
It seems that I spotted a red-tailed hawk.

I do like a nice raptor!





I guess I looked at the sky a few times.

Looks like I found some really big mushrooms.


And at some point, I ended up near downtown San Diego.

It seems that I spotted a red-tailed hawk.

I do like a nice raptor!





I guess I looked at the sky a few times.

Looks like I found some really big mushrooms.


And at some point, I ended up near downtown San Diego.

Oh, me.

I don’t care that I am looking old and baggy-eyed and grey and grizzled.

I still love me.

It is a face that grows on you.

It has been growing on me for years.

It is a nice face.

The rest of me… well…

I even like my weirdly-crooked nose.

The world’s most manly walking stick!!!

Bigfoot sighting???

It is all about the background.

Call me Cliff.

Mmmmm… nature!

Ok, see ya.
This is my first post, from way back in December of 2011.
——————————————
They say that people are either inclined towards the art or logic side of the brain…
I took a study skills class when I went back to take some college classes a few years ago. I thought that this would prove helpful, since I dropped out of high school in 1977. One of the things we did in this class was fill out a 200 page questionnaire that asked questions like; do you learn better listening to a live speaker or by reading the material? and; when cleaning a room, do you start in the middle, or at one edge, or just start picking things up? There were also many questions that were not so obviously oriented and much more random. Then, this survey, done by psychology majors, broke your life down into three sections involving work, play and life in general. There was a sliding bar graph for each section that would place you on the logic or art side of this scale, with ten points alloted to either side.
Now most people fall close to the middle on all three of the graph lines. People that are considered art side or logic side oriented would place with perhaps a 2 or 3 and a 4 or 5 on the appropriate side. Rarely you might get a 7 or 8. As far as I have been able to determine, I am the only person in the history of this test to get two 10s and a 9 on the art side. I am not just art side of the brain inclined, I am perversely incapable of accessing the logic side of the brain. All my life has been a struggle to come up with artistic solutions to logic problems. I do not do anything like normal people do. I am a freak of nature. But this does explain why I do not have my multiplication tables memorized. Or my own cell phone number. Oh well, nature gives with one hand and takes away with the other.
I am 51 years old. And I am an artist. Not that I make any money off my art, because that would require access to the logic side of my brain, I guess. I have been writing and drawing since I was a kid. Every project I begin opens up new avenues of art which I feel compelled to explore, so I do not always finish my projects, although I did just complete a science fiction novel which I have high hopes for. So to make a long story not much longer, I paint, draw, make tikis, do Photoshop, write poetry, fiction, non-fiction, play the guitar and write songs, make military models, and so on and so on…
Is it fun to be me? No. Is it fun to watch me being me? Sometimes…
So I am going to rip my brain and my heart open and share whatever pours out with you. I will perpetually Hari Kiri my guts out for you to sift through to find what nuggets of gold you may amongst the offal. You might want to put on some gloves…and possibly rain boots as well…
I love you all…

Oh, nature.

How you do carry on!

Heidi the dog and Mollie the human.

Is Mollie sitting on a giant mushroom?

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww



Watching your adult kids playing like little children again.




According to my Seek app, that is a European Harvestman spider on my leg…





Ever since I was young, whenever I went on any kind of trip, I didn’t like the idea of sleeping anywhere, be it a friend or relative’s house or a hotel, if I was totally unfamiliar with the area. If we got in before dark, I would take a walk around the area. If we got in late, I would wake up early… before-the-sunrise early, to take what I started calling my ‘adventure walks’. I continue with this practice, which is why this blog has so many awesome pictures of sunrises as well as sunsets. As I started to enjoy photography, I would tend to let my walks lead me to the best views.

Since my daughters were very small, I have shared this tradition with them. Here is Mollie and I on our most recent adventure walk.

When the kids were little, we would name the places we walked. Usually, we named it after ourselves, so we would find Jessica Land, and Mollie Mountain and Arthur Town.

Nowadays, Jessica doesn’t get up early on vacations.

But Mollie still humors me.

We really do have fun. There is a lot of giggling.

And the mossy woods of Oregon are a pretty nice place for an adventure walk.

Don’t I look happy?

Jessica and Mollie. Jess has decided that, since she now lives in Oregon, she should learn to forage for wild berries. What could go wrong? I helped. I am still alive.

Mollie, and what’s-his-name on the right. Oh, and half of that other guy on the other side.

Okay, fine, her boyfriend’s name is Ben.

And they said Jessica can’t climb a tree!

They do let me hang around with them now and then. But there are a lot of rules.

But mostly, they are lost in their own little love bubbles.

I am just kidding. I love my son-in-law, Jason, and that Ben guy… my boyfriend-in-law?

My daughters are like me when it comes to animals.

That is how we ended up at a place where you can meet cats to adopt, on our very first day in Portland, out of all the stuff we could have done.







That is where we stayed for most of our trip to Oregon. Not a good photo. Stupid nature getting in the way.

My wife and I had a very nice room,,, if you are in to rustic design.

The room had a view, sort of. Once again, a bunch of stupid trees are blocking the view.

Because right behind that screen of trees was a little river.

A very noisy little river.

Seriously, who knew nature would be so dang noisy?

There was a lovely deck, a great place to have coffee in the morning, if you didn’t mind the constant river sound… and the birds.

Keep it down! I am trying to relax! I am on vacation, for crying out loud.

And what is up with all the bears? My daughter’s boyfriend is trying to work remotely!

My son in law and I, doing some computer stuff. You could hear the river even inside. Sheeeeesh.

I am just joking about being a crabby old man. Do I look miserable?

That was an awesome place to stay.