Peacock

Peacock, originally uploaded by johnrite.

Here's another fun shot that's received a lot of attention on Flickr. Click on the photo if you want to read the many comments (nearly 100 at this point) and "awards" it's received. Mostly this is just a self-gratifying, ego thing (nobody has offered any money!), but Flickr is a fun way to indulge a photo hobby without annoying your friends and family too much. To see a big version with a black background click on "Peacock" above.

Rainier Ultralight

Rainier Ultralight
Originally uploaded by johnrite

Nothing much to say on this, other than I'm having fun with my new camera. I really like this shot of Rainier, especially since the guy in the ultralight aircraft was nice enough to come into the frame on cue.

Gone Camping

Reflections

Alexandra got her first taste of camping last week when we spent a couple days at Kalaloch, an Olympics National Park campsite along the Pacific (click here to look at the photo gallery). Our beach explorations included poking around in some tide pools full of sea stars, anemones, mussels and other creatures that didn't seem to mind a little girl's curious touch. At Alexandra's insistence, Dad and daughter waded repeatedly into the numbingly cold water until our feet turned bright red.

We enjoyed camping together in our new garage-size tent, although it was a bit chilly at night. This trip also introduced babygirl to two other essentials of camping: s'mores and hot dogs cooked over a campfire.

Although she had a terrific time, two nights seemed to be her limit. We were congratulating ourselves as parents for the prescience not to have planned to stay through Memorial Day weekend.