Category: Recently Observed
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Fishing | Pateros, WA | August 2019 These pelicans cock their bills to scoop up — and gulp down — lunch as it swims by. I’ve observed that many restaurant patrons also strike a stance before plunging into a meal. Some scan intensely for unwanted ingredients (an onion slice, sprinkled parsley or ubiquitous bacon). Some…
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Ice | Twisp, WA | August 2019 I grew up in south Louisiana certain that ice should be the main ingredient in any glass of sweet tea or Coca-Cola. The heat, humidity and conversational habits demanded we sip something cold — icy cold — while we sat in the shade to analyze the latest Saints…
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Forest | Republic, WA | August 2019 One indicator of a quality life is being surrounded by trees too numerous to count. A great sweep of forest soothes like an ocean view but with more warp and woof — a textured weave of wonder. One recent evening on Sherman Pass (our state’s highest), I overheard…
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Yellow Jacket | Twisp, WA | August 2019 We often face barriers that keep us from favorite activities, work goals or even survival needs. We can break down these challenges and tackle each small piece step-by-step. Or, as this insect decided, we can scout a new route around the obstacle. The yellow jacket wisely abandoned…
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Green and Red | East Wenatchee, WA | August 2019 Yes, I sometimes arrange vegetables into curvy designs. Don’t you? “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way — things I had no words for,” said American artist Georgia O’Keeffe (d. 1986). She’s known, of course,…
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Fish Ladder | Wenatchee, WA | August 2019 The struggles of salmon to get home and have babies are monumental. On the Columbia River, predators (including fisher folk), ship traffic and hydro dams top the list of challenges. Yet, from a (smug) human perspective, the spawning parents seem to have adapted well to climbing fish…
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Antique Dolls | Spokane, WA | August 2019 What sparks dread? I had a friend in college who shivered at the glowing tip of any extinguished candle wick. “Spook eye,” he said. A co-worker in New Orleans never walked through alleys. “Something’s in there,” she whispered as we avoided a shortcut to lunch. “Something bad.”…
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Charred Trunk | Blewett Pass, WA | August 2019 Wildfire bad; wildfire good. Forests razed; forests reborn. Homes burned; home-building booms. Fire’s balance between awful and awesome continues to be veiled in smoke. No response suits every situation. Arguments for extinguishing, igniting, controlling, observing the worst blazes all have merit. What we know for
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Sheep | Moses Lake, WA | August 2019 The mainstay of American values isn’t a Trump rally or Independence Day celebration. It’s the county fair. That’s where an extraordinary mix of people — farmers, housewives, entrepreneurs, artists, performers — put their passions on display. They unabashedly exclaim: Here’s the prettiest flower I’ve grown, the tastiest…
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Corn | East Wenatchee, WA | August 2019 Some of us await a new crop of sweet corn with anticipation once reserved for an arriving circus. (The same excitement shown now for the latest iPhone.) Pickup trucks parked roadside sell ears plucked just an hour earlier. Corn connoisseurs (yes, those exist) peel back the husk,…
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