As hard as I tried, I couldn't get a single sky shot to come out today. All I could get was the same shade of gray everywhere I looked. What to do?? Dig back about two weeks and show you a sunset that just made you pull over and watch. This SkyWatch Friday photo was taken just slightly north of Olympia near Nisqually. Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and.....
There are a quite a few blogs that I thoroughly look forward to reading on a daily basis. I can't wait to sit down at the computer and see what today's posts bring. Some of my favorite blogs belong to Abe Lincoln. Not only is he a talented writer, but that man can take some impressive close ups of birds, flowers, bugs and just about anything related to nature, so tonight's close up is dedicated to him. If you have the chance treat yourself and check out his blogs: Abe Lincoln Blog, My Birds Blog, Abraham Lincoln's Blog and Pick a Peck of Pixels. You won't regret it. 
This waterfall is just inside the entrance to Pt Defiance Park in Tacoma. This was taken this past Sunday. We went to the park to see the magnificent dahlias and roses. I'll be posting a couple of those shots in the near future, but this one seemed just right for Watery Wednesday.
This evening we headed to downtown Olympia to check out an event that will be the subject of tomorrow's post. On the way back to the car we spotted this kid zig-zagging his way through the gauntlet of water jets at the Heritage Park Fountain.
Well, here we are, the end of another week. Since neither my wife or I felt like cooking tonight we decided to go out to dinner. So, Applebee's here we come. Parmesan steak and shrimp for the wife, and chicken fried steak for me. When we were done we waddled out to the truck to head for home. Looking across the parking lot we decided to capture some of the last rays of the day for our SkyWatch Friday photo. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
I work near a rock quarry. Every once in a while a little rock needs to be moved. That's when they put on a show for us. I had noticed them working on the hillside for about the last week or so, but at first I wasn't sure what they were doing. It all became clear today. They called our business this morning to give us a half hour window of when it would be happening. I made sure I was situated where I could get a pretty clear shot then waited. Flagmen stopped traffic about a quarter mile down the road in each direction, the employees of the quarry took their vehicles and moved them a safe distance away. All was quiet for a couple of minutes until a horn sounded about five times, then silence again. We all heard those famous words "Fire in the hole!" The charges had been set pretty deep in order to minimize flying debris. The ground shook under our feet, then a second later the rock started flying and the dust rose. I left for lunch with my wife. When I returned the dust had settled so I took an "after" photo. I hope you enjoy the series.
In yesterday's post I mentioned that I found the Digital Collections section of The University of Washington's Library website to have an extensive gathering of historic old photos of the pacific northwest. In looking further into that collection I ran across a number of them depicting the Olympia/Tumwater area. Above is a photo I took in October 2007. Obviously I originally was looking at the reflection of beautiful fall colors across Capitol Lake. Also pictured is the dome of The Legislative Building and the power house for The Capitol Campus. If you click here you'll see a slightly older version of the power house.
First of all, if this building looks somewhat familiar it's because I have posted it before from another angle here. It's the original Washington State Capitol Building in downtown Olympia. Why post it again? Well, this past Saturday evening my wife and I went to her grandmother's birthday party. It seems I am always the one at these functions taking the photos. At one point she called me inside the house to show me something. It was a book of photography , "From Tacoma to Paradise Park" by A.H. Barnes, Parkland Washington published in 1905. She told me that the book was a gift from her father, a tugboat captain for Foss Maratime. She treasured the book and carried it with her for years as it has strong sentimental value. She explained that it was time to pass it along to someone who truly had a love for photography and history. In searching for information about Barnes and the book, I found a wonderful website of digital photos courtesy of The University of Washington. For more information about A.H. Barnes click here. To see a slightly older photo of the old State Capitol Building taken by A.H. Barnes click here.
Today my wife and I drove out to Yelm which is about 20 miles southeast of Olympia. The reason, my wife is a closet rock hound and the Nisqually Valley Rockhound Society was holding a rock and gem show at Yelm Middle School. I have to admit I walked in there the newbie so to speak. My wife can tell you the name and origin of about 90% of what was there, where I can only identify a few common rocks. Out in the parking lot there were the typical traveling retired couples with their displays set out along side their RV's, then inside the school's gym were the rest of the vendors with their goods beautifully displayed with bright lights showing off the many colors and varieties. Besides this magnificent amethyst we brought home tiger's eye, a large quartz crystal, a selenite crystal, red jasper, iron zebra jasper and a signed book on gem trees. Toward the end, I think I figured out why I was along as I ended up carrying the bag of rocks. I now lean to the right and have one arm longer than the other.
For those of you who are kind enough to follow along on this blog you may remember this recent post. Yep July 28th, 101 degrees. We had a streak of warm dry days like we seldom see around here. So when I went out tonight after dinner in search of a photo I didn't have to go far. The quality isn't the greatest I fully admit, but I think you get the general idea of what's happening around here tonight.
Some time back my wife and I took a drive up to Pt Defiance Park in Tacoma. The gardens there are beautiful and well kept. They are filled with roses, dahlias, hydrangea and much more. You might remember this previous post from there. As much as I love posting my photos, tonight I have to give the credit to my wife for capturing this lily.
The last rays of the day slowly disappear over the horizon on a Monochrome Monday. This shot was taken just north of Olympia at the Nisqually Delta. 
It's not always easy to catch Capitol Lake this calm. It just had to be our contribution to Scenic Sunday. I hope everyone had a great weekend.
Over the past couple of years or so a number of the departments of The State of Washington have relocated from the downtown Olympia area to the Tumwater area several miles south. One of the departments that didn't have to move was The Department of Labor and Industries. They were already established in Tumwater just one block off Interstate 5. Whether you view this building from the front (pictured here) or the backside from the freeway the blue glass cone catches your eye.
After last night's post I figured some of you thought you were visiting the seedy part of Olympia. Oh contrare! If you put your back to "animal alley" and look across the street you'll see The Washington Center for the Performing Arts. This wonderful facility hosts numerous events throughout the year. For a more detailed description click here.
Downtown Olympia is a pretty interesting place. Modern buildings right next door to historic old ones. Office buildings next to tattoo parlors. It is a diverse place to say the least. While out photographing various places last night I spotted this colorful alley. It's not the only one like this in the downtown area either. The more well known one is the Free Wall at the Capitol Theater. Check out this Flickr group. Tomorrow I'll show you what's right across the street from this alley.
