I'll not love again

[Casey Butler]

I didn't say you said I was wicked, I said you've judged me as wicked, which is why you exercise such careful control over our intercourse here.

My lion's teeth are breakable only by God, however, it seems... and maybe by me... I already said all the arrows I have left are broken. But it matters not to you that my handicap is insurmountable, you continue tearing savagely at my scars by ignoring my pleas in favor of your prose.

Therefore you have also judged me as unworthy.

No congregation will have me, except as an ignorant slave. I have died nine deaths, maybe, and am on my tenth. But something keeps getting me up, something keeps pushing me along...

And it's the Puget Sound, and that was Mount Ranier in the photo. :-)

I've been reflecting a lot about it all here.















That last is a drive-by shot of Mount St Helens.

Boy, this is one small computer screen.

Casey

[Cate]

your pictures are stunning!

Casey I have something to tell you. You are not real and neither am I, not in any concrete way. You are simply the main character in a story being told in your brain. You are completely in charge of casting this character - sometimes he is a hero, sometimes a victim, sometimes a villain. You choose his thoughts, ideas, ideals and reactions. In your story, it is only you who can cast yourself as wicked - you're the author (or if religious, co-author).

[Violet]

how knowing a hand
and the lines of your face

dear
and not aged
when coveted


the blood stained sheet
leans in with the kiss

sacred
when touched
by longing

… that’s a little poem of mine from 2002..

Now to reflect a bit..

.. this almost has me dizzy with its stunning visual reverberations… I'm somehow alive before it, Casey.. It's the self reflecting upon itself, methinks*..

.. oh, and I like Cate’s assessment of things -- things both in and out of threadom.. (hi Cate)..

... Casey I have something to tell you. You are not real and neither am I, not in any concrete way. You are simply the main character in a story being told in your brain. You are completely in charge of casting this character - sometimes he is a hero, sometimes a victim, sometimes a villain. You choose his thoughts, ideas, ideals and reactions. In your story, it is only you who can cast yourself as wicked - you're the author (or if religious, co-author).

I also have to laugh (affectionately, of course) that you (Casey) think I’m as calculated as all this:

I didn't say you said I was wicked, I said you've judged me as wicked, which is why you exercise such careful control over our intercourse here.

My lion's teeth are breakable only by God, however, it seems... and maybe by me... I already said all the arrows I have left are broken. But it matters not to you that my handicap is insurmountable, you continue tearing savagely at my scars by ignoring my pleas in favor of your prose.

Therefore you have also judged me as unworthy.

.. still, it makes for very dramatic reading, and so I wholly approve..

.. actually, I suppose you could be implying that this is all unconscious on my part..

Anyway.. since it seems you've granted me almost goddess-like qualities (whether they be conscious or not).. I, as Princess Violet of this here Threadom, pronounce you, Casey, as both Worthy and Unwicked… You are the Worthy and Unwicked Prince of Unloved-dom (as I think this thread has a rather “unrequited love” theme.. (dom).. (ahem)..

I guess we’re just waiting to see if GOD loves us, and if so, how he (she or it) intends on showing it. Speaking of God.. this floating mountaintop will probably do, methinks (pictorially speaking).. I mean, how “God’s Kingdom-like” can you get???

(I guess I should have known it was Mount Rainier)..(oops..).. (city folk)..
okay.. signing off.. v i o l e t (flower).. and in need of a little late-night cuppie of.. well.. you know.. (gosh, mefears 'tis an angry God that might live upon such a cold mountaintop)..


* edit: I couldn't get this right yesterday.. the self talking to itself.. reflecting upon itself (today's effort)..
Also.. I keep changing one word of my little green poem.. sacred when [beheld] by longing.. my latest attempt.. v.
.. latest edit: back to sacred when [touched] by longing..

[Casey Butler]

I'm too tired to think of replies tonight, still, I'm gratified that you like the non-Utah pictures. And since the sun came out again today as we travelled to another relative's, I took some more pictures... I'll reply with thoughtful text tomorrow if all goes according to what we expect.

I could look at this one, as it is mothballed:


We rode the Kingston Ferry to Edmonds at sunset (which is like 4:00 PM here), here is the other ferry that wasn't us:


The sunset to the northeast:


The half of the sunset to the west I could see when leaning out of our side of the ferry:


A Seagull:


Another Seagull:


Today's Moon!


More tomorrow... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Casey

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[imaginary friend]

Hey Casey – you're in my neck of the woods! As usual your photos are wonderful.

