Butterfly Kite

I'm really partial to monarchs.  Having grown up around the Great Lakes, I got to see their multi-generational migration each summer and fall, and I have great respect for their journey and fond Midwestern memories of spotting butterflies in July and searching for chrysalises come September.  I thought this monarch kite looked so pretty glowing with the sunlight behind it at the kite festival Sunday morning.  I also have a monarch micro-kite (4 inches with a 10 foot tail!) which I had so much fun flying at the festival this weekend. I had forgotten what a carefree feeling you get flying a kite!

Kite Festival, another view

This view looking out to the ocean probably gives a better perspective on the size of the display kites.  Those large stuffed animal kites always just hovered off the ground.  I'm sure people liked them, but as a photographer I found them to be really annoying because they always got in the way of my ground line.  This shot was taken fairly early on Saturday before it clouded over completely.  I was looking forward to getting some bluer sky photos on Sunday, and the sky was beautiful but the display kites were grounded for insufficient wind.  I never imagined that happening; it's always so windy on the coast!  By the time we were heading out of town I saw the kites starting to go up, so I guess the wind picked up.

Tide

I was so fascinated by the incoming tide patterns near Astoria, Oregon this past weekend.  I think we got there at low tide, and every few minutes a gentle wave would try to extend its reach a little further up the beach. And what interested me most was the white outline on each of these waves. 

Shipwreck

The steel skeleton of the Peter Iredale is all the remains from this barque, run aground in 1906 on its way to the mouth of the Columbia.  It's so rusted and barnacle-encrusted that it doesn't look all that sturdy, but it is.  And of course it draws a curious crowd.  It's not that safe of a playground, but that doesn't stop the adventurous from climbing around and exploring.