Best Bread Ever? Quite Possibly

OK, so our son and his wife gave me a book for Christmas. "Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. I'd been following Zoe on Twitter for awhile and the book sounded good.

HOLY COW, people! This book is INCREDIBLE!

We followed the instructions to the letter. Made our first batch Sunday, December 28, 2008. Baked our first loaf tonight, Dec. 30, 2008. And it was .... Well, it was exactly how the book described it. Best bread I ever ate? Maybe. Here's the deal...

I grew up in Seattle eating the cheapest white bread my folks could buy. But I loved it. Ate it "raw" mostly. That's just plain ol' bread, with the inside squished into a little dough ball, then the crust. But my folks exposed me to enough good bread over the years that I became a true bread junkie at a very early age and am still one today.

Over the years I scarfed down Crystal Mountain loafs from the famous Black Diamond Bakery, and later learned to love my wife's luscious homemade bread she baked in coffee cans. Of course, all those years of eating bread added way too much girth to my otherwise boyish figure, so I tried to fight my craving. But after tonight, I'm a bread-aholic again.

I now want to perfect this simple loaf. It won't take much. Our biggest mistake was cutting into the loaf too soon. Should have waited another half hour. Otherwise, it was excellent. But after a few more of these I'd like to try some of the other variations.

But this simple loaf, this wonderful little ball of goodness was sublime. On the darkest, most painful day, this would salve the deepest wounds. Would heal the troubled soul. It IS that good.

So, if you love bread, if you enjoy messing about in the kitchen, I urge you to buy this book and try it. It's simply wonderful.

Snowbound

We have lived on The Orchard Compound since 1985. We've seen a lot of strange weather, wildlife, humans, and other things out here in that time. But the snow of late 2008 is like something in a dream. Like a white Christmas gone mad. It's something we never could have imagined. More snow than we thought possible for this area, a series of malfunctions that left every four-wheel-drive vehicle we own out of commission, and our local roads totally impassable. So, today (the start of our second week of snow) when my wife, Joyce trekked out the quarter mile to the mailbox, it seemed surreal. She's the one who always runs the errands to town. She's the one who plans everything. Now that we've been cooped up here for two weeks, she's starting to really get antsy. So off she went to the mailbox and hopefully a little relief. This is just all so strange. Just glad our family is together...even if we get on each others nerves at times, we at least are together to help pull us through. What a time!

Snow Deep Christmas

It was definitely a very white Christmas on The Orchard Compound in Hobart. It's been snowing every day for nearly two weeks. With the high winds we had, much of the earlier snow blew away, but we still have 2.5+ feet just off the deck. The snow we've shoveled is piled high. We carved little walkways like this one between the houses. Fortunately, our son Jesse made it home and is now helping with shovel patrol duty. Spring can't get here soon enough.

Winter Solstice 2008

My beloved for the past almost 34 years, Joyce was born on the Winter Solstice in Ketchikan, Alaska some years ago. So, today we celebrated her birth by shoveling snow and shivering under blankets as the great Solstice Storm of 2008 raged outside. I took my old Sony HandiCam out on the front porch for a few minutes and tried to hold still. The wind was blowing pretty good, it was around 20F, and I was in my slippers. Not conducive to good photography. But we'll survive. Just hope things are better for everyone in the coming year.

By the way, the video above was uploaded to Facebook. Here is that same video on YouTube. Facebook wins:

The Best Part Of Baking Cookies

Everybody was snowed in today in Hobart. So, while I was slaving away on work-related matters, Jennifer and Joyce started baking Christmas cookies.

What is it with cookies and kids? And for most of us, we never outgrow the desire to dip our fingers in that luscious goodness. I've always wondered why we don't just make the dough and fore go the whole baking thing.

Or do we do that and just don't tell anyone? Any closet dough munchers out there?

Snow? We Laugh At Thee!

Sure, snow and ice cover everything in Hobart and driving is tough. But we keep smiling and thinking of spring.

Enough Already!

These poor dinosaurs just can't get any relief. First it was bitterly cold. Now it's snowing and Pacific Science Center is closed. Alone out in the cold, they stand guard over our beloved educational institution. Dreaming of summer. This was taken with my first generation iPhone, jazzed up with the CameraBag application Lolo filter, then text added in Photoshop.