Yep, this is the land of wood and water and bridges and ferries and seabirds. Looks like the weather in Washington state is WAY better than it is in Vancouver though.

Ms. V. you are soundin' bettah...

[Casey Butler]

Thank you, I.F. Having not been in Vancouver for 23 or so years, we were both reminded of that area by this area until the sky cleared today, and longed to visit. But now you need a passport, and Mr. Darcy looks faintly Middle Eastern so we've not attempted to apply for his as yet. Maybe when things calm down down here we'll reconsider.

This netbook is about 10 times slower finding and editing the photos, so once again I'm delaying any premature recording of thoughtful thoughts regarding Violet's and Cate's last message respectively.

The good news, however, is that, while now exhausted, I have 10 more photos to post, more artsy-mechanical-world oriented than usual.

Seattle:


Seattle fragment:


Seagull:


Ice Fence:


Another Seagull:


A fellow escapee:


Seawall:


A very cold bird protecting its nose from the wind today (I'll look up what it was later... another Life Lister!):


On I-5 saying goodbye to Mt Rainier:


Today's sunset! (Sorry it's washed out, the clouds were a pretty violet color, Violet):


Sorry I'm so tired again... And I am thinking... When I'm awake...

Casey

[Casey Butler]

Before we leave this morning... Those photos of the city are the view from E's first cousin's condo on the shore there. While we were visiting he served us the most wonderful English Breakfast Tea (he actually had a variety box and that''s the one I chose as being closest to Violet's tagline teas I remember). It was great and came with a slice of pumpkin pie even. I must go... it's checkout time at Motel 6... :-))

Casey

[Violet]

Hi Casey.. hi I.F… today I am feeling a bit better, as I’d spent it in a very good post production studio… It was very satisfying working with a serious pro… (on a barter basis, no less)..

.. hey, Casey.. here’s something to go with your tea (only the cartoon never makes it to the tea and biscuits part).. Anyway, as per this scenario, maybe God’s just a big silly duck in a sailor suit with funny elocution, and we’re just these bongo playing worker ants, suffering for his amusement..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKpj1pYKao
FULL SCREEN…

.. well, we sure showed Him, didn’t we??..
v i o l e t (flower).. and it’s nice to be sipping my own English Breakfast tea with milk and honey, after a whole day with just plain ol’ Lipton..

[Casey Butler]

Don't you hate YouTube videos that cut short the ending... Rats. Thanks... that was funny.

Well, today we did something you can do if you're footloose and fancy free like we are. Since you upped my salary a bit recently, we decided to take a short vacation by extending the Enterprise for another week and driving slowly down the West Coast here starting in Oregon and going at least to the Redwoods in Northern California, which E has never seen any of. We're going to be hunting for signs of course, I didn't mean a vacation from that!

So tonight we're in Motel 6 in Seaside, Oregon, since we want to drive only in the daytime or we wouldn't see much and the vacation idea wouldn't be very accurate.

And because of that we got the room early and I had time to wait through the extra photo search & processing time, finishing up just an hour ago and not tired at all since I only drove like 140 miles today (We had to turn around and come back because Heather threw a fit when she found out I was planning to skip this northern end of the coast where Cannon Beach is).

Anyway, this, then, is day 1 of our open ended vacation that could last up to 7 days, but might not.

First, a drive by shot of Mount Hood taken from Vancouver, WA, I think:


Next, a tree trimmed around a telephone pole and wires that I thought looked a little interesting:


When we were driving into this town called Yamhill (we took some really tiny back roads to back up after getting halfway to Salem on I-5), the Railroad Crossing started binging and binging and the barrier came down in front of us. I rolled down the window and couldn't hear a train (after determining we couldn't see a train, of course) and it looked like they came down for nothing...

But then this lonely little Tank Car came rolling down the track all by itself, appearing to be self-propelled:


After it had gone by we saw that some guy in one of those miniature cats (machine) had pushed the car to start it rolling. We did not think to ask him why he did this, and since the Tank Car managed to get about 30 feet beyond the road we were on, the Railroad Crossing barrier went back up so we could continue.

A very strange event.

We made it to Cannon Beach just in time to catch the sunset. Cannon Beach is very ritzy place all done up in very rustic clapboard using coastal architecture. Extremely quaint... Much more together than Malibu was. The beach and rocks were really beautiful as well...

There were a million Seagulls on these rocks...


A couple of Sand Pebbles...


The view south along the beach...


