These were taken a couple of years ago in the town of Redondo, south of Des Moines, half an hour or so south of Seattle. This one street just goes all out, collecting food for a food bank and everything. I love the lights. Nothing makes me feel like an enchanted child like Christmas lights sparkling in the nighttime.

You can see more Window and Doors here, and have a very merry time doing so. Try Color Carnival for more brilliant colors, too.

Today is the final day for voting on the Photoblog Awards for 2009. If you like the photos on this blog, please vote for it today by clicking in the link below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009.

As we approach the Winter solstice, I found this photo taken on a Summer solstice at the Woodland Park Rose Garden in Seattle, right near the zoo. It has been clear but very cold out, and this vision of the warm days of summer does seem almost impossible, but so sweet.

For more blissful pinkness, visit Pink Saturday. And this one (sunshine makes it so easy) is SOOC, or straight out of the camera.

This is from the archives, taken on a fine April day from the famous and beautiful Astoria bridge over the Columbia River.

So many photos, in just three years of digital. I think I’ll never run out of things to post. Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies around the world. Weekend Reflections always features a highly creative set of photos, and visit Scenic Sunday for more scenegasms.

I’ve tagged this Best Post of the Week. It’s a keeper.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog before Dec. 15 and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

A few weeks ago we were in Portland and I took the shot from the window as we drove across the Willamette river on the Morrison bridge. I once met someone from Willamette University and he told me it’s pronounced to rhyme with “damn it” as in, “It’s Willamette, damn it!” So now you know, and the river is pronounced the same way.

For more photos featuring water in all its wetness, visit Watery Wednesday.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog before Dec. 15 and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

So many cheerful photos in the archives; a gray day like today is perfect to find one for us all to enjoy. This was taken at my old house, towards the end of March that year. Glorious, isn’t it?

For more flowers seen across the planet, visit Flowers for Today. And this one’s also SOOC, or straight out of the camera. And check out Scenic Sunday while you’re at it.

I did crop this a tiny bit to remove some distracting cars from the lower edge, but otherwise it’s SOOC, or straight out of the camera. It’s from a couple of weeks ago when we went to Portland, Oregon, and I bet those red leaves are history already.

For more interesting skies around the world, visit Skywatch Friday. And visit Scenic Sunday as well, if you can. Well worth it.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog before Dec. 15 and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

Blessed sunshine! This is a rare sunny view of Seattle as you drive north on the Viaduct. Such a wonderful confabulation of building styles and eras. The tall one in the middle is called by some the Jukebox building, and the one below it the Deoderant building. Not very respectful, but descriptive.

Perhaps you’d like to visit Window Views for more interesting doors and window photos. This shot is also SOOC, or straight out of the camera. (But I sure deleted a lot from that group!)

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog before Dec. 15 and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

I just can’t get over the brilliance of autumn leaves I sometimes see around here. This is a straight-out-of-the camera (SOOC) shot, no Photoshop at all, thank you very much. Sometimes I do tweak just a tiny bit, but rainy skies can be your friend in photography. The even lighting helps get a perfect exposure, even on the Auto setting. I also rarely crop. Compose on the fly, take lots, and hit delete if you don’t like it. Digital rocks!

Visit Ruby Tuesday for more red loveliness, and Color Carnival for more scintillating colors of all kinds.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog before Dec. 15 and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009

Taking photos out of an airplane window is very challenging, and my trusty little point-and-shoot Canon camera does its best. I really want the quality of a big camera, but I don’t want the shlep (means haul around), to use a New York expression. Sometimes even borderline image quality still has some appeal, at least to me. I love this moody effect, and I hope you enjoy it, flaws and all.

For more skies seen round the world, visit Skywatch Friday.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Here’s a photo for the Thursday Challenge of the idea of energy. Las Vegas is sure a great place to see that in use, and lots of it. This Eiffel Tower may not be as big as the real thing, but I’d hate to pay that electric bill.

PLEASE IGNORE IF READ BEFORE about the 2009 Photoblog Awards. If you like my photos, please vote for this photoblog before Dec. 15 and leave a comment in the link  below. You have to register (name and password only) and then click on the word Vote in the upper left. Thanks very much! Photoblog Awards 2009