Getting Better At Online Video

A few days ago I wrote about my frustrations with proper formatting of online video. Specifically, aspect ratios. Well, after considerable more experimenting, I think I solved my problem. It was a setting buried in the export dialog inside Final Cut Pro. The resulting video looks great. Even better is that I discovered Facebook not only doesn't mess with the files you upload as YouTube does, it also lets you view both HD and a lower res version. And you can embed them! Watch the video above as an example. Now all I have to do is improve my photography and editing!

Solitary Seagull Sunrise Sentinel

I took a brisk stroll outside this morning to watch the sunrise. Found this guy perched up there keeping an eye on things. The temp was below 20 degrees F so I didn't stay long.

Chilly Dinos

The north pools at Pacific Science Center are drained these days for some repair work. Our two outdoor dinosaurs aren't complaining. With temps hovering around 15 degrees F overnight, these guys would probably prefer not to have to be standing in water. Well, unless it was heated.

Cold But Beautiful

The weather may be bitterly cold, the news of the day may be dismal, but Mother Nature still puts on a gorgeous show. I walked out my office door at Pacific Science Center and this is what I saw. The Olympics are spectacular.

Kira Steps Out

The family recently went to Bellevue Square for the annual Santa pictures. Sadly, our son Jesse couldn't go since he's on a training mission with Uncle Sam. But we got Kelton and Kira cleaned up, dressed up and out we went. She looks so cute!

Well, when she actually got to Santa's lap it was a totally different story. But when her temper is under control she's a sweetheart. Just don't get her angry.

Kira Rocks!

Our granddaughter, Kira has really taken to the old rocking chair. It's the same one I used as a child, so did her father and brother. It's a great old chair that hopefully will last at least a few more generations.

If you combine her love of rocking with her current habit of dancing to all the music she hears, you could say she really knows how to rock!

Would You Turn Your Back On This Kid?

OK, so I'm out hiking around in the snow with my grandson, Kelton. He's three now and a handsome young devil. Emphasis on the devil. He picked up a snowball and sorta looked at me strangely. Then he let loose!

He's got a good arm and snowball technique for one so young. The Force is strong in this one.

Cute, But Wicked Snowballer

Sure, he's a handsome young guy but he's got a wicked streak when it comes to snowballs.

Don't turn your back on him!

The Great Aspect Ratio Mystery

Over the past week I have been struggling mightily trying to figure out online video. Specifically, how to best format the video and present it on a page. I used to have this figured out, but then YouTube changed things and I've been shooting in HD and things just don't work anymore.

Here's the deal...the video presented here is a series of stills, but the same thing happens when I use HD video and edit in Final Cut. These images were thrown into FotoMagico and exported as HD QuickTime, H.264, 720p. It's 16:9 aspect ratio and the video looks pretty good when played in the QuickTime player from my hard drive. But when uploaded to YouTube it's never the same. First, they re-encode. That always messes with the quality. But the aspect ratio has me completely baffled. If you look at the video here the aspect ratio is correct. But if you grab the embed code, the YouTube player letterboxes it even though it's 16:9. Why? If I change the dimensions in the embed code, as I did here it still doesn't work. The video still gets letterboxed.

I just uploaded the same video to Facebook and it looks WAY better:

Here's another wrinkle: I can take that same video, put it on one of my own servers and it does the same thing. I can use the JW Player or I can just download and play it in Firefox and the aspect ratio is pooched. BUT, if I download and play the video locally, it is fine. It has me perplexed something fierce.

But it's the holidays, so merry Christmas to you and yours! If someone happens upon this and knows the answer, please share. It would make my New Year that much better!

Oh Deer, Our First Snow

Being born and raised in Seattle, I know the normal routine: weather folks forecast snow and it seldom happens. Kids around here always pray for snow, as I did, but they know it usually doesn't happen when they say it will. This time the forecasters did OK, at least in Hobart.

Actually, they first said we'd get snow, then they said the storm went north and we wouldn't get it. But Friday evening it started as wet slush. By around 10 o'clock it was coming down hard. Saturday morning it started up again, then stopped. We ended up with about seven inches of snow with temps around 27 F. We might get some more before things warm up. Not a White Christmas, but it adds to the holiday season nicely.