The sunset from Cannon Beach:


Now, as I'm writing a special has just started on PBS here, "Leonard Cohen Live in London", and E is sitting on the floor to get close enough to the TV to see...

It just started, and he's singing "Dance Me To The End Of Love" as I type (la la la la, to be precise). Isn't that cool?

Okay... Well, to go with what Cate was suggesting, about how we cast our own characters in this life, be it hero, victim, villain, fast-food clerk, etc..., I thought perhaps I should just cast myself temporarily as God to continue our conversation in such a manner that I can feel already judged, like I claim, at least.

It might help in breaking through this control barrier you've got going that prevents meaningful dialog between us - or the control barrier I've got going that prevents meaningful dialog between us - as you might see it.

Please don't get too technical or I'll have to say I don't know - which wouldn't look good at all.

This guy was taking a photo...


So... The way it goes is: I am everywhere, as close to you as your jugular vein, in me you move and have your being. You can call me a duck or claim I sit on a throne and cause your suffering.

But it won't get you anywhere.

(Bird On A Wire he's singing now...)

Casey

[Violet]

Cate??.. are you aware of the sort of God you just created???

.. oy..

.. well, Casey, it could be you’re an Incomprehensible, Unknowable God, and therefore no meaningful discourse can take place between you and your humble subjects (as in moi, for example)…

.. then again, being God and all knowing, you should already know that.. [smiley, if I were disposed to using smilies]..

.. Now, I wouldn’t say I’m talking about you, exactly, Casey, as I hardly know you.. but my preferred conception of God -- if I were to give “him” human attributes -- would be as the very wisest and kindest parent, who wants the best for me, even if what’s best for me isn’t always what I want.. That way, I can at least feel that the troubles I sometimes have, be they internally or externally created, are in some way necessary to my spiritual advancement..

.. that’s all I have to hold on to, Casey -- I mean, God (for now).. so try not to ruin this for me..


.. such a God-like rock, by the way.. somehow the seagulls feel a bit menacing to me, like vultures -- that and the hazy pinkness seem to help render the End of the Worldness of this shot.. It's beautiful, of course.. the way Leonard's Dance Me to the End of Love is beautiful.. There's something pulling us toward some sort of oblivion, in other words.. (or maybe we've just arrived)..

Oh.. a note on karma..

… someone at the post production place I was at yesterday was working on a documentary about the land mines in Cambodia (left by the U.S., of course).. Statistically, I'm told, 2.5 people a day are killed in Cambodia by these land mines, a lot of them children.. And this film editor was saying that the Cambodians attribute such fatalities to karma.. or someone having bad karma -- meaning that these victims of land mines (or victims of anything, I would venture) did some sort of wrong-doing in the past, or in a past life, and so now are paying for it by being blown up by a land mine, or having some other misfortune befall them..

.. actually, this whole karma thing has bugged me for a very long time.. I mean, even if karma were in some way operating on this ghastly planet, I would suggest there’s a much more nuanced version of it to be considered, as this clumsy and fatally flawed conception of existence I think is just so awfully wrong headed I barely know where to begin.. It seems to suggest that if people are suffering, starving say -- children, even -- the elderly, the infirm.. well, not to worry, that’s just karmic justice at work.. And I’ve just read that such is at the heart of the Indian caste system.. (.. hmm.. how convenient)..

.. well, Casey -- God, I mean -- I just find this version of things unacceptable, and suggest that sometimes hardships befall us not because we were tyrants at some point or other in our spiritual existence, but rather because our souls are quite possibly at a point where certain hardships or challenges are in order so that we may learn something specific to us and our given circumstances, and in that way we may in some manner evolve (albeit terribly painfully at times)*.. Now, I’m not saying that if one intentionally does harm to others that this may not bode well in the long run, spiritually, or karmically (sp?) speaking.. I’m just saying that I find it difficult to believe that things are as transparently and causally boring as: you do good, good befalls you.. you do bad.. bad befalls you.. and if something bad befalls you, well, you obviously were up to no good at some point.. I mean, my sense is that the universe is just not as simplistic as all that, nor should we want it to be.. I mean, talk about blaming the victim.. (please).. And it also seems a convenient way to live in judgment of others -- others that may be suffering... as opposed to having compassion, and looking for ways to be of help.. I would add that as a way of being, it lacks the sort of humility I think we might all possess if we truly saw the universe as being far more unknowable and complex than that.. I mean, I certainly don’t want my God and his universe to be anything too pat seeming.. After all, how could I ever muster anything close to awe, then?

