From 2024-03-11…

House behind chainlink fence, sidewalk and street in foreground. Scene illuminated by street lighting.

Empty asphalt paved parking lot with space markings in early morning. Illuminated by security lighting.

Traffic control barrier lying in a pile on a grass strip between concrete sidewalk and street. Scene illuminated with street lighting.

Lollypop and hard candy lying on asphalt pavement.

Neon lighting in shape of heart in a shop window. Single wire dropping down like the string of a heart shaped balloon.

Chainlink fence tunnel illuminated by glowing plastic light fixture in the shape of an abstracted mushroom.

Interior of shop with drinks refrigerator illuminating the scene. Table and chair in front of drinks refrigerator.

Street scape at intersection with trash can in foreground and St. Patrick’s Day banner in background. Scene illuminated by street lighting.

Streetscape of Sunoco station illuminated by security lighting.

Key Food building with ominous clouds above in early morning.

Denim jacket, knit blouse and skirt, sunglasses on a mannequin in a shop window.

Self portrait…

Selfie head shot of artist with prominent crystal frame glasses, black headband and dark grey turtleneck.

Any Pickleball devotees out there? I am in the birthplace of the game!

Sandwich sign with “It’s true! Bainbridge Island is the birthplace of Pickleball. Est 1965. Get your swag HERE!

Latest in everyday mandala series…

Overlapping circular stains on concrete positioned equally distant from top and sides of vertical rectangular frame.

Slime mould colonies can learn to avoid certain paths that lead to a noxious stimulus, and moulds that have so learnt can transfer this memory of the adaptive response by cell fusion to new colonies that have never encountered the noxious stimulus.”

— The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World by Iain McGilchrist a.co/1jPxC8U

“Single cells can take decisions; single cells can plan responses; single cells contain memory.”

— The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World by Iain McGilchrist a.co/5MYKLQu

“Single cells can take decisions; single cells can plan responses; single cells contain memory.”

— The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World by Iain McGilchrist a.co/7rFR2Gy

March 13, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson

The choice could not be clearer or starker. This HCR post is a must read and one to share with friends who are in any way on the fence.

New addition to my everyday mandala series…

Translucent plastic drink cup on concrete from directly above and positioned equally distant from left, top and right edge of frame.

March 10, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson

How pathetic is the current iteration of the republican party?…

The Republicans' rebuttal to the State of the Union on Thursday stayed in the news throughout the weekend. On Friday, independent journalist Jonathan Katz figured out that a key story in it was false. Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) described a twelve-year-old child sex trafficked by Mexican cartel members, implying that the young girl was trafficked because of President Joe Biden’s border policies.

We need an international women’s decade. Few things would help humanity more than having less patriarchy and more matriarchy.

I like this as a stand alone image…

Two window panes with condensation, separated by a dark black mullion running from top to bottom at the center of the frame.

Dune!!!!

March 6, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson

On August 6, Dr. King and Mrs. Boynton were guests of honor as President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Recalling “the outrage of Selma,” Johnson said: “This right to vote is the basic right without which all others are meaningless. It gives people, people as individuals, control over their own destinies.”

March 6, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson

On the steps of the capitol, speaking under a Confederate flag, Dr. King said: “The end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. And that will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man. That will be the day of man as man.”

The choices are not ideal, I know, but it doesn’t matter who stands where on what issue. There is only the choice between two individuals and the difference could not be clearer. I will vote for Biden and convince as many as I can that they should too. This is not a time to be “clutching pearls.” We need the ability to choose something better in the future.

From this morning’s walk…

Crocuses emerging in a dark gardenscape.

Wooden traffic barrier tipped on it’s side in a strip of grass between a sidewalk and parking lot.

Empty package of chocolate sea salt nuts on asphalt paving.

Metal grate over drainage basement in an asphalt road surface.

Mattress lying in a puddle with trees reflected in the puddle.

Broken umbrella weight disk with debris in an area of grass and mud.

Landscape with building ruins on the bank of a creek with rapids washing by in the lower left corner.

Waterfall near the foundation of a building on the left. Falls look a little like the trunk and forehead of an elephant.

Rapids cascading from upper left to lower right with a little bit of buildings ruins on the bank in the upper right corner.

Cigar On Main, Smoke On Main, circular shop sign projecting off a brick column in the facade of a storefront.

