WEARIN' 'O THE GREEN

 I am a day late, but I wasn't home to do this until now.

There are so many greens in our natural world, especially here in the northwest. 

I got carried away here, but I did actually restrain myself.

Some creatures wear green all the time:

 

Teasle, still in the green:

 Douglas Fir new growth:

In the end, no one wears it better!

SAME 'OLE / SAME 'OLE

As I sat at my computer to start downloading the puddle photos of the following blog, a brightness (not the sun, phooey!) burst through the window and back-lighted a bouquet of tulips on my desk.

It was only momentary, but just long enough for me to pick up my camera before the downloading had started.

Yes, every single year I photograph tulips on my desk!

But hey - they bring spring to my heart long before it has occurred outside!

I am so thrilled that the auto-turn glitch has been fixed and I can post my photos as I have taken them, and without distortion! 

I love that this one seems to be filling with the color of the yellow tulip underneath:

FINGERPAINTING, ANYONE?

Yesterday while D and I were on our early-morning bike ride, the temp was below freezing enough to put a thin layer of ice on the bike trail puddles.

Not a thing of beauty, a shallow mud puddle; I would much rather come across a nice backyard garden pool for ice photos.

Mud below, and no macro lens meant I shouldn't have even bothered.

However, it was fascinating that such varied patterns could occur on barely one-inch-deep water.

This one does indeed look like finger painting:

Fascinating how little pebbles could cause a rift in the freezing process:

 This one looks like it was tossed in at the very second of the freezing point, creating a "splash" of ice:

 And waves, in thin ice?

 Why straight lines here instead of curved like all the others?

MORE SNOW OVERNIGHT!

I was the first one "out there" this morning!  More snow fell overnight, it was 22 degrees, and I wanted a solo tromp more than I wanted breakfast!  I drove fairly close to home on back roads - pristine, and hub-cap deep in unbroken snow.

In the early light, the lamp posts of nearby farms and estates were charming:

Barn berm:

Brambles and barn and a peak of Mt. Si:

This would be a mighty cold seat!

 Natural "black and white" scenes are catching my eye lately:

And then, there's contrast!  This is actually one of my favorite North Bend barns, which is also featured in a barn book I have made.  I haven't ever seen it this way though:

 

I ended my outing discovering this serene farm, ermine-white in every aspect:

AND THEN ALONG CAME ANOTHER OFFER

After I got home and warmed up, photo buddy P called to suggest we check out the mill pond and Falls. Couldn't keep me in!

Here is the mostly-frozen mill pond with a less-than-perfect reflection because of a slight breeze and those low-slung clouds.

 Snoqualmie Falls was furiously creating an icy mist which stuck to the camera lens, but also, because of the sub-freezing temperature, clung to the flora, making frosty fingers.  These are reaching over the Falls, barely seen as a blur on the left:

 More patterns in "black and white" at the Falls:

 On the way home, we stopped at the Snoqualmie train station:

 Tangled tendrils encased in ice, hanging over the Falls:

I... JUST... KNEW IT!

In my snow-loving-soul, I could feel that we had yet another winter storm to come.  Even when the sun brightened a clear, icy-blue sky earlier in the week, I had strong feelings of the "next one" on the way.

Yes!  The photos here are when the snow just barely started to fall.  Snowfall was not the reason for the pics, but rather the elk.  A faction of the North Bend herd came closer to us than ever, shown here in the pasture across the street from us. They look filmy and out of focus because it was snowing pretty hard.

Camara-shy?

 Hunkering down, this big one looked more like a llama:

I think I now know how to rectify the turning-upon-posting problem I have had.  But I can't start fixing it with photos I took prior to this afternoon.  This one (and better ones I really want to post, but which are too  distorted by Blogger) is turned: 

Snow fell more furiously as I was out for errands, so I stopped at the local RR graveyard to see what I could see.  I call all the rest of these, " Natural Black and White" strictly because of the contrast between Things Railroad and the Snow:

I hope this is the very last photo that will be turned sideways.  At least this one did not get distorted in the process:

THE ACCIDENTAL PHOTOGRAPHER

It tried to snow this morning, so I stuck my camera in the car.  No snow.  In fact, no interesting weather at all.  Then I went on an errand to a friend's home not far from here, but around the other side of the mountain from us.  The sun blinked for just a moment as I rounded the corner from home, and I snapped this, glad that the camera was still on board.  An overabundance of recent rain has left puddles with a view:

Rounding the bend to my destination - what?  Did I see the patches of high, new snow moving a bit?

 Be still my heart!  Better yet, be still my hands!  Oh, for a better telephoto lens!  This was the best I could do with what I have:

More weather changes yet!  As soon as I got home, this is what I saw from my computer desk.  It is rare that we see Little Si distinguished from Mt. Si behind it.  From our perspective, it usually blends right into the flanks of the larger mountain:

And here is their relationship, but very defined:

Well, as long as I am posting the fresh rainbow, here is one from 2 weeks ago at Snoqualmie Falls where the colors formed in the icy mist of the Falls:  (I have that old nemesis directional switch going on here. Hummphhh!)

These photos were not thrilling to me.  I would normally not have even posted them.  But to view the goats was indeed thrilling, and I know my family and friends would want to see the experience more than prize-winning photos.