fourpointedstar

Yesterday, on my walk through Elgin with a friend, I photographed this same scene; but I already had a monochrome for yesterday, so Sarah and I went back tonight to capture the scene again for today’s monochrome.

There are days
When I wonder if I have done enough.
There are days
When I wonder if I can take any more.
There are days
When I want to tell my daughters that it will all be ok;
There are days
When I wonder if that is a lie.

There are days
When I want to crawl in a hole and hide.
There are days
When I am so angry that I lash out at others.
There are days
When I know that I can help someone else;
There are days
When I wonder if it matters.

There are days
When I can’t take any more “news”;
There are days
When I wonder how others can.
There are days
When I want to fight;
There are days
When I know that I can’t.

There are days
When I know that I can do better.
There are days
When I know that my actions matter.
There are days
When I know that others care.
There are days
When I know that a hug will make a difference.

This is one of those days.

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I suppose at this point, I’m kind of known for my “reflection distorted in glass” photos, but I really love this one. The monochrome makes the textures and details really stand out, and I absolutely love the architectural elements of the building as well.

Fall into the Wall was the the best waterfall that we visited on our trip to Seattle. This waterfall is tucked in-between the East and West-bound traffic of Interstate 90 near Snoqualmie Pass. In fact, just out of the top of my photo is the eastbound traffic. Despite being within earshot of the interstate traffic, the setting was perfectly serene. The side road that offers this view is about 20 feet higher than the creek bed and offers wonderful views of the otherwise nearly inaccessible falls. If dusk had not been approaching, I would have stayed for far longer enjoying the horseshoe bend.

Every journey starts somewhere, and while I’d taken some baby steps, my photography journey started with Don Frisque. Way back in 2005, we spent many evenings together. I would teach him how to use his iMac, and he would teach me how to use my camera.

Don was a well regarded and award winning member of the Wisconsin PSA, and honestly, I owe much of my technical knowledge of photography to an excellent foundation that he set for me.

Don’s interest in photography did not wane even as his health did. Every few months, I’d get an email from one of his sons “my dad really likes seeing your photos” and there’s not really a better compliment than that.

That’s a life goal, right? …to make sure that the people that you spend time with know that you love who they’ve become.
Thanks Don.

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Our human sense of scale is often inadequate for what is around us; that tugboat is huge, longer than a semi truck. But that tugboat pales in comparison to even the small “lake” that it’s floating in, Lake Union.

Kerry Park was on several Youtube “must see” lists for Seattle, and you can see why. It offers a wonderful view of the skyline, and, on a clear day, a pretty great view of Mount Ranier.

However, don’t plan to spend an afternoon there! 🙂 There’s only street parking, and I think there are maybe 10 benches to sit on. Sarah and I had an afternoon planned for this park; oh well, it gave us a chance to see other sights instead!

This series of falls reflected an incredible decrease in elevation. This is the last segment of large falls, but there is significant series of rapids and cascades even further down the stream and the entire area is filled with incredible sights and scenes.

As we drove out of the woods, I realized that we could park alongside the road and see a part of the falls. Then once we walked to the bridge over the stream, you could see a walkway under the bridge, so of course, I climbed down to the walkway to capture this photo!

Before our October 2024 trip to Seattle, I bought a “Washington Waterfalls” book and picked out a couple of sets of easy hikes. Our first waterfall adventure was to visit a few that were along Hwy. 2, and at our first stop, the parking lot was closed. After looking at the map, I realized that there may be a different way to see the falls. Technically I was right…technically. As we drove up the dirt road, it got increasingly steep and less likely to lead to an accessible path.

We parked precariously, and I clambered down the hill to see if I could get a photo. The water was a crisp bluish-green, and since it was raining that morning, I was not comfortable with crawling all over the rocks like normal, but even from my vantage point, the scene was incredible.

Just fair warning, if it has rained recently, and you decide to walk downstream at Matthiessen, your feet will get muddy or you’ll walk in the streamed itself. And maybe both…

My daughter and I visited Matthiessen back in 2018, and we walked upstream that time. So this time, we visited the main waterfall area; then we walked downstream this time – all the way to the Vermilion River. The Devil’s Paintbox is right by the main stairs down to see the main waterfall area, and honestly, it’s not that exciting except for the copper colored stream that was very slowly flowing out of the alcove.

Not only did we find a waterfall in Dellwood Park along Fraction Run Creek, we found two! This waterfall is probably widely known – it’s right on the frisbee golf path; the other waterfall is a little harder to get to. There are likely more drops as well, but they would only be accessible by walking through the stream.

I’ve written a few times about “what is a waterfall”, so I would ask – Is this 1 cascade or 30+ individual falls? 🙂

While I was visiting Sagawau in Cook County, one of the park employees mentioned that there may be a waterfall in Dellwood Park in Lockport.  Since I have a client in Lockport, I already knew that there was a stream in a valley in Dellwood Park, and I was disappointed that it hadn’t occurred to me that there was likely to be a waterfall in that valley.  So, the next available weekend, my oldest daughter and I went on a hike to see if we could find a waterfall along Fraction Run Creek…