This is called The Flower House, located in West Seattle on Alki Beach.
Truly an amazing, colorful building!
OK, so I’m selfish. I decided to make this post be about ME.
I’ve been curious lately about my WordPress “statistics”. In my perusal of old posts, I came across a Draft titled: 7 months, post 149, 92 followers June 13, 2016. I never finished it, I’m sure because I thought it was way too egotistical.
I have tried all these years to be fairly unconditional with myself about all things quantitative with my Blog, so I was surprised recently to see that my number of “followers” (a word I continue to feel so pressured and embarrassed by…) had ballooned to 499!
And even more shocked that I started really wanting just that ONE MORE Follower!
Come on! 500 is such a great number!!
So I’m claiming that desire and offering up a reminder of a few of the posts I feel the best about. Maybe someone will see one they missed, read it and share it? Maybe someone who is a new visitor here will become a “Follower”. (Oh my gosh, can’t we just say “reader”. Followers need a Leader and I am so much more LOST myself than most!)
I hope you will find something from this list that you enjoy, or even better, learn from.
And to the 499 of you, who clicked some box that now labels you in my blogging world as a follower, Thank You so very much for your continued visits, and for the pressure your numbers put on me to be better and better at this whole Blogging thing.
With love and gratitude,
Kathleen Kelly
This was my reader’s favorite. I was actually quite surprised by this, and very touched. I love this sculpture, by a dear artist/friend, Virginia. She made it for herself after being one of “Peggy’s” volunteer caretakers in hospice (for way longer than any of the medical staff expected.) Peggy just kept rallying, saying she was not ready because she was working on accepting her second wing. Virginia, the artist, hadn’t planned on selling the piece. but my sweet James knew how much this piece moved me and, for my birthday, surprised me with it.
https://chosenperspectives.com/2016/04/15/for-pausesandclicks-and-her-family/
The requisite “K” is in “clicks”. By the way, one of the best photography blogs EVER!!
Here are a few of my favorites.
This one is the story of why I started writing in the first place. I have 52 only slightly edited chapters that I really do want to share in a book someday.
https://chosenperspectives.com/2015/11/19/absolutely-nothing-is-absolute/
And the story I refer to with my embarrassing self photo above, and also in the above post is here:
https://chosenperspectives.com/2016/12/02/fluffy-the-house-duck/
I may write more about my Bugs than I do about my cats, or even my grandchildren for that matter. Here’s just one example:
https://chosenperspectives.com/2016/01/08/like-holding-air-in-your-hand/
The “K” here is in the fact I got more “likes” for this post than many others!!
But the whole bug story is here:
I have been glued to a camera since my little Brownie, received as a birthday gift in the 4th grade, but I have never enjoyed it as much as I do these days. The convenience and quality of photos available with my phone has been a real pleasure. I definitely have a few favorites, but truly take no credit for them. My favorite category is Accidental Photographs, those long-shot ones you think will never turn out good, show something you weren’t expecting or even that happen with the equivalent of a Butt Dial…
Here’s one of many. I do crack myself up. I think I’m funnier than anyone else thinks I am.
https://chosenperspectives.com/2019/02/24/lens-artists-photo-challenge-34-close-up/
And lastly, I loved the weekly challenge we used to have called Song Lyrics Sunday. It gave me a chance to share favorite music….a LOT of it. Here’s just one example:
Well, that’s it for this post (which will now be past due). I had fun writing it and confessing such a deep dark secret to you all….that I wanted at least one more follower!
😊
WAIT! STOP THE PRESSES!!!
(Boy, you have to be a certain age to know what THAT saying means, eh?)
Since I started writing this post, I see a new Follower has joined me!
As of this morning, I have the elusive 500!!
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Needs to have the Letter “K” anywhere in the word
“featured image” above is of Loki, 3 months old
I’m longing for Spring but today, Cee challenges us to share scenes from our archives. I love her challenges. Helps me appreciate the beautiful things I have seen, and sometimes think to photograph.
My favorite Autumn scene is the “Wonder Wall”. Just a couple miles from my house. It’s a block-long retaining wall across from our local Home Depot. I take pictures of it every year because it is so amazing.
This wall is such a great place to experiment with your camera…macro vs telephoto, time of day, color adjusting, week by week, individual composition, balancing colors, etc., etc..