Our two deer friends live in our woods. Normally, they come right up to us. This morning they were spooked by the snow and my camera.

A Holiday Shot Off THIS Much

I shot this at Bellevue Square just after my two grandkids had their picture taken with Santa. We all had a great time, but it was kinda bittersweet in that our son couldn't be there. I was trying to go without flash and capture some of the mood without that harsh glare. I was going to bring my speed light and diffuser, but didn't want to drag a bunch of gear along. So, this is what I got.

Thing is, it's THIS close to being perfect. Kelton's wave is captured, Kira's lollipop is also waving, the shoppers behind are moving to the elevator. But I just couldn't quite hold the camera still enough. It could have been framed better, too. But trying to get kids to stand still...

Still, it was a fun evening.

Marketing Craft: Blind Leading The Blind, Learning One Step At A Time

My crafter daughter-in-law, Jennifer announced yesterday that she'd made a sale on her Etsy shop. Sales have been slow and she was bemoaning that fact, so I asked her how she made this particular sale. Turns out the buyer really liked Jennifer, that she had made a connection. Despite many other shops also selling quality items, it was the relationship that made the difference.

It was a nice little example of something I read recently on the CraftyCoach blog (highly recommended). He's essentially saying that artists who successfully sell their items do so by building relationships and community with those who enjoy their work. You don't just create something, stick a sign up, and sell it. You have to work very hard at telling the stories and engaging in great conversations to see it all come together. In other words, you have to market yourself. And that's where Jennifer, like so many others, is stuck. Where does she find the time?

With two small children at home, a part time job, and a husband (my son) away for months on a training mission with Uncle Sam, it's hard to find time to create, update her site, and engage in conversations and community building. But that's what we're working on now because that part of her business is essential. Not only in making sales, but in enjoying the whole thing. If it's just about making something and selling it then she might as well be a small assembly line. It's those relationships and conversations online and at craft fairs that make it all worthwhile. The people you meet, ideas you share, memories you create.

I spent 32 years in broadcasting and the past few in marketing a non-profit, so I have a good background in marketing and how it works. But with all of today's awesome communications tools so easy to use, the old rules of marketing don't necessarily apply. But one that does is this whole relationship, community building idea. It still works. You just have to figure out how to do it all. With all the feedback coming in via Twitter and elsewhere, I'm sure we'll figure it out.

Foggy Arches

When I walked across the courtyard at Pacific Science Center early this morning, this is what I saw. VERY foggy. So foggy, in fact I could barely make out the Space Needle which is right there in the middle of the shot. You can almost see the base of The Needle, but not the top.

This was shot with my first generation iPhone then I applied the Helga filter in CameraBag.

Kinda spooky out there.

Chilly November Seattle Sunrise

Early this morning while slaving over my desk at work I noticed the sunrise looked interesting. So, grabbed my cup of coffee and iPhone and strolled out the front gate at Pacific Science Center. It was a glorious sunrise!

After I snapped this I ran it through the CameraBag application on the iPhone. This one to the right here is the IR (infrared) filter which gave a neat effect. Even though the sky was very colorful, seeing like this looks great.


The more colorful, traditional version is to the left here. Both are kinda cool, but the IR version gives it a more fall-like feel. It was a chilly morning and the 'red sky in morning' had me thinking we would get some precip before long.

Old News New Again

My cousin, Laurie is doing some research on part of our family. She's uncovered a ton of information that I knew nothing about. It's all good stuff. Yesterday she sent along this scan of an old newspaper and reading it brought amazement.

The scan is of the Sheboygan Press Society Page from Oct. 10, 1929. If you're old enough, you might remember the society pages from the newspaper. For the big cities it was a rundown of what all the big shots in town were doing, the places where you just HAD to be seen, and so on. For small towns it was sort of like a collection of gossip and chit chat about what folks in town have been up to. What struck me is how, in some ways, it's kind of like Facebook or Twitter or a combination of some of today's social networking tools. Except instead of some reporter doing the writing, we're doing it ourselves. From the mundane to the exceptional. It's all there.

