Chapter 54 - Living La Loca Vida

It is a good thing, I suppose, that I have little self-pride and even less self-discipline. I am a bit of a reprobate (often without the humor nor the affection) (Oh, fer cryin' out loud, go look it up for goodness sakes. Don't ask me to explain it to you!!) 

I say this as an excuse, what I tell people when I must give a reason or explanation for my many faults and offenses; my lack of order, cohesion, clarity and the definite lack of any kind of a logical progression in my life or, especially, in this blog. 

And so I begin somewhere and will, no doubt, end up somewhere completely different having followed a convoluted and torturous trail leading from the there to the here, then the now and then, knowing me, back to the here again. It's part of my magic, I guess, my charm as it were.

Let's start, shall we, in the Dorchester House where Carol and I were on hand to help the Cub Master, Hannah, present a lesson to the Den Leaders.

Our modest goal was to impress upon the Den Leaders the Importance of Using the Meeting Plans that have already been created and are available in the Den Leader's Handbook. Our intent was to show them how, by using the plans already in place in the Handbook, they could reach their goals, ease their burdens, increase their fun and lessen their chances of going into cardiac arrest.

Hahaha, we can't be faulted for good intentions, can we!?!

And so we three set up the whole affair, with root-beer floats, too. At least two of us were excited. 

And, what do you know!?! It worked!! Oh, I don't mean to say that each Den Leader became an instant devotee to the Den Leader's Handbook but, hey, each one saw how easy it could be to set up and run a meeting using the resources already in place. 

Why reinvent the wheel when we already have several of them spinning merrily along!?! 

They learned something. We had a good time, and we all got to be a bit goofy.

And me? I got to do something positive that I didn't screw up.

Hooah!!

I was feeling mighty damn proud of myself.

Ok, it's come down to this. Of the three bars/saloons/watering holes nearest to me, the Old Oregon seems to have won my affections.

Which is odd because, after the first visits I had definitely decided the Old Oregon COULD NOT be my favorite. 

But, then, things don't always work out the way you plan them, right!?! And, really, it boiled down to this...they have the better Fish and Chips. 

Life is simple, isn't it? I mean, we tried all three and then the Nauti Mermaid closed their doors and so it was down to two. The Cruise Inn was leading the pack but, well, there is a air, an aura, a feeling that didn't quite sit right with me while I was there. I mean, it's a genuine All-American Saloon but there was a missing piece there.

And since the Old Oregon (OO) had the better Fish and Chips, they won. I feel a bit more at ease in the OO than I did in either of the other two. And Carol likes their Fish and Chips so, there you are.

I mostly mooch the fries off Carol's plate so I really didn't care about the food (but I will say that the Cruise Inn has it hands down when it comes to breakfast. They kick some serious ass in the Breakfast Department) all that much. 

And there you are. After nearly three years I can say I have a bar. And that at least one of the bartenders there knows my name. And that's a start, isn't it.

Oh, yeah, they do serve a pretty decent burger.

Mmmmmmmmmm, grease!!

So having explained the OO's attraction, what say we take a look inside?

We mostly stick to the bar and the stools therein. I'm not a big fan of their tables. And at the bar you can get the faster service if you're inclined that way. And I am. Inclined that way.

The decor is early Americana, circa 60s. And it is functional. Nothing fancy but it works for a small bar.

And, of course, if it is good in color then it must be twice as good in B&W.

Hahahaha, honest!! B&W evokes different sense, emotions, reactions. However, even I realize it doesn't work with every scene. Sometimes it's just dull.

But I persist. I keep on trying.

I figure if I continue thinking in B&W then I might, with constant repetition, get a little better at it.

The Old Oregon (OO) is, above all else, a Hippie Bar. They're firmly stuck in the late 60s. It was the main reason I was 'turned off' by this bar when we first visited.

But it does have the best vibe for Carol and I. It feels more comfortable than the others. Plus the Fish 'N Chips and burgers are better here. Although, to be fair, the breakfast at the Cruise Inn is better.

See the sign? It's announcing half-price beer and free chili during the first half of the Super Bowl. Guess where I went to watch the first half of the Super Bowl?

Hahahaha, and I do enjoy a PBR every-so-often.

So Carol gets her Debbie Macomber (that woman is a prolific writer!!) books from a woman named Sharon at the Friends of the Library sale each Monday.

Sharon is also a local artist and so I had to get a shot of one of her pieces on display in the city. Not my cup of tea but evidently it works for others.

Yay!! I found another puzzle at the library that was right up my alley.

Colorful, busy, 550 pieces and easy to put together. And I was off!!

And it was fun. 

Except when I realized it was missing over 50 pieces.

Ratz!!

Seriously, it was a bit more difficult finally admitting that the piece you were looking for just wasn't there. Then it was a tad more difficult figuring out how to fit in the ones that were.

