The Watering Hole; Thursday October 13 2016; Politics? No Mas!

 

Politics. Enough is Enough! as someone once said. I can buy that. Boy, can I buy that.

I confess. I’m sick to death of politics. I wait with baited breath for this election season TO END! and for Donald Trump and all like him to wind up as floaters in the political sewage lagoon where they belong. Manifest Destiny, in a word (well, two words, actually, but what the hay).

So to hell with politics. To hell with Trump and all he “stands” for (i.e. himself, nothing else; it’s so simple, really). Why not a look around at something else, at things and scenes that are well worth a view, a view that has absolutely ZERO to do with today’s political mess that’s come to define this nation’s existence at this unfortunate point in time?

Great idea, seems to me, so following are some ‘snapshots’ of highlights gathered from days past (within the last forty years, give-or-take). Each and all still stand tall as depictions of what once was – ‘Out There’ – in a world devoid of politics and filled instead with LIFE — as each and every moment can easily become.

So relax, lay back, prepare for a non-political — relaxing (and peaceful, mostly) — soliloquy. Enjoy!

▲Bird of Paradise; Kauai, 1978▲

▲Bald Eagle; Lake Beckwith, Colorado; 2009▲

▲Backlit Sonoran Desert Giant Saguaro; ca 1975▲

▲Coral Reef; St. Lucia, Caribbean; 1983▲

▲Seal, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; ca 1980▲

▲Chipmunk, San Isabel N.F., Colorado; 2009▲

▲EEK! Gopher Snake, Colorado; 2014▲

▲Indian Paintbrush Wildflower, Arizona, ca 2002▲

▲Water Lillies, Kauai; 1978▲

A world without politics; a world without Trump! Imagine it! The Peace! The Beauty!

▼EEEK!! TRUMP??▼

▲Pu’uhonua, Hawaii; 1978▲

Seriously, did King Kamehaha have to deal with his own version of Trump? Really? I see the dude does have small hands; and what about the face? The hair? They had to deal with the sum of all of THAT too? In ancient Polynesia? Way back then? I mean, really, that’s just plain bizarre!

*sigh*

Brings to mind this one. It’s not one of mine, but whomever it was that tripped the shutter captured the best summation of the entire of the Trump “movement” I’ve ever seen!

▲Dump Trump!▲

Eww. Guess we’d better leave it there.

******

OPEN THREAD

---

 

The Watering Hole, Tuesday, August 30th, 2016: “Invest in Beauty”

I was going to tell a dreary tale – about a disturbing conversation I had with a customer who, somewhere in the discussion of her foot problems, managed to bring up Trump and her buzzword-laden approval of him – for today’s post. Instead, thanks to two Zoosters’ comments from yesterday’s thread, here’s some cat stuff.

In yesterday’s comments, pete contributed the following:

“I have often thought that the world would be a better place if evolution had just stopped after cats; large and small. Sure. They are vicious predators with a complete absence of mercy but they are also graceful, intelligent, and have a fantastic sense of humor.”

Not much later, fatherbob posted a link to an article about a lost cat being found next to its “missing cat” poster. The same site had another article about professional photographer Robert Sijka’s photos of “Bearded Cats”, aka Maine Coons; the article includes a brief gallery of glorious creatures, and a link to more. You HAVE to check them out.  As the author of the article says:

“Maine Coons are the largest domesticated felines in the world, able to grow up to four feet in length. The breed is characterised by their gentle nature and their fabulous fur, which can easily be mistaken for a scruffy beard.
Basically, they’re kinda like a lynx, except that they won’t try to kill you.”

Of course, Maine Coons start out all tiny and innocent-looking, like these:
But they eventually turn into the fiercely beautiful, majestic, dignified, imperial creatures that all cats innately are, regardless of size or fur length.
There, that’s better than some scary Trump supporter, right?

Last week I ran across a quote on a greeting card that I’m compelled to share:

“If you ignore beauty, you will soon find yourself without it. But if you invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life.”

~ Frank Lloyd Wright ~

This is our daily Open Thread. You know what to do.