Then I spotted the article that's highlighted. It's a write-up of a social gathering at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Heiden. There was a baseball game, some card playing, and a bratwurst roast to celebrate the couple's 51st anniversary. Then there was a list of all who attended. It includes my grandparents and their sons, and their one daughter. My mom, Dorothy. She had turned six just a month before. Amazing! It's like looking back in time.

My mom is still with us and doing well, all things considered. Haven't had the chance to ask her about this yet. Hopefully she remembers and can fill us in on all the gossip from the big event. At least tell me who all those people were since many were relatives.

I love this stuff. Time travel stories have always been my favorite so things like this are like little trips back along the stream. Can you imagine what my grandkids and their kids will be able to find in the years to come? Boggles the mind.

Deer Getting Frisky

Just as the sun came up on a very wet and dark November morning, three deer strolled into our yard. Two bucks and a doe. After the two bucks performed their ritual, the remaining buck and doe started their own.

She would lead him around in circles, then he would play hard to get, then she would.

All very human-like, actually.

By the way, the buck's antlers are reddish because he, and others have been rubbing them on some small alders down in the southeast corner of our property. Wish I understood the reason for much of what they do. It's all rather fascinating.

A Princess's First Halloween

Our granddaughter Kira is now one year old, so Halloween 2008 was her first with a costume and candy. She really got into it.

No surprise that her mom had her dressed as a princess, complete with blue painted toenails. She had a little problem leaving her socks on at first, but she got over that.

Her brother, Kelton went as Batman. This year he had his own superhero costume. Year before last he used his father's handmade Robin costume from 1982. We figured it was time to move up. Sadly, I couldn't get the two of them together long enough to get a good shot.

But a grand time was had by all.

Most Awesome Chair EVER!

I'm now working every Friday at the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center in Bellevue. I bring my two bags of gear and set up shop on a small desk. The woman who runs the place for Pacific Science Center, Apryl Brinkley got me a new chair to use. People, this is the BEST CHAIR I'VE EVER USED!

I'm not kidding. I could sit in this thing forever. It's mesh, infinitely configurable, supports my lower back. It's got it all.

Made by HermanMiller, the Aeron Chair is said to be the best selling office chair of all time. I can understand why. This thing is to die for.

Apryl, I owe you big time!

Fall On The Front Porch

When Joyce and I got home today we found Jennifer had been decorating again. She loves getting into the season, whatever it happens to be. She has a nice touch.

After doing some chores, I grabbed my iPhone and MacBook and sat down on the front porch to enjoy the sunset and a gorgeous warm afternoon. Then I remembered CameraBag and snapped a pic with the iPhone, applied CameraBag and uploaded to Flickr. It's awesome. No, not as good as my digital SLR or point-and-shoot camera. But it's fun, easy, quick, and I just did it. If I had taken the time to go get the SLR, the card reader, the computer, the moment would have passed. This all happened in a matter of moments. That makes up for a less than stellar image.

Or does it? I'd love to hear what others think. I look at this as I now look at Twitter. Send a tweet takes mere moment. Writing a blog post takes some time. Twitter won't replace blogging just as the iPhone or other such camera won't replace the higher end jobs. But the simplicity, the quickness, the moment-capturing aspect I think trumps a lot. Thoughts?

And yes, that is a woolley bear caterpillar there.

CameraBag iPhone App Rules!

I just discovered a new iPhone app called CameraBag. Very nice! Gives you some nice templates to spice up the photos you snap with the iPhone. Sweet!

This one used the Lolo template. I snapped this pic while hiking around the Mercer Slough park. Open CameraBag, choose the image, apply the template, and presto! Looks nice! Then mailed it to myself and added some text with Photoshop. Pretty sweet. CameraBag enhanced the image with colors and border. Nice!

I'm starting to see photos on the iPhone sorta like Twittering. Making the most of that tiny camera, just like the 140 characters in each Tweet.

Sockeye Return To Landsburg

Fall around Hobart has been pretty darn nice this year. So far, anyway. This was another beautiful weekend so Kelton and I went for a hike down along the Cedar River at Landsburg.

This time of year is when the sockeye return. Between the turning leaves and the fish, there is a blaze of color all around. I'm no expert, but it looked like a pretty good return this year. Not nearly as good as years ago, but far better than back in the 80s and early 90s.

