Big picture, little camera

I’ve learned it is better for me to observe than capture. Besides the fact I am utterly helpless with even an automatic camera, look-at-me moments happen frequently here and quickly – very quickly. By the time I’ve grabbed the camera, (or found the camera,) adjusted a setting and flung myself to the nearest vantage point, the moon usually slips behind a cloud, an eagle passes, the seal dives, the rainbow softens.

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Drama at the birdfeeder

What began as a kind act — for a handful of song sparrows — has grown into a full-time job as sentry, armed with hose and handle. Instead of being bird watchers – admiring plumage, song and fancy flight – we’ve become cafeteria monitors.

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Whale Writer, the unexpected chapter

I can see with my own eyes now an extension of black form leaping from the water; an orca whale is breaching. It’s like the Thanksgiving Day Parade, Fourth of July fireworks and Christmas lighting ceremony all rolled into one. “Wow, wow, wow,” are the only words I can muster, the only words that fit the moment.

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Felling trees

When the fir fell three years ago, the scene looked like a tornado had ripped through; the downed tree straddled the upper drive, part of the building site and our turn-around — not to mention 60 feet of forest. For spite, it brought down a few other mature pines down with it.

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Adventures in a powder-blue pickup

The powder-blue 1971 Datsun pickup is the epitome of this reuse-repair-recycle philosophy and island culture. At 40 years of age, Dotty certainly has some wear, but she still turns heads. And she characterizes what I’m trying to achieve now in my own life here, which is to live simply, take only what I need.

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