On a trip up to Camano Island yesterday, just loving that sunshine, there was the Stillaguamish River (the “Stilly”) and the magnificent snow-capped Cascade Mountains as a backdrop. Today all is cloudy again, but it was so nice while it lasted.

Speaking of sunshine, I am headed south to the San Francisco area (Wine Country, here I come!) to visit and take in the Impressionist show at the de Young Museum, as the show is soon to head back to Paris. Paintings just look so different in person, and it’s much easier to get to San Francisco than Paris. I can’t wait, as great weather is predicted and it will be so good to hang with the peeps again. It will mean time off from this blog and Free Photos, but just for a week. I’ll be back before you know it with lots of new photos.

In the meantime, be sure to visit Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday, and do browse around here and Free Photos while you’re here. Ta-ta!

It was clear overhead but all misty and mysterious out on the water. Can’t you just hear the foghorns?

Visit Watery Wednesday for more interesting kinds of water photos, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, Weekend Reflections, Skywatch Friday and Sunday Shadow Shots. This one is straight out of the camera, too.

Do browse the little images, or thumbnails, next door at Free Photos, linked to searchable larger photos you can copy and use for your enjoyment. And if this photo is the only one below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the rest of them.

For me, the solstice is a key day to my emotional equilibrium. With the solstice night at about 16 hours long in this latitude, daylight is crucially important. Once the solstice arrives, the days lengthen again, so all is positive and improving.

I took this photo in my back yard on Tuesday morning, the solstice. One of the only benefits of the shorter days is that I actually witness the dawn light on some days. Can you tell I am not an early riser?

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies seen round the world, Blue Monday and Scenic Sunday as well. This one is straight out of the camera, too. And Happy Solstice to you, a couple of days late.

As usual, if there’s only this one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the rest of them.

Here’s a stunner of a view, if I do say so myself. It’s amazing what a little patch or two of sunlight can do to an otherwise gray vista. This overlook near my house has been such a great scenic boon to me, and I am grateful.

Visit Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday, Weekend Reflections, Skywatch Friday and Scenic Sunday, too, for more great photos.

I continue to be excited by the lucky break I encountered in the cloud cover and am calling this my Best Post of the Week.

Want to see the latest posts? Click on Sara’s Fave Photos here or above. And do leave a comment and let me know how you like this blog’s new look.

Looking through the old files from May of this year, I found this photo taken at the marina (Boat Haven?) in Port Townsend, never before published. What a rainbow that was! I remember that it was unusually long lasting, its arc in the east getting flatter and flatter as the sun sank in the west.

Visit Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Skywatch Friday, Scenic Sunday and Weekend Reflections for more interesting photographs on a theme. This one is also straight out of the camera. And because I like it so much, I’m putting it in the Best Post of the Week category.

Please try a new category or tag while you are here. And if there is only the one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the whole blog experience.

This photo was taken about a year ago, when I had just gotten my new camera, the Canon Powershot S90. My New Year’s resolution last year was to learn its features, and while I haven’t learned them all by any means, I feel much more comfortable with the manual settings and am far more likely to get the shot I want, closer to what I am seeing right then. Sunsets give me such a great feeling and thought I’d share this one, even though the quality could be better.

Visit Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday and Scenic Sunday for more interesting photos contributed by people around the world. I love photo memes!

There’s a very scenic overlook near my house, and sometimes even in gray weather the view is good. A little sunshine sifting down from the clouds, a bit of reflection on the water, and there you have it. It feels so good to look out to a far distance, doesn’t it?

Visit Skywatch Friday and Scenic Sunday for more skies and earth worth viewing. Watery Wednesday has more water photos of all kinds. Weekend Reflections showcases visual reflections.

If you see only one post on this page, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the whole blog.

A few weeks ago on my way to a conference in Las Vegas, the weather was gray in Seattle, no surprise there, but what a magnificent view of Mt. Rainier emerged when we ascended above the clouds. I love air travel for this reason. The views are truly heavenly.

Even though this is water frozen and water gaseous, it’s still water, and it qualifies for an entry to Watery Wednesday. Visit Blue Monday for more blue in photos, too. Shadow Sunday has more neat shadows. Outdoor Wednesday has more outdoor shots, of course, and Scenic Sunday the same, but different. Skywatch Friday has great skies to see.

If you see only one photo here, you’ve arrived via a link. Click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the full blog experience.

Looking at the new snow that had fallen out back on Monday, we could see from that dark, laden sky that more snow was coming. When the sky is darker than the land, it’s such a strange kind of look. I like the way this is a full color image but looks almost monochrome.

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies seen around the world, and Scenic Sunday for great scenery. And have a happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

On last week’s trip to Las Vegas for that conference held at the Flamingo Hotel, mid strip, like most conferences we were stuck inside for long hours, but there was a short break that included a walk through the Habitat section of the hotel’s grounds, with real flamingoes, by the way. I’ll post them later, but today wanted to share how the hotel looked reflected in one of the pools for the abundant birdlife. Do you see the fish?

Visit Weekend Reflections, Shadow Shot Sunday, Scenic Sunday, SOOC (straight out of the camera), Window Views and Blue Monday if you’ve a yen for more variations on a theme, or the home blog of some great photo memes. And if there’s only one measly photo showing here, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for lots more.