Before and during storm

Main Street Holiday Decorations - Friday, when skies were blue, and Saturday morning, at the beginning of our first snow storm of the season. We had gotten several inches by evening, along with hail, and are forecast for about 20 hours straight of rain, giving 6-8 inches of rain on top of the snow melting. The rivers are going to be running deep. "IIIII'm dreaming of a Whiiiiiite Christmas..."
[I refused to put any Christmas decorations up before Dec. 1, either at the house, or on the website. Now that it's December...]
I'm sorry for not posting for a couple of days, and it might be a little sporadic until I get situated enough to not exacerbate my newly-diagnosed carpal tunnel. We think it was doing the website with my laptop actually on my lap in the evening.

Theme Day: Bridges

Bridge to Nowhere: We came across this structure at LaPush, about 20 minutes west of Forks on the Pacific Ocean. We were told that there used to be a resort that the bridge went to. The river bends around this piece of land, creating a sort of peninsula here. Very pretty area, probably much prettier in the summer when everything is green. You get to this bridge by driving past the Coast Guard station to where the road ends.
The sign at the upper right of the picture is posted on a nearby tree. This would be difficult to reach to be able to attempt to cross...

I didn't sign up in time for the theme day this month, but here are the CDPB sites that are contributing to the theme : BRIDGES.

Boston (MA), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - New York City (NY), USA - Portland (OR), USA - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Inverness (IL), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Stockholm, Sweden - Setúbal, Portugal - Brussels, Belgium - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Seattle (WA), USA - Hyde, UK - Manila, Philippines - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - London, England - Austin (TX), USA - Toulouse, France - Weston (FL), USA - Sesimbra, Portugal - Selma (AL), USA - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Saarbrücken, Germany - Cleveland (OH), USA - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - American Fork (UT), USA - Seoul, South Korea - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - North Bay (ON), Canada - Arradon, France - Paderborn, Germany - Durban, South Africa - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - Portland (OR), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Wichita (Ks), USA - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Petaling Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Grenoble, France - New York City (NY), USA - Nottingham, UK - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Arlington (VA), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Miami (FL), USA - Cheltenham, UK - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Saratoga Spgs. (NY), USA - Las Vegas (NV), USA - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Nashville (TN), USA - Toruń, Poland - New Orleans (LA), USA - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Melbourne, Australia - Moscow, Russia - Trujillo, Peru - Château-Gontier, France - Quincy (MA), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Joplin (MO), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Brookville (OH), USA - Chateaubriant, France - Chandler (AZ), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Baziège, France - Auckland, New Zealand - Wellington, New Zealand - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Subang Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Detroit (MI), USA - Riga, Latvia - Nelson, New Zealand - Budapest, Hungary - Cape Town, South Africa - Sydney, Australia - Dunedin (FL), USA - Sofia, Bulgaria - Radonvilliers, France - Turin, Italy - Montpellier, France - Kansas City (MO), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Wailea (HI), USA - Lubbock (TX), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Terrell (TX), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Budapest, Hungary - Montréal (QC), Canada - Sharon (CT), USA - Le Guilvinec, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - London, UK - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Orlando (FL), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Paris, France - Mainz, Germany - Newcastle (NSW), Australia - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Darmstadt, Germany - Naples (FL), USA - Torino, Italy - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Bogor, Indonesia - The Hague, Netherlands - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - Melbourne (VIC), Australia - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Christchurch, New Zealand

Moon and Mars

Mars is the closest to the Earth it gets in its orbit. The little red dot to the right of the moon is Mars. It looks a bit brighter with the naked eye - my camera doesn't really like night shots. This was taken through a break in the clouds. I like the way the moon highlights and colors the clouds.
Here in Forks, we are sky watchers again. The sky, when clear, is so beautifully bright with stars. We can see constellations we haven't seen for a long time, and enjoy the heavenly entertainment whenever we can - weather permitting.

Rialto Beach

Rialto Beach, just north of LaPush, on the Pacific Ocean, about 20 minutes west of Forks, looking north and west to sea stacks and headlands.

Hungry Bluejay

This Stellars Jay was one of six that were hungrily attacking our feeder the last few days, in preparation for the storms that we are wading through right now. Two-thirds of an inch of rain has fallen in the past 12 hours or so.
The Stellars Jay is the blue jay of the western United States, but has all the attitude of his Eastern US cousin. They are so fun to watch, although their attitude doesn't always bode well for the smaller birds. The jay is large enough that he sometimes has trouble with smaller feeders. Ours is a medium-sized one that the ravens can't balance on (it swings from a shepherds hook). The jays have discovered that they can reach the seed from the hook if they lean a little. They are learning to balance on the ledge of the feeder, some better than others; and, there is always the seed that falls on the ground. The little birds are pretty good at sneaking their bites at the seed in, avoiding the jays, and taking the seed to the nearby tree to eat.
We keep black sunflower seeds in the feeder right now. It seems to go over well with the birds here.

Rialto Beach Sunset View

Our son, Michael, visited us for Thanksgiving, and we all went to Rialto Beach, about 20 minutes west of Forks, and just north of La Push (which is on the Quileute Reservation). This is him atop the beach flotsam watching the sunset. He suggested I use this one for this site. We both like the silhouette look to it.

This is what he was looking at - James Island and sea stacks on the left and sea stacks on the right. James Island is at the mouth of the Quileute River at La Push.
I'll post more pictures from Rialto Beach this week.

Building burns

The DSHS (Dept of Social and Health Services) building burned on Friday. It looks to be completely gone. You can see through the building - what is left of it - to the other side. It was probably empty of people, thankfully, because of the Thanksgiving holiday. It went up quickly. Located near the center of town, and across the street from the hospital, it received a lot of attention from the firefighters. The first sign we had was when the power went out - as if a switch was thrown. We could see the great column of smoke from our house. The DSHS building is next to the PUD (Public Utility District) warehouse. Only part of the town lost power, and it came back fairly soon - meanwhile, we had breakfast out.
In a small town, a building burning like this is rare, since there are so few commercial buildings.
Fire is especially feared here, since we are surrounded by forest, and downtown is compact .
These smaller pictures are of a couple of the engines that responded, and a piece of the blackened frame - what little is left. You can click on the pictures to make them larger.