Category: Recently Observed
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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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Bins | Quincy, WA | February 2020 The advantages of plastic and metal fruit bins seem obvious. They last longer, ventilate better, clean easier. But the clone-like sameness of these newer boxes robs the industry of what’s appeared (to the casual viewer, anyway) as a product of design, craft and tradition — the wooden bin.…
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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…
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Flower | East Wenatchee, WA | February 2020 I’ll spare you the flora innuendo (“Is that a sticky pistil?”) and instead marvel at the complex beauty of blooms. To me, not even 130 million years of evolution explains the countless variations — artful curves and colors — of the flower world. Each bloom is a…
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Winter Golf | Twisp, WA | February 2020 Soccer teams play on muddy fields. Runners dash through rainstorms. Bicyclists pedal on sheets of ice. But golfers seem to brave more inclement weather than almost any other sports enthusiasts. They’re on the links in downpours, blizzards, 15-degree cold snaps, 100-degree heat waves and even wind conditions…
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Old Car | East Wenatchee, WA | February 2020 “When you drive home today, notice that you’ve got a big windshield on the front of your car. And you’ve got a little bitty rearview mirror. The reason the windshield is so large and the rearview mirror is so small is because
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Static Dissipators | Orondo, WA | February 2020 I’ve mentioned before how helpful static dissipators would be in tense social situations. One atop my baseball cap (careful, don’t poke out an eye) could defuse anger when I cut in line at the grocery store or steal a parking space from a big-tire truck guy. Any…
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Jet | East Wenatchee, WA | February 2020 Jet contrails seem delicate, beautiful, magical — always worth an upward gaze. Crazy theories that they distribute chemicals to seed storms or nano-bots to rewire brains only add to their mystique. But does every jet leave a trail? Why do some plumes linger longer? More importantly, what’s…
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Mirror | East Wenatchee, WA | January 2020 This mirror on the wall reminds me daily that what we see depends on where we stand. A shift of angle can present a whole new picture. It reinforces the necessity to walk around an issue, a problem, a desire before we act, which includes
IrwinFoto 