Then came the pandemic years…

 I enjoyed assembling this online repository for photos and short essays on things that give me doses of happiness.  It takes some effort to figure out the formatting, but I think I will enjoy giving it another whirl. It’s certainly no more cumbersome a platform than Facebook. And it is quieter over here.  

I’ll need to do some tidying up.  For example most of the “Missing Links” were from my big brother, David, who is posting from a much higher platform nowadays.  

It’s rather nice of Google to have reserved this real estate for me over the years.  I’ll be Bach—spoken in my version of Arnold’s accent.

And Then There Was Facebook

And there went another couple of years!

(This link would take you there; but beware, it's kind of addictive.)

River Sound

As a Southern Californian I will always find the sound of a river enchanting.  Here are just about 30 seconds of the Smith River running beside Highway 199 east of Crescent City.

Playing on Pinterest

Critter Pictures

About a year ago I purchased an iPad and went to visit my sister.  While we were visiting we played with our new toys and discovered something called Pinterest.  If anybody has wondered where the author of this blog disappeared for the past year or so, the explanation may be found here at my collection of pictures on pinterest.  It is strangely addictive this "pinning" game.

Artwork

Food

  

Home Grown Tomatoes

"What'd life be without home grown tomatoes?"  

A new raised bed, and a hot summer in Seattle, that's all it took.

Painting and Photography

Blue Jay Bathing by Charley Harper, famous American Modernist
from Cincinnati (born and raised in West Virginia.)

Charley Harper once remarked, "...herein lies the lure of painting; in a world of chaos, the picture is one small rectangle in which the artist can create an ordered universe."  

I think this is also one of the lures of photography, and why I enjoy my brother's photos so much. Humboldt in Digital

Stellars Jay by Dave, famous Humboldt in Digital photographer

In art and photography one's attention is drawn to something that might otherwise have remained unseen.

Rain

Sure, there are some negative aspects to our seemingly endless rain.  For example webbed feet are probably going to be an impediment the next time I try to wear flip-flops.  In the meantime the runoff seems to have entered our municipal water supply.  Thus every shampoo ends with a rainwater rinse and one may luxuriate in extra soft hair without the application of special hair products.  You may call me Fluffy, at least until our water turns hard again.  

Rain and wind, rain and wind...
http://www.weather.gov

A Nice Pot of Pintos

Something else that just can't be beat.

 Link to recipe for overnight soak or short soak method

Put to soak the night before.

Rinsed and ready to cook the next day.

"Good belly fodder!"

Once they have cooked up nice and tender and creamy-textured you can doctor them with some salt & pepper, maybe chili powder & a little cumin... or maybe just a little El Pato Salsa de Chile Fresco.  Olé!  Serve them with carrot sticks & a slice of fresh bread to soak up the juice.  Just like lunch every Friday at our old elementary school. 

This pot is from a two-pound bag of Western Family pintos I had in my pantry & in the whole two pounds of beans I found NO pebbles.   It made me a little nervous because over the years I've sorted through a lot of beans & there are always one or two sneaky little bean-shaped stones in a bag.  I'm not going to stop looking for them, but this was a pleasant surprise!

Redwoods

There's simply nothin' else like 'em.  

Alaska

Remembering the good parts of even the most difficult times.

Standing on the ocean, yep!
Does this person look comfortable?

Our de Havilland Twin Otter

The other pilot, Dan, and one of our mechanics
It is wonderful to have a mechanic along when one flies in Alaska.

A beautiful sight after a long flight over open water and sea ice.