And I seriously missed the satisfaction of placing the final piece to the puzzle into place.

I checked with the library to see if they wanted it back and, surprise, they said no. So, adios puzzle. Hello Trash Can.

On my walks to the Connie Hansen Gardens, I pass this colorful array of mailboxes. When we first arrived in LCO, their were a lot of flowers all around the base of these boxes.

It was a 'target rich' environment for flower pictures.

Then, last year, someone ripped out all the flowers and left just the mailboxes. Like you see in the picture. I mean, What the Hell!?! It was a huge disappointment. Seriously.

And then...

They ripped out the mailboxes and put in, just to the right in this picture, one of those big boxes where you have a locked box for each address.

Arghhhhhh!!!

It was unique and beautiful and now they ripped out paradise and put in a pedestrian mailbox.

But the flowers persist. See them? Just behind the telephone pole? Hahahaha, not as varied as before but at least there are flowers there. Marigolds.

Alrighty, then. I have my health and I have the time and so both Carol and I look for opportunities to volunteer help out, keep busy. And one of the ways we have of doing that is through the Kiwanis Club.

The Kiwanis Club (KCLC) has a money-raiser called the "Parade of Flags" where KCLC puts flags up along The 101 through the length of the city. KCLC does it 8 times a year and charges businesses a small yearly fee to have a flag flown in front of their business during those holidays.

Naturally, the flags get wet. There is no real good way of drying them so they get dirty and mildewy.

Enter Carol. She's on the Flag Committee and volunteered to wash all the cotton flags.

And so we were off to get all the cotton flags so that Carol could wash, dry and press all of them. This meant we had to go and cut the ties off so that we could bag up the flags and get them washed. And that's what I'm doing here.

And here. We did them in batches and Carol caught me unawares with her phone camera picking up a second batch. Sneaky girl.

Saw this tasty tidbit, you see a lot of them on FB, and, well, it looked good.

Hahaha, Challenge accepted.

And I was off. I made up the pancakes, fried the bacon and the eggs, forgot the doggone cheese and came up with...

This.

Not quite the same. It must be because I forgot the cheese.

Dammit!!

Another day, another puzzle.

While at the library the other day I saw another puzzle that looked fun...and easy. Like me. Imagine my surprise when I got back and opened it and found...this!!

Some thoughtful soul bagged the puzzle. They not only bagged the puzzle but they put all the 'Edge Pieces' into a smaller, separate bag.

I mean, how cool is that!?! I do appreciate the little extra help. Hahaha, I always do the edges first and then fill in from there. This little extra help just made that process go a bit quicker and a lot easier.

Sweet!!

I haven't even opened the second bag yet. And I already have the edges done.

Then it was off to the races!! And the race was fun. I've said it before there is a distinct pleasure I get from working out a puzzle while listening to the radio.

No pressure, just filling in the missing pieces.

And I like the idea that this would be another puzzle my Mom would like. The nostalgic kind depicting a life a million years ago. I realize it is a romantic, idealized version of those by-gone times but, nonetheless, I like it. It appeals to me.

And then there was the part I dislike...putting in the blue and mostly empty sky. Hahaha, I am a lazy puzzle putter-togetherer.

But I got through it. I persevered and it all came down to the 'last' piece (which I've conveniently pointed out with a nice red arrow).

You may be asking yourself how this particular piece, not even a 'sky' piece, came to be the last one.

Easy, I had dropped several pieces on the floor and thought I had picked them all up. When I got to the last piece and couldn't find it, I decided to check the floor again and this time I actually moved the chair and, viola!!, there it was!!

The last piece.

So I thought I'd shoot this picture a little differently, cause of the shadows, and hold the camera, awkwardly, in my left hand while putting the piece in with my right.

Not easy. And then I looked at the picture and realized in my zeal to get a different approach to the picture I hadn't realized I had the "Last Piece" upside down!!

Hah!! That won't do. Not at all. So I had to reshoot it.

And, lazy to the very end, I went back to the old way and shot holding the camera in my right hand. Much easier.

And I had the "Last Piece" right-side up.

Hooah!!

And another one bites the dust!! Hahahaha, I do enjoy putting the "Last Piece" in and finishing a puzzle.

There it is!! The finished puzzle. And, hey!! That's me down there in the lower left side, walking my dog.

The Old Salt.

It's been a long and dreary winter. Long. Dreary. 

Carol and I went to the Kiwanis Satellite Breakfast Meeting and then I dropped her off at her place. When I got back to the Shack, I noticed the weather was, oddly, clearing.

And it continued and it was looking like a good morning. Rather than spend it inside, I decided to get out and get away. A quick call to warn Carol and then I went over and picked her up. We headed south, stopped in Newport at the Walmart and got a large deli sandwich for lunch and then headed east towards Albany.

