Category: Landscape
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Nursery | Ephrata, WA | February 2020 From a distance, the leafless trees look like pencil scrawls on the very air. Or a cluster of cuts in the fabric of the universe. Sure, I know they’re trees, but it’s only when I stand closer — 20 feet away — do branches come into focus and…
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Benches | Coulee City, WA | February 2020 “There is in all things a pattern that is part of our universe. It has symmetry, elegance, and grace. You can find [these qualities] in the turning of the seasons, the way sand trails along a ridge, in the branch clusters of a creosote bush’s leaves. We…
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Lichen | Sun Lakes, WA | February 2020 A lichen turns red — or orange or yellow — when its dinner buffet gets shut down by harsh growing conditions. Dim sunlight, reduced moisture, extreme temps. In frustration, it’ll shed its green-gray photosynthetic food layer and go nude and hued. (Look away now if you’re prudish.)…
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Cave | Sun Lakes, WA | February 2020 I could camp here for awhile. Make it cozy with a patch of flagstone flooring, a ventilated fire pit, a few beaver blankets. Obviously, water and septic would be a problem, just as it was 5,000 years ago when Native Americans used this cave as a way…
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Thirsty Poodle | East Wenatchee, WA | February 2020 At the River #3 | We’ve trained the dog in basic commands — sit, stay, heel, come — which he fully obeys when he sees the need. I mean, why sit like a schlump when it’s clear that squirrel needs chasing? In return, he’s trained us…
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Water View | East Wenatchee, WA | February 2020 At the River #2 | We have a better view from this side of the river. Looking west, we see the big city with its high-rise downtown, manicured waterfront and neon prosperity of Applebee’s and Home Depot. Behind it all rise the foothills of the Cascades,…
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Cloud Bay | East Wenatchee, WA | February 2020 At the River #1 | A slow current and light breeze put the river in restful reflection. If I’m still enough, maybe I can mirror the sky, too. I stand motionless on the riverbank but thoughts drift like
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Orchard Nets | Orondo, WA | February 2020 Orchard nets help protect high-value fruit from all sorts of calamities— bad birds, bad storms, bad sunburn. The jury is still out on their cost vs. benefits, but it seems like more and more fruit growers are giving the covers a try. Me? I envy fruit so…
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3 Species | East Wenatchee, WA | February 2020 The big family from two motel rooms away had claimed the best stretch of sand. Blankets, umbrellas, ice chests and inflatable toys covered the exact spot where the finest shells washed up. “When will they leave?” I asked Mom. “All I know,” she said, “is that…
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Chelan Butte | Orondo, WA | February 2020 Daredevils wearing wings leap off this mountain to ride the updrafts. I’ve watched these fliers spiral like hawks. Their risky behavior gives me new appreciation for what I’ve always deemed a high hump dotted with antennas and cell towers. Now in evening light, the butte shines with…
IrwinFoto 