Blue balloon/lantern with narrow gold ribbon dropping from the bottom like the tentacles of a squid or jellyfish.

Green plaid jumper and solid blue shirt combination on a mannequin in a shop window.

Monthly Newsletter, March 2024 • Buttondown

My once a month newsletter on photography. Mine and others. Have a look! Subscribers welcome.

March 4, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson

… legal analyst Mark Joseph Stern noted that when Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was Senate majority leader, he “realized you don’t need to win elections to enact Republican policy. You don’t need to change hearts and minds. You don’t need to push ballot initiatives or win over the views of the people. All you have to do is stack the courts… with far-right partisan activists…[a]nd they will enact Republican policies under the guise of judicial review, policies that could never pass through the democratic process.”

From this morning’s walk…

Rear end of a black Range Rover with spare tire hard case. Parking lot and buildings in the distance.

Storefront with illuminated display window containing empty display shelves that step down to the left.

Simple white smock dress on a mannequin in a shop window with streetscape reflection overlaid.

Tan spring coat, blue jeans, horizontal b&w stripped shirt on a mannequin in a shop window with streetscape reflection overlay.

Waterfall that looks a little like the trunk of an elephant near the eyes.

Rectangular storm drain and curb configuration making a linear abstract composition.

Front end of an old white car intersecting with curb and sidewalk to make an abstract composition.

Three bangle bracelets, heart shaped jeweled earrings, leather clutch purse displayed in a shop window..

Lime green sweater and frilly floral print skirt or dress on a mannequin in a shop window.

The Middle Passage: A Jungian Field Guide to Finding Meaning and Transformation in Midlife – The Marginalian

The truth about intimate relationships is that they can never be any better than our relationship with ourselves.

… truth!

From this morning’s walk…

Flower print maxi-dress in a shop window.

Elongated rectangular tissue paper on concrete sidewalk at the base of a concrete step.

Early morning cloudy sky with buildings and security lighting.

Neon sign figure of a ballerina with a dimly lit ballerina wire sculpture in the shadows beyond. Window mullions crisscrossing both.

Newspaper lying in the street in an abstract configuration.

Newspaper pages, string, utility pole base, concrete sidewalk and asphalt street paving.

Red cup sitting on asphalt paving with a joint lining running below from right to left.

Flattened yellow aluminum drink can on asphalt pavement.

Orange and white pole with attachment rings at either end on green grass.

From last Friday…

Extension and power cords in a shop window on tiled display surface.

Flattened brown cardboard dividers laying across a joint inn a concrete sidewalk, developing an abstract composition of rectangles and a diagonal line.

White paper drink cup on concrete pavement. Lying on its side.

Empty urban lot with buildings in the background and banner sign announcing St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Concrete brick and block fragments lying on a concrete sidewalk making an abstract composition.

Bottom of a light pole as it meets the concreter sidewalk, brown lump of grass growing out of the circular joint around the light pole.

Concrete fragments and orange cup lying near the wall of a building on the concrete pavement.

White liquid stain on concrete sidewalk.

From a few days ago…

A cloud at dawn with parking lot security light in the lower left corner, still lit.

Tissue paper, grass and concrete closeup.

Rosie pink clouds at dawn.

U-Haul trucks in a parking lot at dawn.

Liquid stain on a concrete sidewalk running from top middle of frame to bottom middle of frame. Joint pattern of sidewalk rotated counterclockwise about 30 degrees.

Metal half dome bowl upside down on concrete sidewalk. Bowl positioned at top of frame with equal distance to top, left and right edges of the frame. Frame is a 2x3 rectangle.

Translucent packaging plastic gathered in such a way that it mimics a waterfall in the center of the horizontal frame.

Clouds above silhouetted buildings. Clouds illuminated from below by the sun rising to a golden glow.

Oranges on an orange plant in a shop window.

Three delicate flower decorated teacups in a shop window.

Antique beaded necklace on a mannequin with botanical print dress.

February 28, 2024 - by Heather Cox Richardson

Behind the horse race–type coverage of the contest for presidential nominations, a major realignment is underway in United States politics. The Republican Party is dying as Trump and his supporters take it over, but there is a larger story behind that crash. This moment looks much like the other times in our history when a formerly stable two-party system has fallen apart and Americans reevaluated what they want out of their government.

An important post to read. Accurately describes the moment we are in. May democracy survive.