Clearly, I never get tired of it. I have snapped so many pictures, I printed them and turned them into a photo card series…even had a poster made of one!
Oh and the featured photo at the top? It’s to remind you Autumn is not just spectacular colors in the Pacific Northwest.
It’s also weird fungi! Lots of it! Huge! Like from-another-planet strange!!
When it comes to Eyes…I only have three choices…all of which I have posted about before. But there you have it. These three sets of eyes figure very prominently in my life!
First, the most eye-connecting cat I’ve ever met, my sweet (recently passed) heart-cat, Zorro. We would commune deeply, through these long, meaningful stares….for 18 years.
I wrote Zorro’s Life Story for Katzenworld here: https://wordpress.com/post/chosenperspectives.com/18061
By no means, in second place, the eyes I have posted the most often are my grandson’s.
This boy surprised us all when he was born.
His mother has these beautiful, mischievous brown eyes.
His Father, gorgeous, penetrating yellow/hazel ones.
And no where in either of their lineages are any blue eyes…except little old ME, so obviously some ego mixed in with my love for his eyes!
Looking into these baby blues for any length of time can get you into serious trouble.
Now, just to make sure the record is straight…the eyes you just looked into above are, in my opinion, beautiful and impactful.
But below are my favorite eyes…the ones I get lost in…for so many years now, the eyes that carry me through every day of my life, the ones where I see the most love reflected right back at me…
OK, another stretch for me. Hope you enjoy this.
Here are some of my favorite Shadow photographs, taken over the years, followed by several of the moon, both last night, and this morning as she set on the western horizon.
And my FAVORITE Shadow photo…my grandson dancing with his…
(This photo always makes me thing of the amazing and beautiful Whippets on https://whippetwisdom.com/. Worth a visit!!)
Last night I went looking for a perfect spot to watch (and maybe photograph) the Moon Rise…a Trifecta of Nature, as it was a full moon, a “Blood Moon” and it was happening on the Vernal Equinox.
Don’t get too excited. All photos taken with Galaxy S8+ phone camera or my point and shoot Canon. So no National Geographics winners here.
And, if you scroll down and hit “play”, I’ve even provided a background sound track to enhance your viewing experience.
I settled in and at first, I was disappointed because right about the time she was due to appear on the horizon, and contrary to my phone’s weather app, the clouds rolled in.
I almost gave up but decided patience just might pay off.
So glad I waited.
It got more and more interesting…
And then, I woke up at 5 AM this morning with Cat Stevens in my head, the moon on my mind…and shining right into my eyes. So I hopped in my car and drove to a place I knew would have a great view of the Moon Set.
The shot I was most hoping for just was not going to happen…too misty. From this vantage point, on a clear day, you would see the moon set behind the Olympic Mountain Range! If you look closely, you can almost see them…..
I had a truly profound time last night at our little local Blueberry Farm and Lake, and this morning at Sunset Hills Memorial Park. (Yes, I watched the moon set, while sitting respectfully in my car, in my pajamas, in the cemetery. Best view by far, in my city!)
Thanks for joining me. Let me know what you think.
Sound Track!
Cee Neuner has all these great “challenges” to get us talking with each other, sharing photos, flowers, personal history, etc.
Today I am participating in her Share Your World challenge, four questions she poses (and answers herself) each week.
What did you or did not like about the first place you lived without your parents?
I loved having the option to go live with my aunt, uncle and cousins when, at 15 years old, I basically ran away.
But, having fled my childhood home to escape oppressive responsibility (way too much for my age), and ending up living with a completely different set of restrictions was really difficult.
Oh, and the complete culture shock of leaving the casual and delightful beach life of San Diego,
only to find myself in Natchez, Mississippi…well, that was a huge adjustment.
Talk about Culture Shock!
What is your most favorite smell/scent?
the ocean………..
Would you prefer snowy winters, or not, and why?
Absolutely NOT. Yeah, yeah snow is pretty and all, and it provides the means for one of the world’s most popular sporting activities, but as Steven Wright, the comedian, used to say if we were meant to go barreling down snowy mountainsides, god would have designed us with boards nailed to our feet…well, that’s not the right quote, and apparently I am very easily distracted because I just spent 40 delightful minutes listening to old Steven Wright comedy routines…looking for that quote.
I don’t like snowy winters…
What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.