During October and the first weekend in November, volunteers can be found at Landsburg Park answering questions and explaining the sockeye cycle. Good stuff. Well worth a drive out from the city and just a couple of miles from Hobart! Here's a map to show you the way.

My First Slough Hike

I'm now working one day a week at the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center in Bellevue. It's a completely new facility and is just amazing. Pacific Science Center has been teaching classes there for 15 years but most people still don't know of our involvement there. Since we're trying to expand our classes, we need to get the word out to teachers and home school groups, hence my weekly trip to find stories to tell.

It really is an amazing place. The architects designed the buildings so they appear to be part of the landscape. Two of the buildings have living roofs, with plants and soil. The labs all face the wetlands below and with floor to ceiling windows, the views are outstanding. The students are taken down to the water to gather samples, then bring them back to study under microscopes. They're also taken on hikes with our teachers to study soil, wildlife, wetlands, and much more. An excellent program.

Today I had the chance to go off on my own for my first hike on some of the many trails through the park. To say it's spectacular is an understatement. You are right in the middle of Bellevue but you wouldn't know it. I could have spent hours out there just wandering, looking into the water, examining incredible mushrooms, snapping pictures, soaking up atmosphere, watching a garter snake in the middle of the trail, birds galore, and more.

This was taken around noon so the light was terrible, the sky was overcast, but it was quite warm. This little stretch is boardwalk, but most of the trail is good ol' dirt. Soggy dirt. It's a wetland after all.

Highly recommended. Check it out.

Kids Do The Wackiest Things

Jennifer sent me this shot from her cell phone. The message was slugged, "This is what happens when u stop paying attention for 2 seconds." Any parent can sympathize. One-year-old kids have a knack for making messes. Turn your back on them for just a second...

Jennifer has decorated their house with all sorts of Halloween stuff, so maybe Kira just wanted to get into the spirit of the season.

Blake Island Adventure

On September 14, 2008 the entire Orchard Clan left The Compound for a trip across the Sound to Blake Island. It was Jennifer's birthday and she'd never been, so off we went.

When Jesse was young, we used to do a lot of boating and camped over there quite a few times. We hadn't been in many years and, since we don't have a boat these days, we used the tour service out of downtown Seattle which includes lunch at Tillicum Village. We were pleasantly surprised to see nothing had changed. It was just as we remembered it. Well, the nightly camping fee is now $19. Last time we were there I think it was $5. But other than that the place was still beautiful. It sits just off West Seattle so the skyline is right there, but since you can only get there by boat it seems miles away. Our other Blake Island Adventure pics are here.

The weather was great. The kids had never been on a rocky beach like that but took to it as though they'd been going for years. Why is a little boy gets on the beach and immediately starts throwing rocks into the water? He'd never done it before but he instinctively knew it was something he should do. But not Kira. A male genetic thing? WHo knows.

It was a great day and it's the final installment in our Summer 2008 set on Flickr. Fall has arrived and now it's time for cooler weather happenings. Summer wasn't the best weather-wise but it was good, all in all.

Danger Shot

While my iMac was doing a software update early this morning I strolled out with a cup of coffee under the arches at Pacific Science Center. Just had my iPhone with me, so this shot may be hard to see. But all of a sudden, it was as though I was in an old Hitchcock movie!

The air was suddenly filled with the shrill sounds of hundreds of birds. Along with the usual cacophony from the many gulls that hang out, there were these starlings swooping into the arches. There were hundreds perched on top of the arches. I took my iPhone and snapped this shot quickly before any of them managed to bomb me.

Adding to the bizarre scene was the fact the air was filled with the delicious scent of doughnuts from a nearby bakery.

Kinda freaky.

Forking Over A New Generation

Today we traveled to Olympia for a birthday lunch for my mother. She turned 85 this month and our family and my sister and her husband Jim gathered at the Olympia Oyster House for some excellent food and a few memories. It was a beautiful day.

While we were all at the table I spotted our 1-year-old granddaughter Kira using her fork. The short video is below.

Seems like just yesterday her brother Kelton was doing the same. His short video is below.

We had four generations of Orchards there today. It's a wondrous thing. Hope it lasts many more years.

