Don't forget

Bridges between... comes up again next Monday, July 7. To learn what it is all about look at RuneE's blog here. The English is below the Norwegian.

Odd Shots on Monday

Odd Shots is hosted here.

Be sure to comment on the

current post so others will know

you have participated this week.

Full details are always available

by clicking the logo in the sidebar.

This post is pre-scheduled.

I will be back within the next day

or two to visit, comment,

and update the blogroll.

It struck me as odd looking this morning.

How far through do you think we are looking?

Clear through two ranks of pipes to the front of the truck.

Photo Hunt--Theme: Bright

See TnChick for Photo Hunt details.

The light shone very bright through these windows on our cruise ship last summer. Hmmmmm! I could be ready for another cruise any old time!

ABC Wednesday W

I am travelling today--flying home from California. Since W corresponded nicely with Photo Hunt's theme of Water last Saturday, you will find my very early ABC there. Or just scroll down a bit to find it.

To find other ABC Wednesday participants, visit Mrs Nesbitt. This weekly ABC was her inspiration and she keeps us going.

Twofer Tuesday

I've been digging into my Dad's album again.

Chickens--1928

(The dog is Stubbie and the person is my grandmother.)

Neighbor's chickens--2008


Jonna started Twofer Tuesday.

Two photos sharing a theme or groups of two.

You can visit her here.

Odd Shot Monday

This is the home of Odd Shots on Monday.
Post a comment on THIS post to let everyone know
you have participated this week. Full details are here
and are always available by clicking the logo in the sidebar.


It is not upside down. I was lying on the grass under the tree.

Be patient if I don't comment or update the blogroll this week. I am traveling, and may not get to it till I return.

Camera Critters

I was going to skip Camera Critters while we were traveling, but this was too much not to share. Looks like one duckling has his own mind.

Misty Dawn sponsors Camera Critters.

Combined Post--Photo Hunt Water and ABC Wednesday W

Photo Hunters is sponsored each Saturday by TnChick.
ABC Wednesday is hosted by Mrs. Nesbitt.
Visit them both to see what wonders await.




Photo Hunt's June 21 theme of Water and ABC Wednesday reaching the letter W on June 25 have arrived within days of each other, so, since I will be traveling this week, I will post a joint offering today. Hmmm, maybe I should have included something Odd for Odd Shots Monday. Apologies for not doing much visiting during either of these memes because of travel. I'll get around some when I return.
~
So we will look at water at Mt. Rainier National Park in various forms and scales.
~
Here it is in droplets of rain on a just budding Anenome or Pasqueflower...
...and here is is in the form of fog--or a cloud (depending on where you stand) over the White River Valley.

I couldn't pass up the wonderful reflection in the still water of this pond near the Stevens Canyon Entrance Station.

Water can show up as ice if you hike in the late fall.

Ice takes on grand proportions as a glacier--in this case, the Nisqually Glacier in winter. When I say grand proportions, notice the scale of the snout of the glacier in comparison to the snowboarders on the snow below it.


Water can sculpt the terrain, can stress the infrastructure, and also, among many other things, can make possible scenes like this, near a stream in Berkeley Park north of Sunrise.

If I tracked down all the waterfall pictures that I have, this post would go on and on and on. Indeed, how many photos does blogspot allow? But here is a small sampling.

~

Silver Falls, on the Ohanapecosh River--a lovely loop hike from the campground or a shorter hike from the Grove of the Patriarchs parking lot.

Falls Creek. No need to question the creek's name. There is plenty of water in the form of creeks in the Park.

A glance at the map and a memory of where we were hiking on this day tells me that if this waterfall has a name, it is Affi Falls.

But some waterfalls, fleeting visitors during snowmelt, remain nameless.


Water has had an impact everywhere in the Mt. Rainier region for millennia. Five thousand years ago, the Oseola mudflow (mud being water and earth) traveled far into the Puget Sound, creating the land upon which now sit many of Seattle's neighboring cities. Its abundance or lack is the basis of the park's varying ecosystems. In the form of snow, it closes portions of the Park for the winter, and slows travel in others--and extended even into June this year. Snow and ice can be a life threatening encounter when weather shifts for climbers or high elevation hikers. Water, in the form of 18 inches of rain in 36 hours on November 6, 2006, set off flooding and slides which severely impacted the ecology, the infrastructure, and visitors on the mountain for more than a year.

