extras for blog below

I refer to these two shots in the post below.

North Head

Once again, we hit Seattle right, weather-wise. On the first Sunday in November, we took off after church hoping for only a drizzle. The weather we got was phenomenal, considering the forecast for more of the same. It had rained for 12 straight days and we're expecting rain at least through Wednesday. It's been a very wet early winter. But there is a couple feet of snow up in the Cascades and the ski resorts are opening. Considering the brutal lack of snow in the mountains the last 3-4 winters, this is a very good start. We may even go cross-country skiing one of the next couple weekends.
Upon arrival, it was windy and chilly at Seattle's Discovery Park (north near Ballard), but surprisingly, the sun was streaming through the clouds. We put on sweatshirts, hats, gloves, and hiking boots for the one mile trek down to the beach. When the clouds started to move away from the Olympics in the background, I was delighted with the backdrop for this lighthouse sticking out into Puget Sound. All around the point were sailboats, working cargo ships, seagulls and cormarants, and even a couple wind-surfers in wet suits.
It's funny how you can start out in a chilly place and begin walking. Pretty soon you are wondering why you have on a heavy sweatshirt. Up and down the hills that slope toward the Sound make for a strenuous walk and soon you are, indeed, sweating. So even though it's called a sweatshirt, you really aren't interested in sweating, but "Perspire on, Hardy Soul!". Off come the gloves, hat, and windbreaker/rain jacket. They'll be ready for the windy point when we get down to the lighthouse.
It brings back memories of living in northern Wisconsin. We'd go to the Madeline State Park Cross-Country Ski trails after school and ski 5-7 km. The best temperature was around 5 degrees. You'd start out chilled and within 10 minutes, you were taking off gloves and the outer windbreaker because of how much energy you were putting out skiing. I don't recall kicking off the shoes though. I think I was doomed to have eternally cold feet. I'm just glad they didn't affect me 24 years ago. I would never have done so well in the marriage dept. It's hard to believe - 24 years.
The hike travels along the bluffs, which are actually giant sand dunes with soil on top. Looking at the small forest that we walked through, I'd guess these dunes have not moved for centuries. The hike is only a mile with an elevation drop of about 400 feet, I'm guessing. We reached the beach and moved along the drift wood. I had an inspiration for a picture using a depth of field technique. see blog above
We watched a couple guys wind surfing. After a while, a diver popped up near the jetty and took pictures of them from below. They tried to get action shots of them being lifted high after jumping. I didn't really plan my picture well and missed getting them in the air. The photo I got, though, was kind of funny. It shows lines from the parachute going down into a big splash. again, see blog above
On the way back, we had a great view of a shower coming our way across the sound. Here it is in black and white. In many of the digital photo mags that I read while at Barnes and Noble, there's been a growing interest in B/W shots. I've been toying with some with decent results.
I think I could write another two pages about Sunday. Maybe at a later time.
We both continue to be amazed at how much we have seen and experienced in Western Washington. It's said that Sheboygan isn't hell, but you can see it from there. Western Washington isn't heaven (try following our disgusting politics for proof), but I think we can see it from here. La Crosse County residents, You may claim to live in God's country, but this is his art studio.

Some days you just have to be at the right place at the right time. Such are the fortunes of a photographer, pro or amateur.

These two photos were taken within about 50 yards from each other, but about an hour apart. We were standing near the locks that connect Lake Washington to Puget Sound on the north side of Seattle. Of course, this is a relative explanation. For the guys on the tug boat coming off of Puget Sound, its the connection from Puget Sound TO Lake Washington. Some people are so narrow minded. This explanation is for those of you out there in Blogland, who need a precise explanation. You know who you are.

There are two parks on either side of the dam that separates these two bodies of water. On the north side, near the locks is the Army Corps of Engineers park and flower garden. I call it a flower garden because the government spent a lot of money for the signs that say just that. Without the signs, it's just a park with some paths that have about five plots of flower beds; not what comes to mind when you see numerous signs touting "gardens". Since it's their park, their signs, and a relatively cheap way to enjoy an hour or so hoping to witness a boat accident among high priced boats and the snooty people who own them, I'll call them flower gardens.