The idea had been to drive to Albany, explore and find some park named Bowers Rock State Park. I followed the Garmin to get to Albany and things were going on schedule when we made our turn to take us into Albany.

And I saw this guy, flying along and then lighting in a nearby tree. So, naturally, we stopped and got some pictures. A lot of them.

And then we spotted a second eagle in another nearby tree. Wowsers!! How cool was that!?!

And that caused us to remember our last trip to Albany when we went to the Talking Waters Garden (TWG) and saw not one but TWO eagles. And one thing led to another and we were off to the TWG.

Even though it didn't appear on Garmin we did find it with the help of the local Tourist Information Bureau.

This place is a real kick in the pants. 



Unfortunately, we got off to a late start...it was around 1100 when we finally hit the road. When we arrived at TWG we had maybe an hour to walk around...and eat lunch.

We brought our lunch into the park and found a handy bench overlooking the large pond at the southern end of the Garden. And chowed down. After lunch, we started our walk. I figured if we just followed the trail we were on we'd go just long enough for the time we had left. 

And we were off! Plenty of Mallards out today.

Plus this Bufflehead pair, Mr. & Mrs.

And a lot of turtles sunning themselves on logs. The last time we were here we didn't see any turtles so we don't know if they introduced them recently or last time was just one of those things and we missed them.

This trio gave me the best shot and so they made the Blog.

And this guy, a Common Goldeneye. What a neat looking duck with his comb set up like that.

Then we saw this guy. What the!?! The Missus looks pretty much like a Mallard except, as I just noticed as I was writing, possibly for the bill. Her's might be darker and wider.

But this is the guy I was interested in. 

A Cinnamon Teal. 

The Cinnamon Teal is found in western North and South America. It's a small dabbling (that's what he is doing in the above picture) duck with bright reddish plumage on the male and duller brown plumage on the female. It lives in marshes and ponds and feeds mostly on plants.

Every so often I like to do a bit of bragging. Carol and I reluctantly agreed to help start the Cub Pack Committee. We were already in deep with the Troop Committee and, for me, I just wanted to keep it simple and work with the Troop.

When we started with the Cubs there were maybe 8 or so kids, no real committee and no recognizable organization.

And now look!! Look at all the people that are involved with Pack 47.

The Wolf Den needed to do some Community Service for their Wolf Council Fire Adventure Belt Loop. Plus the Lion's Den needed to participate in an outdoor activity for their Lion's Patch. And so we had a chance to plant trees and we grabbed it.

But, look!! Look at all the people who are now involved in the Pack that Carol and I helped to build. There were over 32 people, kids and adults, out there.

I think everyone had a good time. It was an exceptional afternoon, mild and dry. And there was plenty of mud to go around.

Before we got started, Mike explained how to locate the position to plant the seedling and then that it needed to be buried up to an inch above the root. Then he explained the need to work in teams to do the job easily and quickly.

And we got at it.

It took around two and a half hours to plant the 500 seedlings.

It's great to be a part of this and it is really great to know that, in a small fashion, I am responsible for making this all possible.

It was a good day for Pack 47.

And that's my life. Up until February 10th.

Trying to get myself organized again and break out of these winter doldrums. I do need some sun and a lot more dry weather to shake off this Blue Funk I've been wrestling with for what seems like forever.

Life is good. Just gotta remind myself.

Edgar Allan Ho-Ho-Ho sez...

Chapter 53 - I Wander Here and There

I wander here and there

When my mini's running I go almost everywhere,

Cuz I know I have an awful lot to share,

Living a life without care

Knowing adventure is waiting out there

Seeing the world and seeing the wonder there.

(Major apologies to John Lennon and Sir Paul McCartney for butchering

their song, Here, There and Everywhere)

But there it is, that's the kinda guy I am. A plagiarizing, mini-driving and, for the most part, reasonably safe adventurer.

And that leads us into Chapter 53, "I wander here and there," which is a real mish-mash of the here and there that is my life.

To begin, I've recently discovered (something Carol and, apparently, everyone else in the world already knew) that there are a LOT of birds in the trees on the north side of the Dorchester House. LOTS!!

I've taken to entering at the lower level of that side now that Carol is living on the top floor. I need to take the elevator now regardless of what floor I enter on. So rather than walk around to the front as I used to do, I just enter at the lowest level and ride up. 

And it's at the lowest level that they have feeders, trees and...Birds!!

Like this Rufous Hummingbird. 

I get a serious kick out of hummingbirds. Just a swirl of activity but then, I've learned, when they light, they will stay in one spot for awhile. Hence my opportunity to grab me some pics of this fast-moving bird.

I'd like to get some pics of them feeding while flying. I'm thinking I might bring the tripod and set myself up a discreet distance away and try for some feeding pictures. 

