retinal perspectives

'tis the season

for crisps and crumbles. am i right?

p.s. i am now offline with no internet access but will be back on sunday with a new ode to joy entry. may the remainder of your week be full of happy moments.

the walrus said

{an extremely irregular series inspired by kelly, in which atlas dispenses pearls of wisdom}

"what is this past and future business? all is now. go forth and live."

fuzzy starbursts

the galaxy, not the candy

the central coast, continued

a few more items of note.

an a&w drive-in.

reading by firelight.

the shortest river in the world and the smallest harbor in the world.

being reminded that once you wear a pair of tennis shoes in the sand, you will discover sand in your socks and shoes every. single. time. you wear them from that day forward.

looking up and realizing that atlas was half a mile down the beach and showing no signs of turning around. (no idea what happened here; he hasn't done this since he was a tiny puppy. it almost looked like he was following a smell and then got confused and thought that i must be one of the people far ahead of him on the beach. i need to train him to respond to a whistle.)

stepping on a rock that turned out to be a very old and very dead sea lion carcass (it was squishy - and that is all i will say about that).

starfish! tide pools. green seaweed. and a very aptly named elephant rock.

trees nestled closely together.

a hint of fall.

the unbearable lightness

"Wine is sunlight, held together by water."

- Galileo

ode to joy, volume 38

{my attempt to capture 52 photos that represent joy - my word for 2010}

impressions and memories from a short but lovely vacation.

pure joy.

the central coast

let's see. here are some highlights.

the lone tree on a tiny hill in siletz bay. (i drove past this tree last fall and fell in love - but did not stop to admire it that day.)

a gray whale in boiler bay! (i did not see the tail but i saw the spout and the back. i was so excited. the pup yawned. apparently excitement is not always contagious.)

the ocean in grey.

the yaquina head lighthouse. (atlas found a cat on the porch at the keeper's house. this did excite him. there is no accounting for taste. i tried to drag him away while he tried to circle the gate and find an opening.)

the oregon dunes. these were fabulous - white sand and blue sky stretching out forever. (can you see the tiny people on the sand dune? when i was taking this photo, i heard the dad say, "look! that lady is taking a photo! show her some good jumps!" atlas and i ran up and down the dune next to them.)

seals! (you can almost see them on the rock in front of the wave. alas, my longer lens was safely far away in the car.)

two sunsets. (can you see that someone wrote "i love pa" on the sand in giant letters? well, it said pam, but i couldn't fit the m in the photo.)

the ocean in blue.

little rivers running into the ocean.

taking a breath

do you know what i love about oregon? well, there are many things, but i really love how there seems to be a state park everywhere you turn. i think i stopped at most of them as we meandered down the coast to yachats on monday.

i'll share more photos and stories as i go through my photos. right now, my legs are weary. we went to the oregon dunes yesterday and ran down a giant sand hill over and over. (you forget that you have to climb back up when you look down the hill and remember how fun it was to run down. and you also forget that your legs will really feel it later.)

it's a weimiversary

seven years ago yesterday, my beloved atlas pup came to live with me.

seven years later, i love him more than ever. every night, i give him a kiss on his nose and thank him for being the best puppy in the world and for sharing my day with me.

i always think it would be fun to celebrate. every year, i forget. not that i forget it's been another year - just that i don't think of it on the day itself.

this year, since my happiness project theme for september is celebrate, i did not forget. we are heading home today after a couple of nights on the coast. partly to celebrate the weimiversary. partly to celebrate continued good news on his heart. partly to go offline for a few days and retreat.

after seven years, i am thankful i made a point of marking the day somehow.

of computers and flowers

do you know why i like the first photo? the window reminds me of a computer monitor, and i like to think of a computer monitor surrounded by flowers. very impractical, i suppose, and yet i suspect it would really change the feel of your computer time.