At the riverfront in downtown Spokane.

I had intended these to be the last images I posted before leaving Spokane, but as it is, I forgot and was on the road to LA. Thought they were a good farewell to the area.

Both were taken on the same day as the sun set in one view and the moon rose from another.

With the trees gone the smaller plants have a chance to flourish...

... along a trail....

...in the bare branches....

.... or on the edge of the riverbank.

A river (Spokane or Little Spokane River, not sure which this part is) runs through the area where the fire took place. The fire actually jumped it. As the days went by I began to explore the riverbank. I began with the idea of capturing the brilliant sunsets reflected in the river as the fire must have been when it reached the river.

These shots I took completely on different days. I was trying to catch the many colors the sky was during the days I was there. The sunset each day on the hill which can be seen in the picture from yesterdays post.

The sky slowly visited each range of the spectrum before its color faded and it quietly exited to give the stars their time. It was silent and remarkable. I will always envy the colors of the skies here. I have never seen anything like it.

A shot taken with my old point and shoot at sunset of the same area in Riverside Park, Spokane. It is actually two exposures blended over each other, one exposure so the bright sky wouldn't blow out to white and one for the ground exposure so it wouldn't be too dark.

Since this is my last week in Spokane I thought it would be cool to show some of the first pictures I took here with my camera.

When I first got my camera, I spent the first few weeks heading down to Riverside Park before sunset everyday after work. I hiked mostly through an area that had been ravaged by a fire years before. I wanted to explore the idea of regrowth after such an event. Here a young sapling sprouts from the remains of other evergreens.

(I debated whether to post this or not as it was rather personal.... but thought what the hell..) Cal died on Friday. Wrestling with it over the week I decided to have her put down. She had gone blind (and was already deaf) and was getting really uncomfortable to the point of a constant pacing. She had several major health issues working against her. The only way she really knew anyone was there was if you petted her. I had promised myself I wouldn't have her put to sleep long ago, but the idea of her alone and in pain all day began to haunt me and I didn't want her to die while I was at work.

The vet gave her the injection and I felt her last breath as I had at 10 yrs old felt her first. Two images will stay with me of that day. The first was on the way to the vet. The impulse hit me for a second to just keep driving... to run... and as if seeing ghosts, hers and mine, I imagined a young her and I that kept driving on even as I turned right. Some how it made it all feel a little better and I still smile a little at the thought that those two are still out there on the big adventure.

The second image is mine alone to keep. : )

I never thought when I first brought her home, she would outlast both my parents and see me through the highs and lows for 19 years. She was a constant and a singularity in my life and will continue to be so in my memory.

Same as it ever was... (Belated Birthday Post)

"Into the blue again, into the silent water... Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground...."

The world is my beautiful house. This is my beautiful life. How did I get here? My god, look at what I have done. Where does that highway go?

"same as it ever was... letting the days go by... water flowing under... letting the days go by.. here comes the twister.... same as it ever was..once in a lifetime..."

A close up of lichen on the trees on Mt. Spokane. Looking back in the other pictures, it is interesting to think about all the hidden green in the predominantly blue pics.

Another close up shot from the weekend up on Mt. Spokane.

Every time it snows, I find myself thinking about the power of sound. Snow deafens, it isolates. It makes you concentrate on the visceral. I found myself looking at what was immediately around me.

It is also intimate and safe. The whole world is suddenly padded for your safety.

Cal at the vet again this morning. She has been making a snorkling sound for sometime now. She is evidently growing some kind of nodules on her lungs. The vet says she has less than a year left.

On an up note, her thyroid condition is under control (thanks to a pill every day) and she is gaining weight. She is happy and crabby as ever (considering her original name was "CrabAss"). She spends most of her time curled up under my feet as I surf the web.

Rand and Co took us all out on a boat for the company Christmas party. We went out on Lake Coeur D'Alene to see the lights.

It was a lot of fun and we got to meet Santa. Unfortunately I didn't get a snap shot of that... I was too struck just getting to meet the jolly old man himself to think of taking a picture. : )

Quick shot of the fire hydrant in the work parking lot with a new 20mm. Looked like one of those mushroom guys from Fantasia with chain handcuffs on to me.

Sunrise through some weeds outside of work this morning.

The sunset across ice in a strip mall parking lot on Thanksgiving.

Living here in Spokane over the past year it is really easy to see where some of the inspiration for the video game Myst might have come from. I still find it pretty funny to be walking across the parking lot of the grocery store (where these were shot) and see mountains in the distance. Not that you can see any mountains here, I just wanted to capture some of the atmosphere of the fall season around here. It is foggy in the morning often near where I live this time of year. You often feel surrounded by it, like this text.