Maybe, if I'm not too lazy.

Quick segue to...The other day, in my busy, busy life, I was actually cleaning the kitchen. Actually it was more like getting it reorganized after a couple of weeks of slough. I mean really deep, just getting up is a chore kind of slough. I was feeling lower than a snake's belly in a wagon rut.

But I shook it off and was trying to get a handle on the mess I'd made. I had to begin somewhere so I started in the kitchen. Hahaha, I got most of it done but while I was cleaning up and putting things back again I ran into this little gem.

And I was off!!

What the heck, it's a small puzzle, only 500 pieces. Plus, and this was a clincher for me, it was a pleasant scene, something I think my Mom would have liked. 'Nuff said!! 

I decided the rest of the cleaning up would still be there tomorrow and jumped in with both feet!!

And got it done in one evening and one morning. And I was working so fast I didn't even get the usual "work in progress" pictures I am universally known for. Amazing!!

But it is a nice looking little puzzle. An idyllic Easter morning in a mythical land where the weather is always pleasant, the children sweet-natured and well-behaved, the women charming and attractive and the men manly and stalwart.

Just like real life.

OK, I guess you can see that little puzzle lit the ol' Puzzle-Making Fire and so I looked around the house for another puzzle I might try but, alas, no luck.

Until The Fates stepped in. On Monday I drove Carol to the library for her weekly hunting trip for missing Debbie Macomber books. As I was ambling down towards the book sale I noticed, for the first time ever, a bookcase over to the side stacked with...puzzles. I was immediately drawn to it like a Millennial to a Bernie Sanders Rally.

And I found this little gem.

It was perfect!! It was something I was interested in, Ireland. It was a busy drawing and so there wouldn't be huge blank areas of blue sky or green fields which I virulently loathe. And, finally, it was 500 pieces. 

I was kinda expecting another small and easy to work puzzle like I'd just finished a day or two before.

Well, it was easy to work but it was anything but small. The pieces, they were large!!

Even though it took up more room than I'd anticipated, it was fun. It was easy to put together and I throughly enjoyed my time working on it. One evening and one morning.

It was just fun. I really enjoyed working the puzzle together with the colorful and entertaining drawings.

And it came together easily. 

I have found I enjoy listening to my right-wing talk radio and working on puzzles. I guess, for me, it's a good blend of mind-numbing banter with a mindless activity.

And this time I took the time to get the shots of the puzzle going together...all the way down to the last piece to go in. The one with a bit of County Wicklow and County Wexford on the east coast of the Emerald Isle.

There it is!!

And it rekindled the old desire to go there and spend a year in Erin, The Auld Sod.

I figure I have a map now, might as well go on over and use it, right!?!

I did note that they chose to depict Ireland without delineating the area known as Northern Ireland.

And now I'll quickly move from this amusement to a Christmas Present from Amy, a pin.

More specifically, an Edgar Allan Ho-Ho-Ho pin.

Hahaha!! Get it?? Edgar Allan Poe ... 

I changed it to Edgar Allan Ho-Ho-Ho cuz he's wearing a Santa Cap.

I am so doggone witty!! Seriously, I'm good!!

Then, I doubled-down on the fun by adding this funny caption to it. This isn't the only one I did. And, I promise you, it won't be the last. You'll be seeing many, many, many more of these bon mots in the future.

Guaranteed!!

Hahahaha, I'm still laughing about that ... Edgar Allan Ho-Ho-Ho. Hahahahahah (or should I say, 'Hohohohoho'). Keen fun!!

OK, stay up with me here. When I was in Redwood City for Christmas, I gave myself permission to enjoy eating. And, brother, I did.

But the damage wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Not bad at all, really. It was manageable but then I got caught in the doldrums after I got back from Redwood City. That put a real chink in my plans and I didn't get started on my yearly Battle with Bruno as I had planned.

I'm working on it, though. Adjusting the ol' Attitude first and getting myself back up to my normal operating speed.

One of the primary reasons for my gloom is, I confess, that I am wholeheartedly sick and tired of the cold, wet, constant, damp, pervasive, omnipresent and lousy weather. 

Sick. Of. It.

I think coming back to the drizzly Coastal Weather of Oregon has had a lot to do with my recent Deep Blue Funk. A lot, really. OK, almost all of it, there's some other nonsense in there but, Man, it's primarily the weather.

And this picture is representative of what I mean.

Just a simple picture of my drizzly, wet and constantly cool, damp environment. 

Every. Stinking. Day.

Flip-flopping around now (stay with me!),  Carol and I were leaving the weekly Kiwanis Meeting and saw this small herd of Elk by the side of the road.

Totally unconcerned with the traffic going by, they munched their slow, meandering way along the road.