[*later note.. I guess I should add here that, mortally speaking, we don't "learn" from being blown up by a land mine, for example.. so that's not exactly what I was referring to.. and any possible "reason" there may be for the untimely death of an innocent child due to a land mine is not something I feel privy to]..

.. Anway, Casey, perhaps you might offer your ruling on this, since you’re now this thread’s acting God.. (I guess my Worthy and Unwicked Prince of Unloved-dom wasn’t an exalted enough title for you, it seems).. [.. yes, that was another smilie moment]..

.. oh.. I loved some of these darkly rosy sunset shots, by the way.. the Casey God’s earth certainly has its picturesque moments at least...




a bit tired.. v i o l e t (flower).. sipping some green tea.. I'm actually feeling like I'm walking just atop my sorrows.. rather like Jesus on the waters.. and I guess there's this fear I have that I'll just slip right in..

[Casey Butler]

Hmmm, was trying to miss nerves... :-)

Even before I heard the song, I would cast myself as God best described by the lyrics of I'm Your Man, with maybe one small difference involving sheets - and possibly the scope of everything.

That's who you're speaking to. Would speaking to me as though I was that kind of God ruin it for you?

I'm going to look at today's photos and read the rest of your message when I've picked the cool ones.

Casey

[Casey Butler]

My first ruling (reserving the right modify it, of course, in case it offends, since normally I don't rule at all, being God to all kinds of people with all kinds of interests): It sounds like you''re doing a wonderful job reasoning through karma. Isn't it a cool concept that raises all kinds of interesting issues while encouraging you in your work and play? (If I really was God and knew more about the subject I might use the usual methods for recommending resources reinforcing your enthusiasm for discovery... )

As Casey, today was a silvery day. Since we're heading south and the sun is now mostly in the south, nearly everything we see is backlit with sunlight playing over it. Tomorrow I'll try to get other colors in if the sun is shining.

First, here's a statue of Lewis & Clark we found in Seaside when we got up. Lewis & Clark ended up here after following the Columbia River to the Pacific way back when:


When E told Heather we were going south from Seaside, she (Heather) threw another fit (just kidding) and insisted we had to see Astoria, Oregon, which is 20 or so miles north of Seaside, because it's her favorite town in the USA because it's so beautiful, etc...

Well, we backtracked again and I think when the leaves are all gone Astoria is okay. It's on a hill like San Francisco. But the huge bridge that spans the Columbia River, joining Oregon with Washington, was certainly impressive:


Heading south at last we swung back into Cannon Beach to get those big rocks again with different light:


Here are a couple of other beach photos down the road:




At Manhatten Beach State Park Mr. Darcy saw the ocean for the first time!


A couple of ocean photos under the silver sunlight:




I can't remember the name of the place, but there was a guy painting his house there and he had these two lawn chairs up by the beach grass overlooking the beach, and the clouds were cool:


I took one zoomed in with the waves behind. Big waves today!


When we got to this town called Tillamook it was nearly sunset, and there was a fire on the mountains beside the town. I think it was set purposely to burn slash from where they'd logged. There's a lot of clear-cutting practiced here and the mountains can look pretty ragged at times.


We saw some old friends from Stanley Park in Vancouver, Surf Scoters fishing...


Tillamook had another amazing sight in store for us, just as the sun was setting we saw this gigantic building with a huge sign on it that said "AIR MUSEUM".



The buiding and sign were so huge it seemed we'd never get there, if you know what I mean. But it seemed important that we visit, though I've never been to an airplane museum before except for what I saw in the Smithsonian way back when.

I took a lot of pictures just in case, so I'll post them in a separate message. :-)

Tomorrow we may just drive around locally and sit a lot, to recover so we have enough energy for the rest of our vacation.

Casey

[Casey Butler]

The building housing the Air Museum, it turned out, was originally built to store Navy blimps during World War II. That's why it's so huge.

Here's the front of the place, and that's a huge airplane called the Flying Guppy, if I remember right. It's a modified B-29 or something. You can go inside and look around for $3.00.



We skipped that but we did go inside the museum since the fellow gave us a two-for-one deal what with it being so late in the day. Normally it's $9.00 per person, but he let us both in for that much. E was thrilled...

Here's what the building looks like inside today:


Here's what it looked like when it had Navy blimps in it, way back when:


Here's a color photo of the whole Naval Base, back when, now hanging in the men's room. Looks like there used to be two of these huge buildings, but today there's only the one:


Here is your quick tour of the building, showing most of the planes inside except the really big ones and really small ones I didn't recognize:





Too bad they didn't listen better that Sunday morning way back when:








This was cool... Here is the ancestor of Silver, our little pickup sitting at home alone while we see the world:








I had to get the Fire Truck too...