~

Photo Hunt Theme for June 21--Water

ABC Wednesday for June 25 -- W

Katney's Kaboodle is One Year Old Today

Arte y Pico

Being recognized by fellow bloggers is a humbling and heartening experience. Though blogging is a bit of a personal thing, it is also expansive. Whatever reason you may blog, whatever style, whatever goal or crusade you might embark upon, you are throwing some bit of yourself out into the wide world of the blogosphere for any and all to see. If you are shy, you become, through the blog, gregarious. You can talk to people. You can travel the world with the click of a mouse.

~

Some may say an internet relationship is no relationship at all. That is because they don't understand them. Are internet relationships the same as those with your neighbor or your school friend? No, they are not the same. Can they be as intense? I think so.

~

I have friends who have met over the internet and married and remain married after many years. I have met people half around the world first on the internet and then in person and know others who have done the same. I have had adventures with blogging friends, with forum friends, with e-mail friends. I have encouraged, and been encouraged. I have learned and taught and shared.

~
I visit Inland Empire Girl several times a week at her blog Gathering around the Table. We have several things in common--we are both teachers, love books, love the outdoors, words, photography, gardening (though she is considerably better at it that I am.) We have other things in common she is not aware of. It is not inconceivable that we might meet face to face one day.

~
The other day, Inland Empire Girl stopped by to tell me she had an award for me. I am humbled and heartened. Here it is:

It is called Premio Arte Y Pico, and translated from the Spanish here is its explanation:

This award is "dedicated to many who nourish and enrich the spirit and creativity. They see dedication, creativity, camaraderie, joy, and above all ART, much art. I wish that this prize is entertaining to all those bloggers and to bloggers who day by day share this space and enrich it a little more each day." Arte Y Pico at http://arteypico.blogspot.com/

The Rules are these:
1) Select 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award, creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter what language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award-winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award
itself.

4) The award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show a link of "Arte y pico" blog, so everyone will know the
origin of the award.

Do you know how hard #1 is?

Only five! Which five best fit those exact criteria? Which five do I choose? Why can't I chose ten? Why can't I choose them all?

So, here goes:

First and Second: A blogging couple. I have met several in the blogosphere. Blogging from South Africa, Max-E and SuzyK share their corner of the world with us with awesome photographs, insightful analysis of events in their neighborhood and their country, delightful wanderings. What one did not tell of their recent trip to Lesotho was detailed by the other--and is some cases the two sides of the same adventure made a delightful contrast. Stop by to see Max at The Max Files and if that header doesn't blow you away, nothing will. Suzy can be found at Arty Farting Around and check out her art blog as well.

Third: You must visit Imac whose stunning images on Imac's Photos from the Mind's Eye will amaze you. He's a time traveler, too!

Dot, from Strolling through Georgia is my number four. She is the one who invigorates us all, inspiring us to share in the group blog Picture This (a no comment blog).

My number five is a blog I have recently begun visiting regularly. I am not sure who led me there, but Thank you, whoever you are. I came, I looked, and I liked what I saw at Faith, Fabric and Photos. It is well written, well photographed--and I am jealous as all get out of those macro lenses!

For some reason I couldn't do the nice cool hyperlinks for those last few paragraphs. I think blogger hiccuped. I'll fix them later if I can. Fixed. And now I must go tell them all.* This weird font anomaly is a blogger hiccup, too. Hopefully that can be fixed later, too. Nope, still hiccuping on that one.

*It appears that I have unwittingly entered into some no-tag zones. (I never heard of no tag zones--hmmm, gotta think about that.) These bloggers have the right and reason to not participate in passing things like this along and I respect that--some of them can get a bit crazy( the tags, not the bloggers). I will, however, leave my post as it is, as these are the five that I have chosen.

ABC Wednesday -- V

You can learn more about
ABC Wednesday and learn who
else has participated in V by visiting
Mrs. Nesbitt.


V is for Sitka Valerian which grows in the meadows.



V is for Vanilla Leaf which grows in the forest.
(Note--not the spice, but the leaf has a faint vanilla-like scent.)