Ain't this a kick in the pants!?! I mean, c'mon!! Just driving back and, POW!! A herd of Elk.

OK, there are still some good things in Oregon.

Hahaha, I guess a black-and-white mood needs some black-and-white pics, right!?!

I was playing with the camera and, as an after-thought I recorded some of the neglect that has accumulated through-out the entire house. 

From making my bed everyday I went to picking the blankets up from the floor. The laundry piled up until I ran out of socks. And I have a lot of socks.

Thank Heavens for hooks...or a reasonable facsimile. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to walk through this room.

Things accumulated. Everywhere. It was just easier to put this here or that over there and then go, disengage the brain, sit down and veg.

This miasma of melancholy eventually broke and, while the sun didn't entirely come out, there was a break in the fog and I was able to get a grip on things.

Finally.

And as evidence of breaking the iron-hard grasp of this malicious malaise of misery I became semi-active again! Which is to say, I got off my Fat Ass and went for a walk.

Hooah!!

And I took my new camera with me.

And I played with the B&W. Hahaha, somethings will never change, right!?!

And I caught one of the small city streets (?) in and around my part of the city.

(Hahaha, tough toe-nails!! I like it and that's enough for it to get into MY blog.)

Oh, man, I do love me some B&W.

I do.

And so when I first saw this fine pudgy fellow, I rendered him in B&W. 

The BumbleBee.

TODAY I SAW A HONEY BEE
AND HAD A FRANK DISCUSSION
HE SAID HE'D JOINED AN ORCHESTRA
AND THAT HE PLAYED PERCUSSION.
I ASKED HIM "WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PIECE?"
HE GAVE A LITTLE COUGH
AND SAID "FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE,
BY RIMSKY-KORSAKOV"

I couldn't just leave him in B&W and so I switched to color for another shot. He wouldn't turn around though. Just gave me his back side until he flew away.

AERODYNAMICALLY, THE BUMBLEBEE SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO FLY, BUT THE BUMBLEBEE DOESN'T KNOW IT SO IT GOES ON FLYING ANYWAY.

                                                  - Mary Kay Ash

Gotta love the ugly but beautiful Bumblebee.

And then, BAM!! I was inside Carol's apartment and, having a new camera, time on my hands, some nearby flowers, a severely limited capacity for original thinking and the predilection towards photography, I shots me some pics of the flowers she has.



There I am, sitting in a chair and shooting across the room. Mostly. I did get up for a couple of these shots.

Man, you can't get much lazier than that. 

But, hey!! It worked, sorta. Really, I am lazy about taking pictures and put very little effort into 'creating' or 'composing' a shot. I know that; I know who I am. But I do like taking them pictures. And I takes'em where I gets'em.

And since this blog is more of a photo essay than a journal on the Life of Jackie ... you get to see them all. I've finally decided this blog would not exist if I didn't use it to display, for myself evidently, my photography. Hah!! There it is! The truth! Taking pictures drives the blog and, apparently, a lot of my leisure time was well.

Hahahaha, but I'm no fool. I know you just scroll down quickly without reading everything or, honestly, really looking at the pictures. It's OK. I enjoy putting this thing together, it lets me use my pictures and, bottom line, that's the purpose of the blog.

My enjoyment.

So it's January 14 and it's my first walk of the New Year and I stopped by Carol's. I gotta have a destination to motivate myself to get out sometimes. Then I got the bright idea to take her over to Galucchi's for a couple beers. PBR for me and Root for her.

And a picture, too.

In B&W.

Shooting in B&W is working in a completely different medium than color. The difference is stark and obvious. Dare I say it is night and day? It is. They're two different venues which evoke, I think, two different emotional responses.

This picture in color would mean something different. It would be perceived in a different light (sorry). 

Hahaha, I do love B&W photography.

And I made it a point to get this shot. It is almost from the same spot as a B&W picture I had taken here maybe a month ago.

Eerily similar. You can see the comparison of the two pictures in my Retirement VI Album on FB.

Some things never change.

What is it that catches your eye? What pulls your attention to it? What causes you to 'see' things? For me it is patterns, shapes and, possibly, repetition. Plus colors. Which is when I cause myself, as a kind of mental discipline, to try and see it as a B&W also. But colors pull on me, too.

Like this. I really wanted to highlight the colorful adirondack chairs on the porch; to let them stand out more as an accent to the garage doors but they were overwhelmed by the red doors and then, ultimately, by the white railing. 

Still this was fun. In reflection, this place reminds me of a Manager's Office in some trailer park. You know, the only permanent building in the park kinda thing. And not an up-scale park, either. One of the middle-of-the-road heading to the sadder side of town trailer parks.

It's the red garage doors.

And, maybe, the numbers for the address.

OK, I'm pretty much over my fascinations with mailboxes. The pictures I got were never were interesting, even to me. I saw things within them in my mind which I just couldn't capture in the pictures.