These ladies seemed to be collecting something at the entrance, which was also the exit when the big doors closed:


It was quite a place, when they closed the gigantic doors they used a little tractor.

They were big doors.

Casey

[Violet]

Hi Casey.. wow.. nice Air Museum.. I like the gals at the end too.. sharp dressers..

As to God types.. by bringing up "I’m Your Man," you’ve of course invoked the very Sex God of these premises, Leonard himself.. and so I’m thinking that that particular God description might already be filled.. However, I got to youtubing this evening.. and somehow went down a kind of memory lane..

.. my father actually used to sing this song.. and gave it really his all, too.. We had the album from this musical.. and Richard Kiley’s voice is just so very wonderful.. actually, my parents saw him in this role on Broadway..

.. anyway.. it got me thinking.. maybe of striving.. striving for.. oh.. who knows what?.. and.. well then I thought.. why not fashion a God after Don Quixote?.. even if he were a bit mad?..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odr0_aTiHbA
FULL SCREEN...


The Impossible Dream
music by Mitch Leigh, lyrics by Joe Darion

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong

To love, pure and chaste from afar

To try when your arms are too weary

To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest

To follow that star

No matter how hopeless

No matter how far
To fight for the right

Without question or pause

To be willing to march into Hell

For a heavenly cause

And I know if I'll only be true 

To this glorious quest

That my heart will lie peaceful and calm

When I'm laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this

That one man, scorned and covered with scars

Still strove with his last ounce of courage

To reach the unreachable star


.. and then I thought of his romantic quest.. and how it is that Love’s eyes on us.. changes us..

.. and how the lowly whore, Aldunza.. (her song I used to sing to when I was just a girl, by the way.. to the album, of course(!).. how painful it was for her to be seen as something so very refined.. in eyes of The Man of La Mancha (Don Quixote).. Joan Diener here sings..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdrehnChfH0
FULL SCREEN...

DON QUIXOTE: 
My lady... 


ALDONZA: 
I am not your lady... 

I am not any kind of a lady…
I was born in a ditch 

By a mother who left me there, 

Naked and cold and too hungry to cry; 

I never blamed her. 

I'm sure she left hoping 

That I'd have the good sense to die! 

Then, of course, there's my father... 

I'm told that young ladies 

Can point to their fathers 

With maidenly pride; 

Mine was some regiment 

Here for an hour, 

I can't even tell you which side! 

So of course I became, 

As befitted my delicate birth, 

The most casual bride 

Of the murdering scum of the earth! 


DON QUIXOTE: 
And still thou art my lady. 


ALDONZA: 
And still he torments me! 
How should I be a lady? 

For a lady has modest and maidenly airs, 

And a virtue I somehow suspect that I lack; 

It's hard to remember these maidenly airs 

In a stable laid flat on your back! 

Won't you look at me, look at me, 

God, won't you look at me! 

Look at the kitchen slut reeking with sweat! 

Born on a dung heap to die on a dung heap, 

A strumpet men use and forget! 

If you feel that you see me 

Not quite at my virginal best, 

Cross my palm with a coin, 

And I'll willingly show you the rest! 


DON QUIXOTE: 
Never deny thou art Dulcinea. 


ALDONZA: 
Take the clouds from your eyes 
and see me as I really am! 


You have shown me the sky, 

But what good is the sky 

To a creature who'll never 

Do better than crawl? 


Of all the cruel bastards 

Who've badgered and battered me, 

You are the cruelest of all! 

Can't you see what your gentle 

Insanities do to me? 

Rob me of anger and give me despair!
Blows and abuse 

I can take and give back again, 

Tenderness I cannot bear! 

So please torture me now 

With your "Sweet Dulcineas" no more! 

I am no one!
I'm nothing! 

I'm only Aldonza the whore! 


DON QUIXOTE: 
Now and forever thou art my lady Dulcinea! 


… for just as Love’s eyes change us.. Aldonza becomes the lovely Dulcinea.. though here, only in the "touched" one's eyes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45KxeBonUGI
FULL SCREEN...

Dulcinea

I have dreamed thee too long,
Never seen thee or touched thee,
But known thee with all of my heart.
Half a prayer, half a song,
Thou hast always been with me,
Though we have been always apart.

Dulcinea... Dulcinea...
I see heaven when I see thee, