THE DUST WILL WAIT

I haven't joined Carmi's Thematic Photo challenge for quite some time.  This week his topic is Far From Home. The Eastern Blue Jay is a beautiful bird that is seen in eastern and central Canada, and in the eastern United States.  It isn't supposed to be in my back yard. Several times in the last six years I have had one or two of these beautiful birds visiting my feeder in the middle of winter. This fellow truly is far from home . Click here to see others far from home choices. Or better yet!  Post your own!

I took this photo of the sky yesterday when I was leaving for an appointment. Then, this afternoon I saw that  Carmi, at Written Inc , has chosen "Dotty" as the Thematic Photograph week 104. Looks dotty to me! Anyone is welcome to participate in his meme.  Click right here !

I pulled into the parking lot at the grocery store on a dreary day in mid-January and hopped out of the car with my list in hand.  Immediately my eyes were drawn to an oil spill in the parking stall next to my car.  There was just enough sunlight escaping through the clouds to extract brilliance from the rain and pollution mix. My camera travels with me for just such occasions.  Snap! Every week, Carmi at Written Inc hosts a thematic photo topic and invites one and all to participate.  This week he is asking for "colorful" wherever we find it.  As soon as I saw his post I knew exactly where my photo was waiting.

Carmi has asked for a picture of something different for this week's Thematic Photograph. Their unprecedented appearance is why I chased these three wild turkeys down the street with my camera. I think they were considering their escape options when I cornered them in our neighbors yard. In the over thirty years I've lived on this street I  have never before been visited by a wild turkey . My neighbor Bill has lived here more than 50 years and claims it was his first sighting, too! Later that afternoon when they were enjoying the spilled sunflower seeds under my bird feeder,  the neighbor's dog surprised them.  All three flew high into the neighbors old maple tree and were still perched there when night fell. I wondered if they found refuge in town during hunting season and decided it was so nice that they would stick around. If you saw something odd this week, post it and link your blog at Written Inc .   Or, just go check out what other blogger...

This is week number fifty in Carmi's Thematic Photograph series. He is intrigued by the fact that signs are everywhere, " but they seem to pass through our lives almost invisibly." Not this one. It was kind of smelly. Post your interesting photo and SIGN up at Written Inc. (ps. Haven't been home much lately and visiting my favorite blogs has been limited.)

Carmi (who also happens to be a year older today) is using YELLOW for this weeks theme - The first time he's used a color. Yellow is a great indicator of spring! Look at the lovely blossoms in my garden. Isn't baseball a harbinger, too? The sports complex I passed this morning on on my daily walk is getting a fresh coat of paint on the dugout -- and has a brand new yellow pad on the outfield fence line. Go team! Let your fingers do the walking to the other yellow pages out there who are linking back at Written Inc !

Song Sparrow from pamela on Vimeo . Carmi's theme this week is anything musical. Could I resist posting a bird song! I couldn't. Last week this little Song Sparrow sat in my garden and sang his heart out over and over and over. And over. I don't have a video-cam, but my Canon PowerShot allows for some short action capture. If you dare to click on the above short, you may want to grab your motion sickness patch. There was wind in the trees, and some shaky puddin' in the videographer. Carmi says, " Your turn: For the next week, we'll be sharing musically-themed photos. Since music touches our lives in so many different ways, I'm looking forward to seeing how you all choose to interpret the theme through your lenses." Hope to hear you there.

This chubby round White-crowned Sparrow was taking a little bath in our pretend creek this afternoon. I am sure he was preparing to dazzle a little female that was chowing down under the bird feeder. I counted at least 50 of this species in my yard this afternoon. I decided to post him as another perspective of Round , Carmi's photo meme mentioned in the previous post. This photo was taken through my dining room window with my Canon Power Shot. It just so happens that I scrubbed a few windows last weekend so we could see out. The water feature, designed and constructed by my husband, flows beneath the window, under a walking bridge, and into the small pond. The fish pond is about three feet deep. But, the creek is very shallow and attractive to the little songbirds. Add the feeders and our feather friendly landscape and you have a regular Birdie Bed & Breakfast.

Week 46 at Thematic Photograph is up at Carmi's Written Inc . He's into round things this week. I thought about posing for a portrait, but my roundness is not something I appreciate. Instead, I chose these two photos taken at the beach in March. Buttercup was sharing her happiness by building smiling sandcastles. We were interrupted by a heavy rain shower so her construction efforts were cut short. Grandpa could not resist her happy ROUND faces in the sand buckets - so, to him I give the credit for my entry this week. Visit or participate -- either one. Carmi will be glad to have you stop by and comment.

Carmi's theme (Thematic Photograph) this week is Floral . Any and all are invited to participate. These flowers photos were snapped today on the street where I live. One is taken in front of my house and two at neighbors. There is one thing we have in common - we enjoy our bloomin' front and back yards. Welcome spring.

Big Horn Sheep, Columbia River Gorge, March 24, 2009 Carmi's thematic quest this week is Drab. His first post on the subject was a photograph taken as he traveled into Toronto's downtown for a presentation. My above photo was shot while traveling, too. However, we were being blown east by a blustery storm towards home. Our 6 hour journey takes us up the Columbia River Gorge as it cuts through the Cascade Mountains. We'd had a fun (but c-c-c-cold) spring break trip to the Oregon Coast. (So difficult to say goodbye to daughters and grand children!) Green has just begun to appear beneath the drab winter browns and grays of the steep and jagged landscape. Enough so that it was easier to spot the drab and shedding coats of the Big Horned Sheep high up on the slope. WR pulled the car into a wide space - I hopped out, toting my trusty little canon power shot with the digital zoom. I had no idea that the result would be the perfect photo for this week's theme ov...