Salsa Time 2008

Every summer, my wife Joyce and our daughter-in-law Jennifer can salsa. This was the weekend for it in 2008. They put up a total of 30 pints and about a half dozen quarts of tomatoes.

I just LOVE this stuff. It's not really like the salsa you get at the store or at a restaurant. It's chunkier, for one thing. It's more like a relish or chutney. I love it on just about everything, including frittata.

One sad note from this year's annual Salsa Symposium: we normally drive over to the Selah area and get our produce at one of the little stands out in the fields. It's a great trip. WAY more peppers and other things than you normally see over here. But with gas prices as they are, and with a tight schedule, Joyce just went to the local roadside stand in Maple Valley. The produce was good but I miss driving over the mountains.

But I will still enjoy cracking open a jar of this stuff in December or January when the kitchen is filled with the aroma of eggs, cheese, etc. A little bit of summer all winter long.

Procrastination Unearths Surprise

I was going to write this sometime ago, but you know how procrastinators are. We tend to put things off. We also tend toward redundancy. I seem to repeat myself a lot. But that's another story.

This is the story about a bunch of split firewood that has been laying outside our woodshed for several years. A mixture of maple, cedar and a little alder, we have been putting off getting under cover. We finally did it this weekend and we found an interesting little surprise in there.

My son, grandson and I were picking up the pieces and throwing them in the pickup when we spotted some strange looking mushrooms growing in the dark of the pile on the maple. Knowing that if we stopped for very long we'd just slip into procrastinator mode again, I just grabbed the Nikon D40 and snapped this one shot before getting back to work.

We're not big on mushrooms, so I have no idea what kind these are. Clearly they prefer maple as a host. Anyone know?

WAY Beyond Must See

To anyone who may stumble upon this humble blog posting: if you have not seen "The Dark Knight" in an IMAX theater, please do yourself a favor and get thee to an IMAX theater before it's gone. To not do so will leave you forever chastising yourself for missing one of the most historic moments in cinematic history.

Yes. It IS THAT good!

Hey, I work at a facility with two IMAX theaters and today is the first time I had the chance to see it. My son, who had already seen it in a regular theater, joined me to see it at my work. Even he was totally blown away, and he knew what was going to happen!

The opening scenes, the scenes in Hong Kong, all the scenes where they used an IMAX camera completely fill the six-story screen at the Boeing IMAX Theater at Pacific Science Center in Seattle. I assume the same at your local IMAX theater. Combine that with the awesome surround sound system and the total environment is unreal.

Of course, all that great cinematography, IMAX, sound system and so on would be a total waste if not for the incredible acting, directing and writing that goes along with it. The storytelling is incredible. The death of Heath Ledger is even more profound now that I've seen what he did. I cannot imagine anyone trying to fill his shoes in future portrayals of The Joker.

Bottomline: go see The Dark Knight in IMAX. Even if you've already seen it. Once it's gone and relegated to DVD the magic will be long gone. It was incredible.

Dunstan Orchard

So, there I was perusing my RSS spew when I spotted an item about a cool new feature of Flickr. They now offer embeddable slide shows that can include video. Cool! Clicked the link to the Flickr blog item and what do I find? A sample slide show by a guy named Dunstan Orchard. Weird.

Well, I don't know the guy, so when I say weird it's referencing the closeness in our names. He works for Flickr, so it's no wonder he has a ton of pics on the site. You can find out more about the new slide show feature here. Here's his slide show.



This all comes not long after I heard from another Stan Orchard (no Dun), a world renowned frog expert in Victoria, BC. Sheesh! I'm feeling kinda inadequate. The Stan Orchard (no dun) to the north is helping eradicate an invasive species from Vancouver Island, while the Stan Orchard (with a Dun) to the south is helping create awesome online tools. I'm just an old Web hack in Seattle. :-(

Maybe we should start a club so I can hang out with the cool folks. At least I share their name!

A Day At The Pretend Beach

I just love how the old fountain at Seattle Center turns into a beach when the weather gets hot. Complete with plenty of water, seagulls, swim suits in all shapes and sizes, Frisbees flying, food, drink...just about everything you'd find at the beach except for sand. I snapped this with my iPhone on the way to my car this afternoon.