So I pretty much gave them up. Oh, I still 'see' them and shoot them but usually end up deleting them with a disappointed sigh in the editing process.

Except for this one ... with a mailbox inside a mailbox.

Just gotta wonder why. 

Hold on cuz we're going from THIS to THAT in a heartbeat. Hahahaha, no rhyme and obviously no reason.

Winter flowers ... sweet treats in a gray, damp world.

So naturally I try to see them in B&W. No, it's valid. It's just on a different level. It's the same subject but you have to 'see' it, in some cases you can feel it, differently. You have to think about it. When you see the picture in B&W you maybe have to put your own colors in or maybe you deepen the blacks and whiten the whites. Regardless, you have to react, interact and feel something for a B&W picture even if you reject it.

When I look at them, I have to wrestle with wanting to see the color, to make them familiar. I must first recognize it for what it is and then I work at reconciling the missing color. And, finally, I work at accepting it in black, gray and white. 

Take this picture for example. As I think about it, I enjoy the patterns of varying shades of gray and the template of the flower that I must, with my expectations, reconcile.

Difficult. 

It makes me think. It challenges my emotions. But in the end I have to decide if I like it or if I don't. The key is figuring out why one way or the other.

Ahhhh, same subject but now things make sense. Now I am comfortable. I do enjoy the intense color and the arrangements, the hues. I can appreciate the subtlety of the seeds in the center and the clarity with which the camera has captured them.

And I can get caught up into the whys of Nature. Why this color pattern? Why the stamen around the seeds? Why the leafs which fold up at night. 

Really, Nature is kick-ass. And it didn't happen by accident. There is a greater hand at play here. You can't study a flower and then be able to deny the existence of a God. And the flower is nothing compared to the complexity that is a human being.

All testaments to a Living and Loving Lord.

And, bottom line, different reactions to the same subject because of how it was captured and presented. 

Heavy, Man...

POW!!

C'Mon!! Look at this!!

Mans attempts to create art pale in comparison.

And I've walked by these for most of my life. 

I appreciate that photography has allowed me; caused me to see the world around me. Allowed me an excuse to stop and not only smell the flowers but to see them, too.

And then this. Little scoops of life dolloped out randomly.

Cats, as models, can be so rude. Oh, who am I kidding, they obviously don't think their poop smells and their attitude, every minute of every day, shows it.

I was a good distance away from this fine feline and zoomed in for this shot. He wouldn't let me get close.

Jerk.

Stay with me. Switching gears. Sorta.

Little treasures I've become familiar with.

There's this one house I walk by often with a kinda secret garden thing going on. There's a small footpath off the road that let's you overlook an eclectic array of flowers, pots, and what-not that is, occasionally, rearranged, reshuffled and presented again in a new way.

I look forward to stopping by and just spending a minute enjoying the view, seeing what's new. And I try to get some pictures, too.

BOOM!!

Another quick change...

Cabin Fever: noun NORTH AMERICAN informal

irritability, listlessness, and similar symptoms resulting from long confinement or isolation indoors during the winter.

And that's what drove me out for an impromptu lunch somewhere up the coast.

Feeling the urge for adventure coupled with a small desire to save some moola, I whipped up a tasty lunchmeat spread for sandwiches and threw in a couple granola bars, got Carol, who is always ready for an adventure, and we hit the road.

The idea was to follow our noses and see where it led us. As I was motoring up The 101 North with no particular plan nor destination in mind I got the idea to have lunch on the hill overlooking Pacific City and Cape Kiawanda Rock.

We've been there before and it's a great view plus it required us to do some walking to get up to the viewpoint so ... it was the place.

It's in the Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge. As a Wildlife Refuge, it didn't disappoint. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot we got a taste of the wildlife.

FYI - We dined down where it has the symbol for the Refuge.

A couple of Black-Tailed Coastal Deer with antlers were grazing in the grass a short distance away from where we had parked the Mini.

And they weren't overly concerned with us.

Hungry and mindful of the fact that there was much more to be seen that day, we set out on the hike up the hill to the Scenic Overlook.

And saw Cape Kiawanda Rock. Pacific City is to the immediate right of the Rock, just below the sand dune hill on the right side.

Ah, typical Oregon January weather. It teases you. It changes moods so quickly it's like my blog ... you gotta run to keep up with it changing attitudes.

Take note of the tree in the right hand corner. Somehow Carol spotted ...

...this tiny guy, an American Kestrel, sitting up at the top of that tree.

Amazing. How does she do it!?!

Thanks heavens for a camera with a long lens that can really reach out there to grab those faraway pics.

And we saw this eagle making lazy circles in the sky.

