puff of quanta when I sat it down, possibly to make a reappearance some time last week.

Waldrick Road Farm

Washington's Deschutes River runs through this little valley (not to be confused with the larger Oregonian river which bears the same name), a pastoral setting of prairie grassland and stands of Douglas fir and glossy-leaved Garry oak. The valley is dotted with family farms where cattle and horses can be seen grazing in perfect idyll. The sounds of machinery and motors are for the most part distant and unobtrusive and fall with less impact on the ear than the call of the Scrub Jays or the gleeful chirrups of the smaller birds. Voices carry across the open space, a farmer calling to a farmhand or his wife; the words almost distinguishable, but not quite. The river says nothing. It passes silently in its course, undisturbed by rocks in its bed or changes in terrain. The peace of the moment is a window into a time when life was simpler, when you could sit of a warm afternoon and listen to the corn grow without the interruption of a cell phone.

Island In The Mist

Island In The Mist, a photo by DeForestRanger on Flickr.

Years ago before Alder Lake existed, this little island was a high spot in the terrain of the small town of Alder and, as is often the case with high spots in small towns, it was chosen for the site of a one-room schoolhouse. A dam was put in place across the Nisqually River in 1945, and as the water level rose, the town was flooded out of existence. You can still access Schoolhouse Island on foot for much of the year from Sunny Beach Point, although the land bridge may or may not be under a couple of feet of water, and if you know where to look, you can see the remnants of the old school's foundation. Today, Schoolhouse Island was surrounded by mist, appearing like Camelot for only a brief span of time. Bogucki Island, much larger and about a mile distant, was entirely obscured.

Collared

Collared, a photo by DeForestRanger on Flickr.

A natural monochromatic scheme!

After putting in an unscheduled two hours at work today following our Division's annual group photo, I came home, changed out of my uniform and then headed back up the hill to do some photography of my own. The Mountain has a way of delivering the unexpected, and I was delighted to find one of our overly habituated foxes at an overlook. I was disappointed that she seemed to prefer pavement to snow, and after taking several shots, I moved on, taking note that she was not radio-collared. I drove on up to Reflection Lake and on my way back, I spotted a second vixen, much blonder than the first. Her radio collar was quite obvious, and once she'd figured out that she was going to get no treats from me, she strolled off into the forest, giving me the perfect opportunity for this "habitat" photo. If you look closely, you can see the black transmitter under her neck ruff.