And most of all, V is for VOLUNTEERS, who make many organizations more successful than they otherwise might be.
~
Volunteers learning about volcanoes at training last summer.



Volunteers working to clear a fallen tree from the trail. We needed a larger saw.



Volunteer shoveling steps in a snow bank to make the trail safer for early season hikers.



My husband and I are members of the Volunteers in the Parks at Mt. Rainier National Park. Our volunteer program at Mt. Rainier expanded tremendously last summer due to the response to needs generated by the floods the previous November, and received a national award for outstanding volunteer program. National Park Volunteers help with trail and campground maintenance, visitor services, and many other tasks that free up Rangers for vital duties.



Many organizations can use the help of volunteers to improve services. You can volunteer with church, library, senior center, youth organizations, hospice, schools...the list is endless. Volunteering can be a hugely rewarding experience. Volunteer in your community today!

It's Alarming!

It is the third evening of the first week off from school.

I went into the bedroom to change into something comfortable for the evening.

And I almost set the alarm clock.

Am I out of my mind?

Twofer Tuesday--Rings true

Stop by to see Jonna if you post a Tuesday Twofer.

Odd Shots Monday--When Two Libraries Merge

I host Odd Shots Monday here. You can find the details by clicking the Odd Shots logo in my sidebar. Leave a comment here to let us know you are participating this week. I add newbies to the blogroll when the join, and remove those who have not participated after two or three weeks.

When two lives merge, odd combinations of titles find themselves in juxtaposition on the bookshelf.

Photo Hunt--Emotions

Mixed Emotions

As much joy as we get from our visits to Mt. Rainier, it can also lead to sorrow, as it did this last weekend when a hiker lost his life in blizzard conditions. Even in June, it is necessary to be prepared for abrupt weather changes if you hike at high elevations.

Go to see TnChick for PhotoHunt.

ABC Wednesday-U

Look to Mrs. Nesbitt

for ABC Wednesday

details and links

to participants.

U was hard for me. The other day I said to my hubby, "I know what I will do for U. Upsit Creek." Somehow that didn't ring right, and I remembered that it is Ipsut Creek.

~

So I realized that I would fall back on two Us that are always available.

~

The first of these is Under.

~

It is exciting to watch to see what is under things around you as you hike at Mt. Rainier, or anywhere.

~

Like these mushrooms growing under a bit of grass along the Rampart Ridge trail in August last year.

Or the Ohanapecosh River rushing under this footbridge. You really have to watch what's under your feet here.

And sometimes you have to hike under a leaning tree, such as this one that was on the Grove of the Patriarchs trail last November.

Early last July we did a bit of shoveling on a bridge near Shadow Lake...

...to reveal that in this particular spot under the snow was the bridge. There was concern that hikers not knowing exactly where the bridge was were crossing where the only thing under a crust of snow each side of it was the creek.


U is also for UP.

~

When in the Old Growth Forest at Ohanapecosh it's not hard to find a reason to look up.

Here on the Frying Pan Creek trail last October we hiked a long way up.

The fog was hovering over this peak (from looking at the map, I think it is Eagle Peak) near Cougar Rock Campground the other day. It would be quite a hike to go up that. There is a trail that goes up around the other side of it. On the map it shows a lot of switchbacks to get up there, and it doesn't go to the top.

Here we were looking up toward Little Tahoma Peak. I found the elevation of that since I featured it last week for T. It is 11138 feet (3395 m) and considered on its own would be the third highest in Washington.

But the ultimate Up is the mountain itself. Mt. Rainier. At 14,410 feet, it is only about 80 feet short of California's Mt. Whitney, which is the highest in the 48 contiguous states. (Alaska has several that are higher.)

So would you climb up that mountain? Many do. Some ten thousand a year attempt and about half complete the climb. When I was much younger, I didn't even consider it as my fear of heights would have paralyzed me. Now, that fear of heights does not bother me as much, but at my age, I think I will stay where I can look up.

~

Once, while hiking as National Park Volunteers, we visited on the trail with a couple who told us their story of climbing the peak 36 years earlier along with their two oldest children. After we parted, by the time we put the arithmetic together to decide that they must now be well into their seventies, we looked after them and saw that they were far out of sight up the trail.

~
So there you are. Don't forget to look under and up.