Seattle is a wacky place. The weather is rarely cold or hot. It's usually pretty mild compared to the rest of the world. We have our occasional mean storm, but for the most part it's mild. When the temperature goes to one extreme or the other we turn into weather wimps. Especially if it snows. But when it gets hot you immediately hear complaints. But then there are those places like this where we get out and enjoy it. Alki Beach, the Green River Gorge, Cedar River, Lake Washington, Sammamish...I just love it. When people are out and happy for awhile. A great mix of young and old enjoying this warm weather for a short time.

Soak it up people. Before we know it, we'll be complaining about the rain and cold again.

Some Help Please?

So, there I was. Sitting in the living room watching the Mariners beat Tampa Bay when all of a sudden things got golden outside. Looked out and saw we were in the midst of yet another summer downpour AND the sun was shining. So, grabbed the camera and headed for the front porch.

Thing was, I could not figure a way to do this shot justice. Didn't have time to grab the tripod and do some experimenting. The weather was changing way too quickly. Braced myself against a post and took some shots but just couldn't capture it all.

What I was seeing was everything golden. The forest that surrounds us was golden, the sky was golden, and the clouds had a golden hue. But there was actually blue sky up there along with a steady rain. The clouds were white and gray and black with the blue sky behind them. But my picture doesn't capture it all.

If anyone sees this and can offer some suggestions please do.

Ferris Wheel Sunrise

Spotted this on the way to work this morning. Walking across Seattle Center I saw the sun coming up behind the Ferris Wheel at the Fun Forest. The Mural Amphitheater is in the foreground. My iPhone wasn't able to get the top of the Space Needle in the shot from where I was standing.

Funny thing is, or sad thing depending on your point of view, the sun is actually setting on the old Fun Forest. It's slated to close forever next year or the year after. Seems folks just don't go to the old amusement park like they did when I was a kid. This was the first place we went when my friends and I were allowed to take the bus in from the south end on our own. I was 12 or 13 at the time. It seemed SO far from home.

Not sure what will replace this landmark. Hope it's something that generates as many memories for so many others.

Hot Dog

Finally got around to trying the new Klick app on my first-gen iPhone. Works great! Just snapped this shot of our dog, Lilly. She was keeping cool in the shade on the front porch.

What I really like about Klick is that you can view all your Flickr pics as well as your friends' and you can upload to Flickr as well. So, instead of having to always keep my photo gallery up to date, I can just open Klick and access my Flickr photostream to show off pics of my grandchildren or whatever.

I like it, though I had to uninstall it once then install again before it finally took the Flickr authorization. Hey, it's free.

What Is This Stuff?!

So one of my co-workers brought in some new snack she and her husband found last night at little grocery in south Seattle. They had never seen this before and they don't know what it was called.

It's sorta like corn nuts that have been popped. Not as crunchy as corn nuts but not as soft as regular popcorn.

All I know is...this stuff is awesome! I could see me going through a pound in one sitting without blinking. I will be traveling to this little grocery store soon.

Does this fit on my diet? Uh...those tasty little kernels HAVE to have loads of fiber, right? There must be some redeeming value.

Space Needle Sunrise

I love mornings. Especially early morning when the sun is just up, when hardly anyone is around. The air seems cleaner and everything a bit fresher.

Today promises to be a scorcher in Seattle. If the temps get over 80 it's hot around here. So, being out in the city early is the best time of day when the weather heats up.

BTW...this was snapped with my first generation iPhone running the new 2.0.1 software I installed last night. Uploaded to Flickr via AirMe. Not sure, but everything seems to be running a little snappier today. Maybe it's the fresh air.

Midday Visitor

One of the reasons I enjoy telecommuting is you never know who might come visit. This furry friend and her daughter strolled by while I was sitting at my desk. Almost didn't notice her I was so intent on my work. It's always fun to watch them and the elk and even the bears that come by, though the bears get to be a bit much.

Unfortunately, while it was a pleasant diversion, their visit did nothing to get me out of my writing funk. Still stuck for some words to finish this newsletter. :-(

Slide

OK, so I just discovered Slide. It's yet another site that lets your create Flash slide shows from your images. You can bring in pictures from Flickr and other sites and even post directly to Blogger, etc. Here's a slide from our recent Day Out With Thomas adventure. Nice!

