Patchwork

View down the rows at the dahlia farm in Canby, Oregon.
Walking down the long aisle between rows
was so much fun...a seemingly never-ending variety of dahlias!

Huckleberry Patch

It's the end of the season for huckleberries in Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

We found the most berries in this patch, but getting to be slim pickings.

Shadow Play

Hundreds of little eclipse shadows filtering through the trees, as the moon starts to get out of the way.  I read that the tree leaves are working as a pinhole camera, and that this is not unique to eclipse lighting; that we are always seeing little suns in effect, filtering through the tree light, but they show up as round spots which seems rather nondescript.  Could be.  It's something I will try to pay more attention to.  At the very least I would say that whatever light normally filters through the trees looks so usual as to not attract any attention at all.  For me at least. These eclipse shadows were something that we noticed when my family observed a partial eclipse in California a few years ago, so we were looking forward to observing it again this time.  The other thing we noticed, which was also repeated in last week's eclipse, was that you can see individual hairs on your head in shadow.  I wanted to photograph that too, but it seemed like I could only see them as I was walking.  Every time I stopped to take a photo, the detailed shadows disappeared. 

Eclipse

The view from WSU-Vancouver.  I think we were at 99% coverage, 

but the effect was really cool in my camera!

Bedtime

Sunset building on the western edge of San Juan Island. That's Victoria B.C. on the horizon.

One thing about camping is that you tend to sleep and rise with the sun.

And that was especially true for the rising part, because our camping was done as a farm stay,

and the farm had three roosters...each with its own distinct crow

...and its own internal alarm clock.

The earliest riser started his crowing at 4am. so that sort of gets you stirring!

Also there was no campfire area, I guess because it is a working farm and so they are

worried about fires when things get dry in the summer.  That was the only bad part.

When it's dark, it's dark. Time for bed.

Of course this far north in the summer, the sun sets after 9:30 and it's not dark for another hour,

so all in all it was a pretty good bedtime.

Out Standing in My Field

Ok, so it's not my field ... and yes, it's an awful pun ...
but it is the field that drew us up to the San Juan Islands last month.

That's because I'm the trip planner at my house, and I happen to love lavender.

I don't have a field. I have a tiny hedgerow along my driveway.  

Actually...it's more potential than hedgerow.  

And I wanted to make sure I was shaping it up just right. 

So that it can grow up to be a hedgerow someday.

Mid-July was the Lavender Festival at Pelindaba Lavender in Friday Harbor.

As far as festivals go, it has a lot to learn! You need more than a bunch of craft booths and a band. 

I wanted to see a demonstration on extracting lavender oil, but we missed that, 

so all in all it was kind of a bust. Other than it smelled wonderful! 

And Bill got some lavender ice cream.

The photography was so so because it was hot and bright and the whole island is one big ball of glare, so photography after 8am and before 6pm is almost a waste of time. 

And we were glamping which was really fun, so I wasn't inclined to get up early with my camera ...

 the draw of fresh coffee on a camp stove! 

But we did get to visit the San Juans in July which wouldn't have happened otherwise!  

The Bright Spot

Sometimes you have to look a little bit,

but it's always there.

Friday Harbor at sunset.

Linking to Weekend Reflections.

Taking Shape

Mooring dophins for the ferries,

reflected in the ripply water,

waiting for the next ferry to arrive.

Friday Harbor

The Marina at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, just before sunset.  

 It's a large marina, and completely open to the public which is rare, 

so we had a fun time wandering around and admiring the boats.

Marina water is always nice and still, good for reflections.

An occasional boat came in or out, and there was a harbor seal 

hanging around too. As an added bonus, we got those great popcorn clouds!

(They might show up again on the blog in a post or two!)

Linking to Weekend Reflection.

San Juan Sunset

Just before sunset on San Juan Island, this weathered Pacific Madrone with its cool red bark
is really lit up by the setting sun.

View from the Lighthouse

View from the Lime Kiln Lighthouse tower on San Juan Island. For a look at the lighthouse, see my post from Wednesday titled San Juan Island. I've got plenty more reflection photos from our trip to San Juan Island last weekend; it is an island after all, and I can hardly stay away from reflection photos as it is! But for today's Weekend Reflection I decided to go with the reflection on the wonderfully wobbly glass panes of the lighthouse tower. It's a bit confusing maybe, but intruiging to me. The sunset light is reflected, along with the smaller sized diamond window frame. The shoreline is visible through the glass in view. For more island reflection images, check back throughout the next week or so.

Linking to Weekend Reflections.

San Juan Island

Lime Kiln Lighthouse on the western side of San Juan Island.

Historical info on the lighthouse found at this link: Lighthouse Friends.
I was interested to read that a Spanish explorer named the islands San Juan and Orcas in honor of his benefactor, a Mexican Viceroy by the name of Juan Vincente de Guemes Padilla Horcasitas y Aguayo (Orcas coming from Horcasitas, which suggests that Orcas whales are named for the island, where they can often be spotted, and not the other way around! 

Bandon Sunset

Sun setting behind the rocks, with the light filtering through.

Beautiful ending to a beautiful day.

Linking to Weekend Reflections.

Sunset Perch

Our first sunset in Bandon, we headed down the beach toward Face Rock, arriving a few minutes before the sun would set. Fellow photographers were lurking around every rock. I especially appreciated this guy, scrambling up an outcrop to stake out a high ground position above the rest of us. He stayed there for as long as I was on the beach. His rocky compatriot, the seagull on a distant chimney rock, took flight just as the sun was setting. I thought the two of them made a great pair.

Footprints

Change of pace for today, something more abstract. 

This was from our first evening at the beach, walking to Face Rock just before sunset. 

The sun was so low in the sky that the light sand ripples looked like zebra stripes. 

I think the tracks are probably from a playful pup, maybe even my own dog Clover.