As stated earlier, the Army Corps of Engineers built the locks and operate them. There are two areas for boats to moor while descending or ascending to their desired navigable destination. The large area on the north is about the size of a couple narrow football fields, while the smaller one takes up the square footage (in liquid terms) that would round out the two-football-field analogy.

One must both cringe and inwardly smile the way one of the four to five attendants treat the operators of the private craft that give the impression of being less than skilled at fine-tuned navigation. From the way he snarls at the boats that take too long to decide whether they will wait for the next lockage to the smirks and condescending advice thrown at those who can't decide whether to tie their ropes on both stem and stern or one or the other. He give the impression that he both dislikes his job AND enjoys the sarcasm enormously. The fumbling and bumbling of some of the pilots is in front of about 50 to 150 onlookers from above.

One such inaptitude was witnessed toward the end of our visit to the locks and the fish ladders located on the south of the dam. We were on our way back to our vehicle when we noticed a singe pilot having difficulty maneuvering his sailboat out toward the Sound after being lowered in the locks. Why he was all alone, one can not know. My guess is that he couldn't wait to get out on his new/used boat despite his wife telling him that she wouldn't put her life in his hands until after he took sailing lessons. Another possibility was that his friends decided that they would no longer put their lives in his hands after traveling with him by water on previous outings. Either way, he was not a master of the seas. He simply took a long time to get out of the chamber. In his defense, a lady next to us who was watching, too, mentioned that it was not as easy as it looked since there were strange currents near the locks and dams. He was making a case for her explanation.


Once he finally got clear of the locks, he drifted off to the south near the fish ladders and the netting installed to steer the salmon toward them. He had the nets cleared, narrowly missing them the first time. But he was not to be denied. Looking closely at the bottom picture you can see that his boat is right on top of the end of the floats that held up the netting. He sat there for quite some time before another boater happened along-side. I can only assume that he eventually got help, but the harbor patrol was probably not in a hurry to get there, since the only danger that he was in was one of dying of embarrassment. Remember, it was a gorgeous day and those 50 to 150 people on the locks were about 1/3 of those visiting the parks at the time.

One other bonus for visiting this area is to peer into the viewing windows located to see the salmon and other fish using the fish ladders, unique in two ways: a rare fish ladder where salt and fresh water meet, and; an uncommon viewing area at a fish ladder. Many of life's best things to do are free. In Seattle, this is a favorite destination, along with viewing the surround area from Queen Anne Hill, and shopping a people watching at the Pike Street Market.

Salmon and a Sunset

Our Sunday afternoon and evening trip to Seattle finally gave us some time to relax. I've been training to sell appliances at a major player in the dept. store scene. And weekend trips will be harder to come by until after Christmas. We visited the locks and fish ladder at the entry to Lake Washington. It's the only fish ladder where fresh and salt water meet, we are told. The viewing windows shows Chinook and Sockeye salmon swimming upstream.
A trip to the Pike Street Market gained another bouquet of flowers for our counter. The purple and yellow dahlias are great.
Now that the sun is setting earlier in the evening, we waited for dusk. This is not really possible in the summer as the twilight and sunset are both late. Getting home after them is not pleasant. In any event, I finally was able to take some night shots of the city. Turned out pretty good, I'd say.

The park on Queen Anne Hill is on Highland St (or Ave. Or parkway or something). A three block walk to the west gets you to the west side of the hill which gives a nice view of the Olympics, Puget Sound, and some large marinas. The sunset there is also pretty nice.

