I like my phone's special camera effects, especially when I am taking bloom photos:

tarred — your neighbor's tree looks like the perfect tree to climb. I like the 2nd picture of Smokey. Seems like he's either ready or just contemplating whether to keep climbing.

Hi, all! Long time no post. And I know
we've all had our phones on us . Anyone have any new cell phone favorites? I'm sure there have been some good spring/summer blooms and vacations.

Beautiful, James. Where were they taken?

Thank you! All are in various locations in Northwestern Washington. Seattle, Snoqualmie Pass, Bow, North Cascades, Fidalgo Island.

WA is spectacular! I once visited Seattle in spring when the rhododendrons were blooming in the Washington Arboretum. That was spectacular too.

Yes, this whole area is beautiful! Things have been in bloom since early spring and are just slowing down. It has been one transitional display after another. Being from warm climates or places with only 2 seasons most of my life, I have pretty much been in aww the entire time I have been here. Leaves are starting to change already, and I can't wait to experience Fall here.

Thanks for dropping in, James. Looks like you're enjoying the Pacific NW. Great pictures.

WA is spectacular! I once visited Seattle in spring when the rhododendrons were blooming in the Washington Arboretum. That was spectacular too.

tx_flower_child, I miss Texas, but Washington is beautiful at every turn, so i'm not too miserable

Thanks for the acorns!

Love the pics James!
I have none myself, spent the summer using the big heavy camera.
Hope you have laid in a supply of fleece and Goretex. However, there will be signs of spring in January so do not despair.

All of my pictures are taken with my cellphone. Haven't had a camera since someone stole my 35mm before most of y'all were born. (Yep. I'm that old.)

I forgot that I'd taken some pictures in Aspen with one of those throwaway cameras that the drugstores sell. They came out surprisingly good. I just found them a few days ago when I was looking for something else. Of course it's probably hard to take a bad picture in Aspen.

Mary, I think i'm ready. I think. We get a little bit less rain up here, supposedly. It has been so dry for so long, i'm going to try not to complain about it for a while.

tx_flower_child, I haven't used one of those disposable cameras since I was a child. Pretty much since the invention of camera phones. I agree, I don't think its possible to take a bad photo in Aspen

My brothers and I had a Brownie camera when we were kids. They were older & bigger so I rarely got to use it. Sometime later, maybe high school, I got my own camera. It was an Instamatic. After college is when I got the aforementioned 35mm SLR camera. It was an Olympus. Think maybe OM-1. It was a nice, lightweight little camera. After it was stolen I started seeing everyone using digital cameras of one type or another. Didn't seem challenging so I moved on to basketweaving. :)

Here's one of the pictures I took in Aspen with one of the throwaways. Sitting on a rock, just watching the river flow.

I bet that was a peaceful place to sit and relax. What do you weave with? I have woven with grapevine and river cane. Just simple Cherokee style basket. It is fun but can also be quite challenging when you really get into making large double-walled pieces with intricate designs.

I was kinda joking. I made some of the ugliest baskets anyone has ever seen. I don't remember what I was using.

I do have a nice basket collection. Many are large and they tend to become places to pile stuff in. But I love them anyway.

Basket weaving has always been joked about, but it can be really difficult and requires some dexterity. I tried it for a while, and moved on to other crafts.

Thank you. It is really hard.

So that's when I moved on to see what the 'business world' was like, never having been part of it. I fell into a job programming system security for mainframe computers. That was easier for me than basketweaving.

Ok. That was OT. Let me see about posting a cellphone picture. Here's a selfie.




and I'm so boring. I haven't traveled anywhere in way too long of a time. Only have pictures of flowers, trees, etc. Some friends but we like to remain anonymous here so can't post those.

I know. My neighbor's tree. Last winter I posted a picture of it when the leaves had dropped and it was nekkid. Just cuz I like the loop-d-loop.





and a surprisingly fast swimmer.

That's a beautiful selfie!
I like fun tree loops and things, too. Here's one in the woods out behind my mom's house that I like.

This was cool too. Out on the Washington Coast in the rainforest.





On the beach

La Push