Tramping through Middle-Earth

A diversion on the south side, with late afternoon temperatures dipping toward freezing, and Casey looks as if he's seen a Hobbit. Middle-Earth, not quite, just halfway through the Connelly Creek Trail.

Electric blue canopy

An incredibly beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest, with an electric Twitter blue canopy of a sky stretching beyond the horizons. Please, don't anyone spread it around.

Morning star

Just look at what's poking through our canopy of rainclouds, for the first time in over a week - a star from the east...well, from the southeast actually. 




After days and days of precip, the wettest December on record for our county, what a welcome sight. A portent of a joyous holiday season. OK, maybe not, but it sure got Stella's attention.

Fascinating 

That's called a shadow, girl.

The kid's birthday feast

What do you get a guy on his eighth birthday who has everything? Well, tonight we thought we'd blow his mind with a carnivore's delight from the food cooperative, a grass-fed beef quarter pounder he'll remember all year. And something tells me Casey's not zoning in on the candle but getting reàdy to do a face-plant into his bowl.

Squirrel lookout

First things first in the morning, in spite of constant rain. Casey and Stella set a watch for squirrel raiders in the backyard. At the first siting Casey will go ballistic and bolt for the door, while his sister heads for cover.