Go Hike to a Glacier

I should have picked up one of the rocks from this glacier to give to my friend, Dave Allerheiligen for his rock garden. On second thought, he can get one when he visits.
We finally got a chance to hike up the Carbon River to its source, the Carbon Glacier on Mt. Rainier. In altitude, this is the lowest lying glacier in the lower 48 states. I think it is also the longest. It was amazing to watch the end of the glacier, or snout. Lots of small, medium, and large rocks tumbled down from the top or from within the glacier as it melted. One such boulder, much larger than a pickup truck was suspended in the glacier, with about 80 percent sticking out from melting.
Just before we left there, that HUGE (emphasis VERY LARGE) boulder sticking out at about 100 feet above the valley floor came tumbling down the "snout" of the glacier. I have photos of rocks suspended in the glacier that would probably fall out as the glacier melts. After teaching about it and learning about it near the Kettle Morraines of Wisconsin, I now have experienced first hand what that means. Way Kewl! Yesterday's hike was outstanding.
In the photos below, one of the walls of the glacier has some of those rocks highlighted. On the one of the entire glacier "snout" find the huge boulder to the upper right above and to the right of the cave on the right. For perspective, those cave entrances are approximately 30 - 40 feet tall.

More or less waiting

Waiting. The waiting has been frustrating. No word from the textbook company and no mail from the online school has been received. Being unemployed gives you a bit too much time to think about what you aren't doing. There's very little chance to go golfing since there's no bucks with which to do it. So you keep on filling out endless resumes and work applications which are filed in someone's office, never to be seen again until they're purged in six months.
So it's off to part time work. I'll be starting to learn how a large tutoring concern teaches their clients for a couple hours. I will also try to find a morning p/t job to fill in the gaps. I'm trying to be patient and not lose faith.

The thing that is most difficult is not having the gas money to go up to the Olympic penninsula or the coast as often on weekends as we'd like. Fortunately, we can go over to the Nisqually WIldlife Refuge, maintained by the US Wildlife agency. It's admission is part of our Golden Eagle passport, which also gets us into the National Monument Buildings at Mt. St. Helens. It's only $15 more than the National Parks pass. These are the types of taxes that I don't mind paying. I can see my dues at work.

The picture is one of about four Blue Herons that were near the 5 mile walking path.

later in August

Well, if I'm supposed to just wait, then that's what I'm doing. Now i have three possible job offers to wait for.
I had an interview in Mossyrock, to teach 8th thru 10 grade math in their jr. and sr. high schools. I received a tour of the whole school complex, a grilling interrogation (always unpleasant, but necessary), and even worse, a test to see how much I'd forgotten. The test came after an hour and a half of questioning. I answered one question, but really didn't have any mental capacity left for the other two.

While touring the building, I met a couple people in the halls and walked in on the end of cheerleader practice. The students and coaches smiled and waved a greeting. That's a good sign of respectful students, as well as welcoming people who give a good example. I think that I could be content there. There'd be no extra duties piled on, just teach.

The above photo was taken at Northwest Trek in Eatonville. There are five sandhill cranes moving about the park. This one, was nice and close. Unfortunately, the driver didn't really give a chance for decent photos. I was disappointed in the tour, it was just too rushed.

Waiting

I'm waiting, and not doing an particularly good job of it. It's frustrating to really want a particular job and not really hear word of whether or not your belief that you had an excellent interview and may well be chosen for your dream job. Unfortunately, stuff in the educational field seems to slow to a winter's molasses pace. And a corporation doesn't want to pay you to train until it's the very last day possible to get the job done. So you wait.

The pic is a snowy owl at the NW Trek near Eatonville, WA. It's a wild game reserve with a large area for elk, deer, bison, sand hill cranes, and woodlands caribou to roam freely. An hour tram ride takes you through the park, a donated piece of land by a couple who still lives there on the property. A walking path takes visitors to large enclosures with a grizzly bear, black bears, wolves, lynx, bobcat, cougar, beaver, fisher, owls, eagles, and a few other animals. On a Saturday, it's quite busy. It's probably a more relaxing day during a cool fall day during the week.