The Watering Hole; Thursday August 11 2016; 2016 Election, Primaries thru Conventions; Images Worth Recalling

“To see a world in a grain of sand
And a Heaven in a wild flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.”
(William Blake, in ‘Auguries of Innocence’)

It’s been a long year already. In January there was the run-up to both the Democratic and Republican Presidential Primaries. The Dems featured a reasonable contest between Sanders and Clinton; the Republicans brought a clown car to the fest, filled with seventeen ___________ (use your word of choice). But in both cases — finally — the chatter was pretty much over and the real contest, complete with voters, was about to begin. The primaries (and caucuses) themselves began in early February and splashed down regularly until they finally were over in early June.

During those months, I’ll admit that I did indeed pay a certain amount of attention to the whole political melange that has come to define the bulk of this country’s electoral system. And every time I watched an episode or two or three on the telly, I typically became totally disgusted and wondered why the hell would anyone with a functioning mind waste their time doing that? Is it because such nonsense is the only thing remaining in this world that’s worth pursuing, worth pondering or thinking about?

Answer: Hell no! There’s another world out there, a world that’s NOT inhabited and driven by idiots! And it’s not far away — it’s ‘right over there’!

****

▲January: a pair of obviously bored Canadian Geese▲

****

▲February: a Bald Eagle, clearly waiting for word from Iowa and New Hampshire▲

****

▲March: Weird upside-down snowfall pulls attention away from primaries▲

****

▲Late March: Setting full moon. No politics can compete. Thank all gods!▲

****

▲Late April: Rightside-up snowfall. What are primaries, again?▲

▲May: Gosling; next generation’s arrived and doing well!▲

 ****

▲May: Canadian (goose) family. All’s well.▲

****

So where were we? We were talking about something . . . something human . . .

Oh, yes, now I remember. Politics. Boring. Yuk. Well anyway, so in early June, Clinton and Drumpf had become, thanks to fifty primaries/caucuses, their respective Party’s nominees for President of the United States, nominations that were confirmed at the respective Republican and Democratic National Conventions, held the last couple of weeks in July. Bang Zoom. Only around 100 days left till the election!

I remember reading that somewhere. One hundred days. Another eternity on the hoof. Where are the distractions when you need them, I wondered.

Then it happened!

▲Early August: Intruder in the Zinnia garden!▲

****

I have no idea what the critter’s name might be, but I KNOW it’s not ‘Trump,’ not ‘Hillary.’ But one thing is certain: it’s far more interesting, far more colorful, far more gentle, far less intrusive than anything I’ve seen on the campaign trail or the telly in the last week year — or likely will see in the next 90 days, give or take! Instead, we’re left with . . . ewwww. (see below)

Make Amurkkka Great Again??

****

I think I prefer Wordsworth:

Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.

****

OPEN THREAD

 

 

Sunday Roast: Stupid stuff that makes me giggle

There’s a site on the vast interwebs called “Sad and Useless, the most depressive humor site on the internet,” and it has a post where people on the internet rename animals — which totally makes sense, if you think about it.

We’ve already enjoyed the brilliantly renamed Stab Rabbit, so here are a few more:

OMG, it’s our Wayne!!  Everybody wave!  *waving*

I mean seriously, who would actually call this thing an ostrich?  Pure silliness!

Finally, my favorite…Run for your lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!

If you’d like to giggle up even more of a storm, go the site — they have more!!

This is our daily open thread — Make up names for your favorite animals!

The Watering Hole, Monday, July 11th, 2016: “Christians” vs “Critters”

If you’d like more proof that at least some “Christian Evangelical” megachurch “leaders”, along with the “Prosperity” Jeebus hucksters and their varied brethren, should be under the microscope of the IRS, there’s a few articles on the Christian Post’s “Politics” page. (Also see RawStory’s recent thread about “Pastor” Jeffress.)

Or, if you prefer to start your day/week with some ‘critters’, here’s the official “Watering Hole”:

This is our daily Open Thread–say whatever you want.

The Watering Hole; Friday May 13 2016; The Meaning of Life

Take all away from me, but leave me Ecstasy,
And I am richer then than all my Fellow Men . . .

In today’s human world,  the sad reality is that all that really counts is money, both the acquisition and the possession thereof — the more the better — all without any concern whatsoever for anything else, the earth and everything on it included. As a consequence, one need not look far to find massive evidences of human-directed destruction and contamination of virtually every aspect of the planetary environment from air to land to water to everything between, including virtually any and all life forms, humans included.