I felt lucky to have gotten this. I didn't have an EVF (Electronic ViewFinder) for my camera and panning just looking at the small screen with my arms extended and waving about is beyond my abilities. Way beyond.

We definitely enjoyed ourselves but the day slipped away faster than we wanted and the sun was heading to the horizon when we left. 

Love these country roads. 

I'd promised Carol we would stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory so she could get herself an ice-cream treat and so...there we were.

They're still in their temporary Visitor's Center as the main factory is undergoing renovations.

Not as crowded as in the summer but still a healthy trade for the Cheese Factory.

There's Carol waiting for her treat.

Haha, this girl does love herself some Tillamook Ice Cream.

The Storm!!

A big storm hit the coast for a couple days and folks were warned about surges, high tides and those dangerous and deadly sneaker waves.

Still, there were some safe places to view Nature's Fury. And things got pretty doggone furious.

Case in point, one 47-year old man decided, for reasons nobody can understand, to climb over the sea wall on to the rocks in Depoe Bay. He was swept out to sea by the waves. 

His body has not been found yet.

Let's set the scene, shall we? I'd gone to the Kiwanis Meeting at 1115 knowing that high tide would be around 1230. This was the scene that presented itself to me when I got back around 1330, the high tide had come and gone and left behind a little debris.

Yeah, all that came in with the tide and ended up in the creek that runs down to the beach.

The City closed the parking lot and you can see how high the waves came up.

Wowsers!!

Lookit the size of those logs!! Good grief, they could easily take out my Mini. Or a Jackie!!

The City reacted swiftly to this and other spots around the City that had been swamped. The crane lifted the logs out of the creek and then someone with a chainsaw cut them into manageable pieces. The pieces were put into a dump truck and hauled off.

EZ-PZ and things were back to normal.

Believe me, I have a very healthy respect for the power of the ocean.

Ka-Bang!!

Carol and I were able to sponsor two more good people into our Lincoln City Kiwanis Club.

Mike and Hannah Raines were finally inducted into the LCKC and I got to introduce Mike while Carol introduced Hannah.

And now I'm just playing with my new camera. On a walk and I saw these beauties by the side of the road.

Just playing and seeing the world and figuring out my new camera.

I'm really looking forward to Spring for two reasons. One is the longer days coupled with the warmer weather and the other is there will be even more flowers. Last year I kind of slacked off, deliberately, on taking flower pictures. I've since decided what the hell. They're there. I'm here. Let's party!! 

I'm gonna grab flower pics and whatever else gets in my way. Hooah!!

Cuz there's so many, many, many doggone opportunities out there. So many ways to see them.

And I learn a tiny little bit more about my 'eye', my vision, my art (?) with each new foray into the world.

I'm seeing things. 

And, maybe, just maybe someday I'll actually bend a knee to get a picture. Y'Know, put a little effort into it. Cuz right now, I take all of them at eye-level. I keep thinking I might get a better angle/perspective/view if I just lower the camera, and myself, just a bit while taking the picture.

Who knows!?!

But I'm seeing things. I'm seeing opportunities. I'm seeing patterns, designs, themes. I'm thinking and I'm living.

And I am seeing color, too. Even though I'd rather work all in B&W, I realize the wealth of beauty out there in color. I couldn't ignore color anymore than I could ignore one of my legs. Things wouldn't work right

And I see things as a picture now. That means, when I'm working on the computer, I just need to crop it a little bit and I've got what I saw, the final picture.

I'm getting better. And loving the new camera.

But, and don't judge me, I am seriously thinking of getting another camera. The Canon PowerShot G5 X. It's another versatile 'Bridge' camera. Plus, it has a great lens. It's shorter, 24mm to 100mm, than the G3 X but, and here's the kicker, it has a fast lens. It has a f1.8 lens. There's a whole new world out there with a fast lens like that.

I'm awfully close to buying it. Awfully close!!

I would imagine, although I don't know and have no way of knowing for sure, but I would suspect that the macro would be even sharper and more detailed with the G5 X.

Maybe that's wishful thinking...Hahaha, look, I'm talking myself into it.

I enjoyed this working with this series. I like the backlighting. I like the arrangement. I like the opportunity of seeing.

But, just like that, I was shooting birds.

A White-Crowned Sparrow.

This guy was over at a house near The Hanson Gardens. This house always has feeders out for the little birds.

Like this guy.

And then I walked over to Carol's and, POW!! There were great opportunities.

But I didn't have my EVF and, Boy Howdy, does that ever make a difference in finding and fixing these fast-moving little critters.

"Anybody home?"

"Ah, my Little Chickadee."

Thank you, W.C. Fields. 

I was just going a little bit crazy trying to get this one and that one. Missed getting a clearer and closer shot of this Junko. These fellows do NOT let any grass grow under their feet.

In my defense, he doesn't stay in one place for too long. Maybe 2-3 seconds.