I had a great week, appreciating life so much and capturing some pictures I really like! Here’s a slide show:
I’ve been working on both a newsletter to my neighbors and a post lately about how lucky I am to have so much wildlife right here in my neighborhood. I live on a long-ish dead end street right in the middle of one of Washington State’s wealthiest cities. It’s one of the few streets left where you can still see traces of the days when this area was considered “out in the country”. In my time living here (almost 45 years now) my little lane has gone from a small handful of older houses with horse acreage, to 25 homes, many qualifying as McMansions (homes with 5,000 plus square footage, selling for well over $1,000,000).
When I saw Cee’s Fun Photo Challenge for this week,
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Wildlife
I decided to combine my two projects with her challenge.
So here is the letter I sent out to my neighbors.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Sub-Urban Animals!
A letter from your self-appointed S.E. 7th Street Wild Life reporter and Game Warden.
A few months back, I was pretty low, with all the dark hours and gray skies. I didn’t even want to go for one of my short but usually uplifting walks. It was so dismal out, for so many days in a row, I think I was developing some serious empathy for my clients over the years who have suffered from SAD. (Seasonal Affective Disorder!)
But I made myself go out there anyway.
And a few steps into my climb up the hill (yes, for me, it is a climb) I heard them!
Our SE 7th Street Bald Eagles are back!
Last year they graced us with many regular visits, perched up high on branches that seemed way too skinny to hold their heft. On most days, they could be found facing the sunrise, and later the sunset, either in the trees in my front yard, or up the street to the East across from the Mathes house.
As I hiked up the street on this gloomy day, head tilted back at a neck-killing angle, I saw them. They were circling, very low, right above the treetops, probably hunting for breakfast. Then they landed, and stayed for a long time.
I took this sighting very personally…like they had stopped by just to cheer me up.
I was so uplifted I wanted to write to the whole street to share about my encounter.
That made me remember that I actually used to do that a lot…write to the whole SE 7th Street list. It started with simple reporting of Coyote sightings.
Then one day, I witnessed something so amazing, I wrote a whole article about it.
Early one morning, I saw a Murder of Crows take down a Bald Eagle, on the busy road right at the top of our street. I’m sure the Eagle had gone after a crow’s nest or something but the Crow Call went out and a huge crowd of them came. Some Seagulls even stopped by to join in on the attack.
The event stopped traffic. Well, I guess I kind of stopped the traffic, pulling my car sideways across the street to prevent massive bird death. A cop happened along, saw immediately what was happening and helped chase the birds away and get the traffic moving again. I spent hours afterwards watching, and photographing, the escaped but clearly injured Bald Eagle up in a tree across the street from the Burdick house.
Soon after this event, I proclaimed myself the Game Warden and Wild Life Reporter for our street. I sent out a “newsletter” article called Urban Bird Gangs.
I had so much fun writing up the story, it is in part what inspired me to start a Blog. Now, I write about my animal adventures right here in our neighborhood all the time. Please feel free to check it out, although I do write about a lot of other things too. Some inane, and some harsh. Lots of animal stories; beautiful seed feeder birds, marauding deer, our neighborhood cats, the brazen Coyote pack (looking for our cats), and many Hummingbird shots. You may even find photos of beautiful plants, trees and flowers from your own yards.
https://chosenperspectives.com/
Back to S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder), I think I’m cured now. Especially in the last couple of weeks. It appears, we are being chosen again, by a beautiful pair of Bald Eagles. Maybe the same ones who roosted last summer, sunrise and sunset, in the biggest tree in front-yard (or as James calls it, “frun-chard”.) They seemed to be hanging out around 10:30 AM some mornings, on the more gray, windy days. Not great photos with only my phone but two mornings ago, that really cold, crisp, clear day, they were posing for the local paparazzi, so I ran for my real camera. So glad I did.
What a beautiful, majestic bird!
Again, please feel free to stop by the Blog and tell me what you think!!
Love our street!!
From,
Kathie (your oldest resident…well, longest anyway)
______________________________________________________________________________________
So that was my letter to my wonderful neighbors but for Cee’s Challenge, I want to add this HUGE slide show. (Wish I knew how to do music for it too.)
This is my entry for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge-“a different view”. Perfect for me as I love “choosing different perspectives” on things.
I don’t know though. Maybe you have to be sitting on the toilet in my sister Lenore’s guest bathroom to see it??