We (humans) are not all like that, thankfully. In fact, large numbers of “us” find infinitely more pleasure and purpose in hanging out with and observing critters who have zero interest in money or wealth; they don’t even know, much less care, what money is. No reason to know, because, after all, when your corner(s) of the world provide everything needed to make life meaningful, what would be the purpose of Money? It has no meaning to the talented, to the self-sufficient, to the gifted; it only has meaning to those who have no talent, no gift, no self-sufficiency, to those who can find no real meaning in life itself.

Below are eight photos — each and all from 2016 — which portray the genuine Meaning Of Life, a meaning which seems to, with every passing year, elude ever more humans, most especially those whose sole interests are Money, and Politics, and the presumed Power that comes along for the ride. But “Meaning” does NOT elude these critters!

The first four are of some local Colorado Front Range Canadian Geese including this year’s crop of goslings. I managed to get them to “pose” for me earlier this week, on May 9, when the little ones were roughly three weeks out of the egg. Already they’re out exploring the world — under the close watch of their moms and dads, of course — and already are more aware of legitimate survival techniques than the great bulk of humans of most any age. And they don’t have/need either a bank account or a gun, even!

Next are four photos of one of this year’s family of Sonoran Desert Great Horned Owls, courtesy of Arizona Naturalist and Photographer Denny Green, longtime friend and resident of Tempe, AZ. These feathered folk typically nest in Giant Saguaro Cacti which are, I’m sure, one of the planet’s safest domiciles.

Speaking of close-knit families! As for money, who needs it!

******

Finally, a bonus shot, this one from Thursday May 12:

Money and wealth, polytics, power — Bah Humbug!

Ill it becometh me to dwell so wealthily
When at my very Door are those possessing more,
In abject poverty –
(Emily Dickinson)

******

OPEN THREAD

The Watering Hole, Monday, February 1st, 2016: Clouds and Cute Stuff

Let’s start this week with no mention of anyone in the (R) Kandidate Klown Kar, or crazy-assed snackless ‘militias’, or wacky Talibangelists (or Talibanjoists.) I’m going with Mother Nature today.

The Weather Channel has a recent piece about this ‘Hand of God’ cloud that appeared over Madeira, Portugal. To me, it looks more like the ‘Fist of god’, and I wonder at whom it’s being shaken. Is there some satanic evildoer on Madeira who is (using Alan Rickman’s Professor Snape voice) “…UP to something”?

(Photo Credit: Rogerio Pacheco, via TheWeatherChannel)

Next, Lenticular Clouds ~

I know that we’ve covered lenticular clouds before, but take a look at some spectacular shots from (apparently) dedicated Russian photographer Vladimir Voychuk.

Now for some cuteness: Also from The Weather Channel, penguin chicks cuddling together against the cold.

While we’re on the subject of penguins, here’s more wonderful shots of them, this time under the sea. The photos were taken by French photographer/diver Andre Voyer.

And finally, cuteness that will make you squee.

“Hey, margay kitten, what big eyes for you…TA HAVE!”

This is our daily Open Thread–go ahead, start talking about something.

Sunday Roast: Color

Photos by Zooey

Sometimes, the color of the ocean is unbelievable.  I was going through some old photos on my computer — these are from 2011 — and found these in a folder called “Jade.”

I’ve never seen the ocean look like this since then, and I feel lucky to have captured these photos that day.

This is our daily open thread — What’s your favorite color?  😉

Sunday Roast: Spider!

Photo by Zooey

This beautiful spider has set up an abattoir on a huge web outside my kitchen window.  He’s got about five of these little “packets” in his web at any given time, and just goes from one to another, stabbing in his sippy straw and chugging away.

It’s really rather disgusting, but fascinating at the same time — and as long as he stays on his side of the window, we will remain the best of friends.

This is our daily open thread — Anyone know what kind of spider this is?

The Watering Hole, Saturday, August 29th, 2015: Let’s Get Away From It All

This ought to take your minds off of the insanity of the Republican “presidential hopefuls”, if only for a little while.

The Weather Channel has posted the finalists for its 2015 “It’s Amazing Out There” photo contest. So enjoy some cool photos and forget about Teh Stupid.

Here’s one of last year’s photo finalists, a cool shot taken by Dwayne Kear:

So go ahead, refresh your sense of wonder at something other than jaw-dropping idiocy.

This is our daily Open Thread – enjoy!

Sunday Roast: Day trip

The day started a bit hazy…but cleared up nicely.  My eldest likes to take the Otter Crest Loop byway, and in the few minutes it took to get there, the day became crystal clear.