I just like these chickadees. Colorful and with a wee bit of personality they're among my favorites. But they're hoppers, too. Won't stay in one place for too long.

And, Surprise, Surprise, Surprise, a Thompson's Golden Warbler!!

I had thought, because of the lighting and looking just at the screen in dull light, that this was a sparrow. 

Yeah, I was more than surprised when I saw this Warbler on my computer.

And so now you know I was in a Deep, Dark, Blue Funk for the first part of the year. Things piled up and I mostly stayed indoors and in bed.

Fortunately, I was able to shake off, for the most part, the misery of overwhelming ennui and, to a good degree, get back on track with life. Finally.

And as I did, I found a bunch of nonsense Mary sent me.

Like this MPC for 5 cents. I think I got it in Vietnam long, long ago. They would print out these small bills, like this one for a nickel. The deal was they were easy to switch out every couple months to avoid counterfeits and money scams.

And, no, I do not know who she is.

In the box I got I found a couple of my neckerchiefs from the 80s when I was in Germany and a Scoutmaster. Yeah, I know. They must have been desperate for a Scoutmaster.

But it is pretty cool, eh!?!

Traveling a little further down Memory Lane, I found these Movement Orders allowing me to travel through East Germany, when it still existed and was throughly Communist, to West Berlin.

The first time we rode the Night Train out of Frankfurt. That was cool. We had sleepers on the train and I remember waking up and looking out the window at one of our several stops and seeing honest to goodness jack-booted guards with german shepherds walking alongside the train. It was like a scene in a cheap film noir movie made during the early 60s. I could see the stone and brick fences topped with barbed wire running parallel to the train tracks. The train tracks were, literally, a seam of freedom tracing itself through the East Germany countryside. A scar? I guess it depends on which side of the fence you were on.

The second time we visited West Berlin, we drove. We had to fill up the van, have it inspected and then drive. We were on a time schedule...we had so much time to get to West Berlin before they'd start looking for us. It was a tight schedule. 

There were stops along the way where I was required to stop. I had to walk into a small room and slide my documents into a slot. I couldn't see the people on the other side but I was aware of them and that they could definitely see me.

I had to wait while our papers were processed and then they reappeared through another slot. You see, since our government didn't recognize the East German Government, we were forbidden to interface with them. They weren't legal, nation-wise.

It was one straight and semi-lonely highway across the East German Countryside.

As a small aside, when we visited the actual East Berlin,  we entered that part of Berlin through the infamous Checkpoint Charlie. Hooah!!

The ocean was angry during the recent storm. Here's a picture of Terrible Tilly, a lighthouse north of us, during the storm. I got this picture from FB, the Lighthouse Group.

The top of the lighthouse is 130 feet above sea level.

They were taking a pounding that day!!

Mike and Hannah got themselves a puppy recently for their two boys. We know them because she's the Cubmaster and he's the Wolf Den Leader. They wanted a dog for the boys.

They posted this picture so I copied it and added this sentiment and posted it on FB. I think I missed it with the script. But the thought worked with the picture.

Speaking of Cub Scouts, one of the Cub Leaders wants to do something with each of the Cubs pictures during the Blue and Gold Banquet so I got the boys to pose.

Then I had the bright idea to put them all together. It worked pretty well, I think.

Staying in the Scouting Realm, Don, Carol, Hannah and I drove on down to the American Legion in Newport to meet with our new District Executive, Christian Geddes.

It's his first full-time position in Scouting. It's kinda fun working with him as he begins his career. He seems to be an earnest, sincere and genuine young man. He appears willing to listen and actually hear what you have to say.

We gave him an earful and let him know we expected some good things, support, from him.

We weren't as happy as we could be with his predecessor.

Well there it is. I broke out of the grips of the Funk and am getting back on track. I've recently gotten a new sleeping aid and it really lets me sleep in. One morning, after I'd woke up at 0330 and spent a couple hours waiting to go back to sleep, I slept in until 1330. 

WHAT THE...!?!

And then I've been knocking out some Quote Cards.

Another small thing I enjoy.

I am very accommodating. Especially when they're quiet and listen to me. Hahahahaha, I'm so freakin' old!!

I particularly liked this one although I know I missed on the script. Too much distance on top for the antique word. Should have been tighter.

But, yeah, we're just Antique Little Boys.

It was quite a trial, being in that Funk. It was pervasive and commanding. I functioned but not very well. I put on a good face the very few times when I had to go out but after the door closed, I was done. Down. I did the absolute minimum. Hahaha, the dishes really piled up. Laundry? Fugettaboutit!!

But I persisted. I persevered. With the help of a little bit of grit and my new camera I made it. The thought of the coming Spring also helped.

It was kinda like this sentiment...everything is, eventually, accomplished.