I’m not here.

I haven’t been drooling over maps as long as others I know, but I do enjoy them. Since a picture is worth a thousand words I wanted a way to put our travels on the map. I think geo-mashup is just the solution.

So from now on I’ll be geocoding our travels (and back-coding those already posted). To view a post with a map entry, follow the link to the right of the date in the post header (this post is geocoded) and/or go to the new Wandering page to see those posts already geocoded and on the map.

On Sunday, off-island ventured the budding naturalists — with dreams of sticks, water, mountains, birds and fun — to Scenic Beach State Park.

The afternoon started with a great picnic and views of the Olympics — the clouds and fog added an early eery feel.

We were soon greeted by some kayakers with whom my daughter engaged in a waving and “Hi!” competition while we finished eating.

The material on the park website referred to the scenic, clear-day views of the Olympics — we were not disappointed. As the sun burned off the morning clouds the views got more and more majestic.

For my daughter, the beach was everything, she got to play with sticks, oyster shells, leaves, rocks, a fish skeleton and of course wading mid-boot into the Sound.

On the state park property is the Emel House, built in 1911, and situated with million dollar views of the Hood Canal and Olympics. The house just oozes with rustic romance: a huge stone chimney, sweeping views of mountains & water, huge green lawns with wild rhodies and the feeling that not so long ago you were alone in the world here.

Railing with leaves and moss — I’m apparently into bright green moss.

Steps.

The town of Seabeck has a small general store and diner which appeared to be doing decent business — I loved the look-at-me paint job.

If you’re looking for a place to go in Kitsap County I highly recommend Scenic Beach, especially for kids. I’ve since seen some spectacular sunset photos taken there and I’m looking forward to adding some to my own collection.

DoubleTake

Some time ago, I wrote about my issues with DoubleTake but I decided to give it a try again and this time I achieved much better results. The two biggest differences were:

• shooting in manual mode to fully control the shutter speed and aperture, more importantly ensuring they were the same for all shots
• using a tripod

I was happy enough with this photo to again consider purchasing a license.

We had some fantastic weather today and I had a couple hours in the afternoon with nothing to do so I strolled around the yard making photos.

Evidence of the blue skies in Seattle in November.

Moss and stone.

I’m really enthralled with the weigela leaves as they turn. The pale green and yellow rimmed in red coupled with the wavy forms work for me. Hello little bug.

We have a number of really large maples whose bright red leaves descend to cover the spent hydrangeas. This photo feels too busy but I like it nonetheless.

I removed hundreds of pounds of Herb Robert this year only for a new weed to cover the ground. The red of the fallen blueberry leaves complements the tiny green buds of our new visitor. I can’t decide which photo I prefer, the original or the more processed variety.

While all the other plants are busy shedding their summer coats, the camillas burst forth with one more show of color and vitality.

We’ve not yet exhausted the great stuffed animal collection but we’re mixing it up today anyway. My daughter has a small collection of farm and safari Anamalz so today we decided I would indoctrinate this menagerie in the commuting-on-the-”big boat” brigade.

So, one and all, welcome Pig. It was a beautiful clear sky today starting with a decent sunrise.

I found it fitting to take Pig to Salumi — he was never harmed.

The contrast of the bright sunlight illuminating Smith Tower against the threatening afternoon sky kept luring my glances.

An hour or so later the dark clouds were gone and Smith Tower was glowing orange from the setting sun.

Via Agile Testing:

• Grab the nearest book.
• Open it to page 56.
• Find the fifth sentence.
• Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
• Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

Here’s mine, from Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West, discussing the Evening Primrose:

Fruits are presented as four-celled capsules.

Sentence four had a lot more to say, oh well.

Polar Bear was chosen as today’s ambassador for the great stuffed animal collection. While we’ve been experiencing some really heavy rains recently courtesy of a Pineapple Express today wasn’t so bad. I’m a bit of foul weather junkie so this weather suits me for the most part.

I had two different people smile while I was propping up Polar Bear, one asking if I was a member of the Polar Bear Club (I’m not) and the other offered that she “won’t even ask”.

I’m cheating a bit — I took this photo last Friday. If you squint you can see the submarine returning from duty. My familiarity with submarines is generally limited to what I know of those built in Manitowoc, WI (well and The Hunt for Red October) and I never saw those in action — it’s remarkable to me to be so close to one on active duty.

My daughter loves to toss leaves into water, ducks love to storm to thrown food, perfect.

The posse circles waiting for food.

Action!

I noticed not all the what-I-believed-to-be-Mallards were of identical coloring, some having white bibs and no white band around the neck. I consulted Cornell:

The Mallard is the ancestor of nearly all domestic duck breeds (everything except the Muscovy Duck). Many of the domestic breeds look like the wild birds, but usually are larger. They are variable in plumage, often lacking the white neck ring or having white on the chest. Feral domestic ducks breed with wild Mallards and produce a variety of forms that often show up with wild ducks, especially in city parks.

Birding tip: spot the white markings on a bird to ease recognition (courtesy IslandWood)

These four have the traditional plumage: green heads, simple white band around the neck for males and brownish all over with mottled streaking of buff, white, and dark brown for the female, the juvenile’s being lighter in color.

This guy has the green head but a large white bib with no thin white ring around the neck.

An example of a mature female, entranced with the camera, sporting the white bib.

Blue water, blue skies but far from home — Seattle is to the West.