Old Guitar

We hosted the in-laws over the weekend. Next weekend the outlaws will be here.

Luke was given a guitar by his grandfather that had been stored for many years. It was purchased in the late 60's in Mexico by Audie and Karen's music teacher. There were some old strings and the tuning knobs were rusted and gone. A trip to Music 6K in Olympia gave hope and advice.

Replace the tuning knobs with a package purchased there. Use lighter fluid to clean the fret board. Rub with the grain of the wood using 0000 steel wool. Use furniture polish to clean the rest of the body. Replace the strings and you'll have a good guitar to play. Luke worked on it for about three hours. When it was completed, it was really in very good shape. It sounds like a good accoustic guitar should.


On another good note: We're going to get to see the Boeing Greater Seattle Classic Golf Tournament at the Snoqualmie TPC course. One of Dee's suppliers is a sponsor. I had her call to see if they could get tickets, the local store checked it out and she came home with some complimentary tix. Thanks, Lumberman's.

Carbon River Waterfalls

We finally found a way to get to Mt. Rainier's northwest side. From Buckley, we went south to Wilkeson and into Rainier National Park at the Carbon River entrance. Once in the park, we traveled to Ranger Falls, then Chenuis Falls, and Ipsut Falls. Our next visit there will involve a 3 mile hike up to the lowest lying glacier on Rainier, Carbon Glacier.
In the mean time, we enjoyed a trip to Ranger Falls up the Green Lake trail. This area contains Rainier's only rain forest. The trail to the Ranger Falls included 800 year-old Douglas Fir trees. We were reminded of the great old growth forest on the southeast side of the park - Grove of the Patriarchs.
Our favorite falls of the day were only .25 miles from the parking area. Unfortunately, getting over the rushing water of the Carbon River was a bit risky. We were rewarded with a beautiful view of Chenuis Falls, a long, wide, cascading falls flowing over a wide outcropping of lava.
Our trip concluded near the Ipsut Creek Campground with a view of the Ipsut waterfall and lower rapids. We discovered that from there, we will some day soon hike up to the Carbon glacier, a 7 mile round trip along the Carbon River to the lowest lying glacier (in elevation) in the contiguous US. The views to the summit must be tremendous.

before leaving

We had another fine walkabout on Thursday night at Chamber Creek. Here's some wildflowers that we found near the power co. offices.

Waiting

I'm waiting for word on the interview that I had last week. It's hard to wait. I was told that it could be 2-3 weeks and I have to continue to fill out applications for other educational endeavors. So be it (sith-speak?)

My stamper for being a Washington State Notary Public Arrived yesterday. I am bonded beginning July 4th. Now I need to look into becoming a signing agent and/or do the eNotarizing thing. I suppose that will have to be researched tomorrow. I have to wait to get going on that.

I am amazed how people think that divorce will solve problems, especially by those who have been divorced once or twice already. They normally find the same kind of person and make the same mistakes each time they get remarried. It's no wonder the Bible says what it does in Malachi 2:16 (look it up). The focus is not on those who divorce, but the concept itself. I hope that those involved will stop, wait, and try to follow through on what their counselors have said. It's amazing that only the people with the problems can change. No one can do it for them.

Deception Pass 

� dldahlberg 

Back at it

Hmm, It's been about a year since my last blog. How up-to-date can one be? Here goes.
The thing most on my mind is my interview last Tuesday with a textbook company. This is one of my dream jobs. To sell textbooks and give workshops so teachers can learn to better use online resources.

I also have my app in for linkonlearning.com, the online teaching site of the Lake Havasu (City) School District in AZ. Their human resources person calls it a lucrative opportunity. That's interesting. We'll see how it goes. I've got to get a couple things into the mail soon. Maybe I'd better go hike over to the mailbox right now.

My favorite site is still Grant Dixon's Elements Challenges. I used the attached photo as a background for this week's challenge #125. That's at http://www.cavesofice.org/~grant/Challenge/Welcome.html