Seattle, omens and images

I don't need no stinkin flash, she said.
Dinner party

I'm back from Seattle and running to catch up with unfinished business here. I worked in the garden all day yesterday, didn't touch my computer and went to bed achy and scratchy. It felt good. I spent most of today helping someone out with a project and then back to the garden. I want everything I planted yesterday to grow immediately into a tall, green secret world into which I can disappear at will. Tomorrow I must prepare a submissions packet for the Nevada Arts Council Fellowship deadline this Friday. Third time running but I don't expect it to be a charm. So far, I printed out the entry form but that's it. I promised myself I'd open my NaNoWriMo manuscript from last November to see if there is anything in it I can harvest. That should be painful. Mostly, I consider this exercising the idea of "writing for money".

Aunt Peggy,

beauty and mind destroyed by alcoholism

For now, here are a few photos from last week. The one WATCH YOUR STEP turned out to be rather prophetic. I knew it at the time and almost didn't take it hoping to ward off its dire prediction but no point in that. Things are what they are. It was wonderful spending time with my family but the lines twisted with my daughter, as they often seem to do. I thought it was hard being a mother's daughter but the fact is I was very difficult. The justice is that it can be so much more painful being a daughter's mother. I made so many mistakes along the way that even now they cast a chill shadow but this evening I did manage to put a few peanuts out before the 7 o'clock magpie arrived. At least I got that right.

Union St. wall

Urban wildlife

Union St. steps

University of Washington

Chinatown window

Morning, Lake Washington

Farmers Market afternoon

Uwajimaya grocery section

Seattle Public Library "Red Hall"

Seattle

Note to self: It is so nice bathing in water that has passed through the roots of the trees.

Tonopah, Sunday morning

Tonopah, main street.

I'm back from Tonopah and am off again tomorrow to Seattle for a week. Here are a few images from the trip. I'm acquiring quite a collection, for what's it worth. I did get inside an abandoned house this time, one rumored to have once been a brothel with a tunnel under the town connecting it to the Mizpah Hotel. I have no idea if the story is true but after I heard it, I had to explore the place, a boarded up old mansion directly up the hill from the Mizpah. I'll post it and more photos when I have the time. Once again, adieu.

Lifetime in Tonopah

The watchers

Tonopah after dark.

Here's a link to the video walk-through of the abandoned brothel. It's too dark in some places but if you want a peek inside the mansion have at it.

Abandoned Tonopah brothel.

Adieu

I'm going to Tonopah for the weekend. That's the half ghost town located a few miles west of the northwestern boundary of Area 51. It's the town that won't die because everybody has to stop there for gas and there's couple of prisons in the area that employ people. I have photographed the place a lot but will see if I can come back with an interesting new shot or two. Wish me luck. Oh and I left Uncle Orson cued up. If you need anything, ask him. (re-enactment)

Orson Wells outtake (re-enactment)

URGENT - pet food recall

The FDA has just issued a recall of several brands of contaminated pet food that is known to cause kidney failure and sometimes the death of dogs and cats who have eaten it. For product information, check this list. According to the FDA, if your pet has "consumed the suspect feed and show signs of kidney failure (such as loss of appetite, lethargy and vomiting) consult with the veterinarian immediately." Good luck.

Ps. You should probably hang on to all the packages you have (including any empty ones) and the vet bills to see what you can do after/if they figure out what's going on.







pet food recall

7 am magpie

It's 7 am and the lone magpie just arrived in the bird park to scoop up some of the peanuts scattered on the ground. I like her. Perhaps she is the one who used to come at 7 pm. At least she also is a loner. I have cut back considerably on the goodies. The little birds, the finches, were getting pushed out by larger, more aggressive ones but the 7 am magpie swoops in, gobbles a couple of peanut chips, scoops up a beakful and is gone before anyone else has even showed up. That's it. All the news that's fit to post before coffee.