Carnival

I am not much of a carnival goer, and we haven't been to the Central Washington Fair for a couple of years, but when we did, I got some great shots of the midway as the sun went down and the lights went up.

Our Header challenge this week is Carnival, suggested by Lew. You can see what the other Headbangers chose by following their links in my sidebar. For me, it is going to be a matter of deciding on my favorite of these shots.

bungee jump 

passing the ferris wheel

tiltawhirl?

look up (better than looking down)

giant wheel

another bungee couple

The Yoyo

yoyo is fast

verrrrrry fast

Chaos

Chaos.

It is fire season in the Northwest. Fires rage in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. the largest is the Carlton Complex Fire in North Central Washington. At 381 square miles it is the largest in Washington history.

The town of Pateros was in the path of this fire. You can click to get an idea.

The opposite of chaos is the courage and organization of firefighters from across the country coming in to fight this fire. The opposite is the outpouring of help to those affected.

I was considering using this image from the area affected by the Milepost 24 Fire near us last year.

But it is nothing to compare.

So I will leave my header without an image this week.

Our little group challenges each other to post a header to a theme each week. The others are listed in my sidebar.

Water

Water

 

God called the dry land "the earth,"

and the basin of the water he called "the sea."

God saw how good it was.  Genesis

one of my favorite fountains in Seattle

Knowing that I live in the Pacific Northwest, the impression might be that I live among abundant rainfall and a wealth of water. That is a stereotype of our state.

When it rains, it pours.

It is true that our state contains at least two temperate rain forests, several year-round snow covered peaks, more than 25 glaciers, snow and water skiing, and a variety of other evidences of an abundance of the H2O.

But the truth is, I live in a desert.

 

while as yet there was no field shrub on earth and no grass of the field had sprouted, for the LORD God had sent no rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the soil, Genesis

It almost seems like wherever we go in Washington, we have a view of one of the mountains. Do you see Mt. Adams peeking over the hill in the distance?

 Webster's: 1 a :  arid land with usually sparse vegetation; especially :  such land having a very warm climate and receiving less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of sporadic rainfall annually

Washington has two main ranges of mountains which are oriented from north to south--the Olympics and the Cascades. By the time the moisture coming in from the Pacific has fallen in the rain forests of the Olympic Peninsula, on the cities of the Puget Sound, and climbs the Cascades with a dusting or dumping of snow, there is little left for us in the valleys of Eastern Washington. (Eastern Oregon is similar.)

The Header theme that Mac gave us for this week is

Water.

While my home in the Yakima Valley is literally a desert with around ten inches of precipitation falling each year, it is a rich farmland due to irrigation. 

Mt. Adams in the distance beyond the sprinklers

 To enrich the waste and desolate ground

till the desert blooms with verdure?  Job

Grape vines overlook other crops and another set of sprinklers and the Horse Heaven Hills beyond.

 

Seed production in the Mid Columbia (and the sprinkler lines beyond.)

Circle Line Irrigation rig. (and another mountain view in the distance.)

 The computerized circle lines are a great improvement over the hand lines--looks like these are no longer in use.

These were idle in Eastern Oregon, but it WAS February.

These look more like they are getting ready for the season in early May. I like this image simply as a graphic.

 

So where does all this water come from?

but a stream was welling up out of the earth and was watering all the surface of the ground    Genesis

 

I don't have a picture of Grand Coulee Dam, but it is only one, and one of the earliest of the projects of the Bureau of Reclamation that make irrigated agriculture a possibility (and provide many megawatts of hydroelectricity.)

Just at the far edge of the visible water you can see Wanapum Dam on the Columbia.
It is one of a series of dams downstream from Grand Coulee.

What happens when the structure of a dam is compromised?

We took the above picture of the Columbia River when we climbed up to the Wild Horse statues near Vantage a few years ago. If we made the climb today--well, we would definitely not do the hike TODAY as it is 101º F.--desert anyone? Nevertheless, the view from this spot now has much less water, as some months ago the Wanapum Dam was found to have a crack. The water behind the dam was drawn down to relieve the pressure on the structure. The "beach" extends about halfway out into the river. The State Park at the upper right of the photo is closed to protect the environment and prevent people from illegal digging for artifacts. Additional efforts are made to insure the migration of fish.

 

Other dams

Shasta Dam in Northern California (Mt. Shasta in the background) is part of the irrigation system for California's Central Valley. From the water level of Lake Shasta, you can see part of the effects of drought.



Hoover Dam on the Arizona-Nevada border controls the Colorado and provides hydro power for a large area.
Lake Mead, behind it is even lower than Lake Shasta. Lake Powell, behind Glen Canyon Dam near the Arizona-Utah border is lower still.

 

Back in Washington, water from those series of dams is diverted into canals to serve the various irrigation districts in the Yakima Valley, the MidColumbia, the Wenatchee Valley, etc.


Diversion dams like this one control the irrigation canals.
 

Water

 

There is not much of wild water left. We have done so much to control it. What might have been if we hadn't?

 

Control of the water provides irrigation and hydropower.

 

It provides flood control.

 

It also makes available habitat for wildlife.

 

 Then God said, "Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky." And so it happened:   Genesis

 

It provides abundant recreation.

 

And in some areas provides transportation.

One of the Washington State Ferries approaches the dock in Seattle.

Here in the desert we are not slave to the ferry schedule. When you live on an island in the Puget Sound, you are. Yes, that ferry has just left, it is not just arriving. We waited an hour for the next one to get off the island after visiting a friend.

"May God give to you of the dew of the heavens

And of the fertility of the earth abundance of grain and wine."  Genesis

 

 

Headbanger Challenge--WATER

Visit my Headbanger friends from the links in my sidebar and see what wonderful views of water they have found.



Pup Heroes

I am looking through photo archives in preparation for this coming week's Header theme and found this picture, which I remembered but did not search out last week.

We were traveling by air a few years ago, and while awaiting our plane in Ontario, California we were graced with the presence of these service dogs in training. They were on an excursion to practice being in various situations without getting stressed.

It has been over three years since we met them, so they are now working dogs in service to persons with disabilities.

Awesome!

Pup

Craver gave us the theme of "PUP" for our headers this week.

We haven't had a puppy around here for a very long time. Our dog Babe died at the ripe old age of 14, which is approximately 98, I think, in dog years. And that was nearly ten years ago.

My grandson got a new puppy when we were visiting earlier in the year. It was instant puppy love.

But the ultimate puppy in the family is Spencer. These pictures of Spencer were taken when we visited my brother last Thanksgiving. He was not quite a year old.

Since then we are assured that Spencer has been to obedience school. I don't think Don had had a dog since we were kids.

It's another case of puppy love.

When we visit our grandson again in November, will Kinsey be as big as Spencer?

The other headbangers will be showcasing their pups. Find their blogs from the links in my sidebar.

"What is that!?"

This week's Headbangers theme was proposed by Tom the Fishing guy, who is wondering WHAT IS THAT?

My daughter saw this from inside the restroom when we went to Deep Lake while we were camping. And there was movement. What is that?

 

Hangry Birds.

Still at Deep Lake.

My daughter was the one with the eagle eye.

WHAT IS THAT?

 

Another local resident out for a stroll.

 

Deep lake was fun.

The kids went swimming and kayaking.

That works up an appetite.

 

WHAT IS THAT?

Something is cooking in the Dutch Ovens.

Add another pan with a little ingenuity and some foil.

 

Pizza for dinner!

 

 

Once again posting the evening before Headbanger day as it's another doctor day and the appointments start early tomorrow.

 

What's that that the other Headbanger challenges have found? Check their posts and headers from the links in my sidebar.