Kelton And His Elk

Our grandson, Kelton is three years old now. He still loves to run out into the field when the elk are visiting, which is pretty much a daily occurrence. He doesn't seem frightened by them at all.

The first time he did this we managed just a few shots at dusk. You can see them here. Lately, he just runs out there and then off to his next three-year-old adventure. This evening it was he and his grandfather walking (running, mostly) out to get the mail and shut the gate for the night.

We moved here when Kelton's father, Jesse was just turning four, so not much older. It was the wildlife and seclusion and lack of traffic, among other things that attracted us. We're ever so happy to see Jesse and Jennifer able to raise their two kids here as well. There's something special about what has become known as The Orchard Compound in Hobart, WA.

BTW, that fenced off area is our humble pumpkin patch. We wall it off to keep the elk and other critters out of there.

A Day Out With Thomas

The Orchards left Hobart for the day and visited with Kelton's favorite characters at the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, WA. It's a great trip even if Thomas isn't there. Highly recommended.

Here's the photoset. And here's more on the Railway Museum.

The After-Bite Of Seattle

After three days of non-stop eating at Seattle Center, it's a busy day of cleaning up the mess. Seagulls and crows gorging themselves, the sound of guys with gas-powered blowers pushing the garbage into piles, and another guy with a steam-cleaner trying to get the goo off the concrete at Fisher Pavilion.

Just when I was feeling less than excited about going to work behind a desk at Pacific Science Center, I walk past these folks with one big, dirty job on their hands.

My job looks pretty good now.

BTW, this was taken with my first-gen iPhone as I walked to work across Seattle Center. Uploaded with AirMe. Works great!

Foggy Needle

Summer in Seattle can mean many things. Cloudy, cool weather is always part of the deal.

As the annual Bite Of Seattle is shaping up at Seattle Center, Mother Nature dropped our hot weather and gave us a foggy, cloudy, cool Thursday, the day before thousands descend on all the elephant ears, cheese steak sandwiches, clam chowder, etc.

Here's hoping sunshine makes an appearance.

The Irony Of Broccoli

While walking to work this morning I noticed something growing in the landscaping. This was on the west side of Seattle Children's Theater at Seattle Center, next door to Pacific Science Center where I work. It's broccoli. Probably a decorative variety, and this patch was already starting to go to seed, but it looks just like that you buy at the market. Is it edible? Not sure.

The irony is this: just out of range of this shot, off to the left was a bag lady. A woman who lives on the streets of the city. I see her frequently in and around the neighborhood, pushing her shopping cart full of treasures. This morning she was savoring a flat of wretched looking mushrooms and a few other scraps that appeared to have come from a dumpster. Yet right in front of her was fresh produce still on the vine. Weird.

First AirMe Upload

UPDATE: ARGH! Just made an interesting discovery about AirMe. If you delete the photo on your iPhone it also deletes it off Flickr. Oops!

Decided to try the AirMe app installed on my old iPhone. Pretty slick. It used cell tower triangulation to locate me in Seattle and tagged the photo with the current location as well as current weather data. Nice!

This is just a shot at sunrise of the Space Needle looking through the arches here at Pacific Science Center. I then walked back to my desk and added a new title and description. But if I had been out all day with, say the family or friends AirMe would be kinda cool for keeping a running photo diary of what we were up to. Would be great for coverage of events.

Impressive.

MobileMe Ready To Go

Sitting here working on some things when all of a sudden Apple sent me a message.

I tried and tried to get my old .Mac account to work over the past couple of days to no avail. A number of blowhards...er, tech bloggers have been chronicling the failure of the new service. But it looks like things might be resolved.

I remember signing on to .Mac when it first came out. remember that? It was free at the time and the stanorchard@mac.com address was cool. Frankly, I think mac.com is cooler than me.com. But me.com is one character shorter so that's a good thing.

Just tried the Web interface and it works now and looks pretty good. That part is an improvement over the old .Mac Web interface. But frankly, I never used it much. I use the OS X mail app and iCal. But maybe now I'll change. Change is good. usually.