Photos by Zooey

So it was another beautiful day on the Oregon coast — and there were FAR too many people who agreed with me.

This is our daily open thread — Hey look!  I didn’t forget and posted on time!

The Watering Hole; Friday June 26 2015; Insanity v. Sanity

The more the days change, the nuttier it gets out there in Wingnuttistan. Following are a mere handful of headline links on a variety of topics, each and all of which demonstrate a level of crazy far beyond sanity’s threshold. So hang onto your hats; here goes nothing (sotospeak)!

It’s Time To Go’: Glenn Beck Warns That The Time Of ‘Book Burnings, And Re-Education, And Death’ Is Now Here

Jim Inhofe: Pope Francis Worships Creation Rather Than God

War Hero Ted Nugent Praises Call To Arrest Obama From Coup-Supporting Former General

Beck And Barton Warn That SCOTUS Gay Marriage Decision Will Legalize Pedophilia And Outlaw The Bible

Gun Lobbyist Ties Charleston Shooting To Transgender Rights

Pat Boone Blames Charleston Shooting On Obama

Franklin Graham: Americans Must Repent For Electing Pro-LGBT Obama

Todd Starnes: Confederate Flag Opponents Just Like ISIS, Will Burn American Flag Next

Rick Joyner: Gay Marriage May Lead To Civil War

Todd Starnes Calls On God To Send Hornets And Cicadas To Attack Obama

So there it is, a small handful of this week’s samples of Wingnuttistanian insanity, proof positive (as if we didn’t already know) that Inhofe, Nugent, Beck, Barton, Pat Boone, Frank Graham, Todd Starnes, Rick Joyner, and most if not all gun lobbyists are certifiably nuts (and probably scared to death of their own shadows as well). Problem is, about the only thing we the people can do is laugh at them — clearly a not very effective solution since they all keep coming back again, and again, and again . . . . Oh well, when one lives in an insane world and nothing can be done to fix it, perhaps the solution is to occasionally wander off to a sane corner somewhere — an “esoteric belt,” perhaps — and enjoy the soliloquy! Below are a few examples of what such places are like and as you’ll notice, not a single Republican is in attendance! As Emily Dickinson put it,

Did life’s penurious length
Italicize its sweetness,
The men that daily live
Would stand so deep in joy
That it would clog the cogs
Of that revolving reason
Whose esoteric belt
Protects our sanity

Views rescued from the “esoteric belt” follow. Enjoy the soliloquy. :).

Bee in a Wild Rose

A Shadow in a Field of Wild Flowers

Snow on the Peak and Green Grass on the Meadow; June 1 2015

Canadian Reflections

Yellow Roses

Two Canadian Families: 4 Geese, 3 Goslings

Mother and Child

There. Hopefully that’s enough sanity to counter the craziness up top.

😀

OPEN THREAD

Sunday Roast: Happy Mother’s Day

Awwww, it’s my Mom… on a tiny pony.  She looks to be about three years old, which dates this photo to the WWII years.

I’ve always wondered about this photo — why was such a photo taken, when her parents weren’t country people?  They lived in the big city of Cleveland, Ohio!  Then I remember that, of my maternal grandmother’s many pregnancies, my Mom was her only living child.  So when the opportunity arose to put her only baby girl on the back of a pony for a photo-op, you know that was totally happening.

I never met my maternal grandparents — my grandmother having died of breast cancer when my Mom was 13, and my grandfather having died suddenly when Mom was in her last year of high school — but I like to think they were nice people.  She didn’t talk about them much.  They gave her a good foundation, and she made the best of it.  Isn’t that what parents are supposed to do?  Especially on a shortened time frame…

Miss you bunches, Mom.

This is our daily open thread — Call your Mom!  Or spend time with happy memories.

Sunday Roast: Sea Lions Doing Sea Lion-y Stuff

Lounging…

Swimming…

Vocalizing…and more lounging…

Blowing bubbles…napping…maybe waving?

Photos by Zooey

I definitely waved back, just in case.  😉

Sea Lions, I like ’em.  Some people hate ’em.  Whatareyagonnado?

This is our daily open thread — Get on with it!

Sunday Roast: Road Trip pics

Some sort of duck in a pond

Fields, farm & hills, Cougar Ridge area, ID

Awesome canoe sculpture, Lewiston, Idaho

View of the rolling hills of the Palouse, from Steptoe Butte, WA

Dried thistles, Steptoe Butte, WA

Basalt formation, Columbia River Gorge, Biggs, OR

Photos by Zooey

So it was a good trip, with beautiful sunny days and cold nights, visits with friends and family, and lower gas prices than Oregon.  It’s the little things that count.  🙂

This is our daily open thread — Did you turn your clock back or forward?

The Frozen Hole, Saturday, February 21st, 2015: M-m-m-more S-s-s-snow?!

It seems like more than half the country is getting hit by more snow, ice, and other nasty cold stuff through this weekend.

We humans are just not designed for this. So, everyone stay warm inside and have a look at lots of animals who were much better designed for snow than we are. As usual, thanks to The Weather Channel for gathering the pics in this slideshow. While they do include some of my favorite ‘snow’ animals, such as the snow leopard:
I think they were a bit remiss in not including others of my favorite snow-loving animals, like the Arctic Fox:
And not a single one of Arctic Hares, either:

Arctic Hares High-Fiving

But I have to say that my favorite ‘wildlife-in-snow’ themed photo that ISN’T in the slideshow is this one:

“Hey, maybe one of you two cubs is small enough to reach in there…”

This is our daily Open Thread – if you’re reading this from somewhere with no snow, please think warm thoughts towards the rest of us!

The Watering Hole; Friday January 2 2015; Atooi Revisited

Back in 2013, I posted here on The Zoo a description of an emergent kingdom in Polynesia called “Atooi” the idea behind which is, officially, “to live and build a lasting diverse community for the children of the Pacific and the world based on natural, organic and sustainable practices” —  a concept I continue to most readily support and endorse, both for Polynesia and for other indigenous aboriginal peoples everywhere (and who knows, maybe their “sustainable” theses will one day rub off on us, the conquerors, with resultant benefit to our planet and even to ourselves ? ).

Anyway, and to make a long story short, I’ve recently been reexamining piles of old photographic files — old transparencies, digitized — and I ran across a handful that are both descriptive and reflective of my decades-ago visits to the Kingdom of Atooi’s northern pinnacle, the Hawaiian Islands. What I found once again tweaked both those old memories plus my far more recent interest in the Kingdom of Atooi, so I did a quick search and a moment later was logged onto the Atooi Kingdom home page. What really surprised me the most when I got there was that on their up-top-and-front home page was a link to a title that seemed vaguely familiar to me: “Atooi, The Newly Emergent Polynesian Kingdom” — my Zoo post from May of 2013! Far Out! Talk about running across the unexpected!

In any case, following are the half-dozen old (circa 1980) photographs taken at designated locations in the northern apex of the Kingdom of Atooi. Makes me wish I was fifty years younger — if so, I might find a way to get out there and offer to help out their Alii Nui! That’s not likely going to pop up on my rapidly aging horizon, however, so I guess the memories will have to suffice, including:

Atooi Jungle, also North Shore at Wainiha (Kauai)

*****

Windward Shores of Owhyhee (Hawaii) and Atooi (Kauai)

*****

Unidentified wild flower, and View of Sunrise over Hanelei Bay on Atooi (Kauai)

*****

So — Atooi remains an unbelievably attractive place until, of course, the impression of the European bootprint is overlaid atop the various geographies and cultures implicit. Still, if dreams and aspirations of The People were to be someday realized, then the only thing left for them to do to ensure longevity, prosperity, and environmental perfection will be to institute a single policy: NO REPUBLICANS ALLOWED EVER!

Count me in!

Sunday Roast: Hanging out with migrating birds on Sauvie Island

A quiet Christmas morning on the Columbia River, Sauvie Island

Bald Eagle hanging out in a tree near the river

Lots and lots of Snow Geese, making all kinds of noise — wish I could have gotten closer

Sandhill Cranes

Lining up with the Cormorants

Belted Kingfisher — He didn’t want to stay still!

Photos by Zooey

This is our daily open thread — The last Sunday Roast of 2014!

The Watering Hole; Friday December 26 2014; Spring!