Carmi, at Written Inc, chose "Transparent" as this weeks Thematic Photograph challenge. He asks: "Why transparent?" Because we often see more when we see through something. We often see something different than we initially exp ected. We're often surpri sed. Pleasantly, even. And we all need a little more pleasant, right? Some months ago as WR and I ate lunch at a small vegan cafe in the valley, we sat next to an old 50's style block window. I could not take my eyes off the view that it multiplied for me. I thought out loud to my husband, "This must be what a spider sees!" Carmi's topic made me think of that day and the fact that I always carry my point and shoot camera in my purse. Sure enough, a search of my files revealed this transparent Spider's View of the World! There are others who explored the theme with Carmi this week. Make sure you get your "eyes" over there to look through them.

The past two months have been very busy with things I had no idea would fall into my area of influence. So, this morning when I had an opportunity to take a long walk on the creek I decided to keep my eyes lifted up. I needed lifting up - and I hoped to find something to post for Carmi's Thematic Photo meme at Written Inc . My hope to find a mountain bluebird was not sated; But I was not disappointed. There were some other birds who availed themselves to my trusty little point and shoot. UP on the telephone pole: Red Tailed Hawk UP in the sky above the lake: A Bald Eagle UP above the soggy ground where he'd been searching for lunch: A Robin. Up in the tips of a Juniper that provides its food and shelter: A Townsend Solitaire. It really is an UP day today. UP your blog today, and join in the fun over at Carmi's. Bet that caught your attention

My neighbor Bill once told me that there weren't any houses or streets when he moved here in 1962. The old pasture, where my house now sits, was where his daughter learned to ride a horse. He'd climb the hill behind us to search for the old square wooden nails in the ruins of the old boys ranch. In the winter, his kids raced down the hill with their wooden sleds, along with many who ventured out from town . "Awww!" I thought this afternoon when I looked across the street and saw the old sled propped up by his porch. "So, that's where it came from." Last Sunday, I stopped shoveling snow to watch the boy from down the street pull the sled and his little sister Sadie past our house. "May I have a ride?" I'd laughed, waved them on, and returned to my task. He certainly looked relieved as they continued on to the house next door where their playmates, Katarina and Keanu live. It was cold and I was glad to see them go inside. I've chosen ...

Octogenarian club, perhaps? Grand Auntie Fern will be 100 on April 3. I’ve written about her several times. Sitting to the left is her sister-in law Naomi, who is also our Grand Auntie. That is because Roy, the brother of Gram and Fern, took the beautiful Naomi to be his bride in 1921. At 104 years old she still lives in the house in which she and Roy raised their children. She maintains a certain level of independence with the help of her 86 year old daughter. The lovely lady in the center is Roberta. She is Naomi’s younger (almost 97 year old) sister. She is also a sister-in law to Auntie Fern because Ferns husband was her husband's brother. I hope you read this home town newspaper article about her published on Tuesday. I guarantee that you will be impressed. These three ladies preside over the Wednesday lunch gang. I was pleased to join them recently. There are around 12 people who make it part of their weekly routine. You never know for sure what other relative...

This weeks challenge by Carmi at Written Inc is Quiet . We stored the patio umbrella, but somehow never got around to taking down the deck chairs by the pond. Now they are icy silhouettes beneath a foot of snow. There is something about the snow that muffles the ordinary sounds of life going on beneath or around it. The water continues to circulate in the fish pond without me detecting the usual hum. My husband assured me that the pump was working and pipes would not freeze. The birds at the feeders across the lawn are chirping, but their chatter is swallowed by the stillness and consumed. I think if I should speak aloud that the words would freeze and be buried by the the rush and hush of the falling snow. Even the crunch of the snow under my (much too short) boots is interrupted by the sound of silence. * * * Take a few moments and see whats quiet in other bloggers photographs right here .

Carmi has chosen " Shadow" as the theme of this week's Thematic Photographic challenge. As always, he leaves the interpretation open to any of us who choose to play along. My camera took this photo, but my lovely daughter Amanda was the artist behind the lens. She captured this moment on a late October afternoon at Whitman Mission National Historic Site. I loved it. Yes, the shadows along the Oregon Trail captivated my imagination. But, not the castings from the setting sun. Instead, I was there beneath the shadows of men and horses. I heard the echoes of children racing after wagon wheels. And, I felt the cool breeze through the hair of a pioneer woman as she shook it loose from a sweat soaked bonnet. ... westward HO!

I have been tardy for every occasion the past few months. So it is with posting my first Thematic Photograph hosted by Carmi. He is one of my favorite Wordless Wednesday participants. About last week's theme he said, " Basically, anything th at lines up is fair game." I blog in an agricultural valley, so it was easy to find photographs that I could use with "rows" that I had snapped over the past year. It is my pleasure to present to you: Food for more than thought . grapes apples wheat Carmi at Written, Inc is an inspiring read. You really ought to click over to his blog and enjoy his creative vision.