So. Today’s the day after Christmas — Dec. 26, 2014 C.E. (Common Era). Actually, Dec. 26 happens every year, same time, same station, etc., and I remain certain that next year’s Christmas will once again show up right on time and as scheduled. I also expect that the never-ending “war on Christmas” nonsense will commence again real soon, given that there is seldom a discernible pause in the actions of alladem wingnut nitwits and their implicit nitwiticism. (Did I spell that right?? Yeah, OK, Bqhatevwr). Oops. ‘Whatever’. 😳

On the other hand we’re already five days past the winter solstice, so SPRING!! is less than ninety days away! Reminds me of other times, decades ago — springtime on the desert — a season I had become very fond of, all those years ago. And wouldn’t you know it, just last month when I switched from crashed computer-a to uncrashed and nearly pristine computer-b, and when I dug into old backups on old USB thingees, I found a whole lot of “stuff” dating back to the days when I spent hour upon hour digitizing old transparencies of scenes that I had once spent hours and hours seeking out to photograph. So, without further ado, here’s some of that old stuff, some 4×5 Ektachromes that I first snapped back in the seventies and eighties on Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. I suspect that after thirty years, enough has changed to make each and all of the subjects evermore difficult to find. With luck, though, it’s all still out there somewhere.

Enjoy!

Wildflowers, North Phoenix, circa 1980

Rio Verde and Mazatzal Mountains, circa 1980

Blue Lupine, Spring circa 1978

Echinocereus engelmanii (Hedgehog). circa 1987

Yucca sp., circa 1982

 

Ferocactus sp., circa 1978

 

Yucca elata, circa 1977

Grasshopper, circa 1977

Desert Tortoise, circa 1980

(Frugal Photos)

OPEN THREAD

 

 

Sunday Roast: Brown Pelicans

Photos by Zooey

My oldest boy wanted to see Brown Pelicans, so we went to the Devil’s Punch Bowl and saw some damn pelicans.  Bam.

What did you do with your first Saturday in November?

This is our daily open thread — You know what to do.

The Watering Hole, October 27th, 2014: Mutants are Cool

I don’t normally click on any of those groups of six ads that seem to be unavoidable on most websites, but when I saw the following photo, I just HAD to:

Horse or Zebra?

The website, brainjet.com, didn’t answer the caption’s question, but I’d say it’s a zebra with a cool-looking color mutation…which, of course, was the title of the slideshow: “13 Naturally Color-Mutated Animals.” While there were some that I might call into question (for instance, the quality of the “pink elephant” photo was too poor), many were beautiful and marvelous. Go ahead and check them out, here are some of my favorites:

Brown Striped Zebra (Zebra Erythrism)

The first two were for Zooey. The next one is for Pachy:

Pink Dragonfly

This next photo was called a “Piebald Deer”, which is erroneous: “Piebald” (at least in horse terminology) describes a white coat with random irregular black patches; “Skewbald” describes a white coat with random irregular brown patches. So the deer in this pic is actually a skewbald, not a piebald:

This one’s for me, since my ‘toon representation in our header is the majestic tiger (thank you, Paul!):

Four Shades of Tiger

And just a few more that were cool:

Half-white Peacock

Pink Grasshopper (sounds like a drink!)

Enjoy the rest of the slide show. I did!

This is our daily open thread – feel free to discuss whatever you want.

Sunday Roast: Pastoral

Photos by Zooey

I’ve posted enough photos of Sauvie Island, that you must have figured out I like the place.  🙂

This is our daily open thread — You know what to do.

The Watering Hole: September 26, 2014 — Various

This gallery contains 10 photos.

Photos by Zooey Click on a photo to get a slideshow.  It’s Friday, what do you want from me?  😉 This is our daily open thread — TGIF!

The Watering Hole: Sept 15, 2014 — Devil’s Churn

Photo by Zooey

Okay folks, this is your late, late, super late, open thread.  🙂

I took this photo on a trip to the Oregon coast in 2008, and I’m standing above the top of Devil’s Churn.  It’s pretty damn awesome!

This is our daily open thread — let the abuse flow.

 

Sunday Roast: Harvest Time

Photos by Zooey

I don’t know why I like combines, but I just think they’re awesome — especially when they’re harvesting a steep hillside.  I didn’t get any good shots of combines on hillsides, because I didn’t remember to toss the tripod in the car.  *sad face*

I took these photos outside of Moscow, Idaho, earlier this month.  Typically, the entire month of August is spent getting the wheat harvested.

Another awesome thing about combines is the annual Combine Demolition Derby at the Lewis County Fair in Nezperce, Idaho.  I’m not a fan of the demolition derby, but switch out the cars for combines, and I am transfixed!

This is our daily open thread — Fall is coming!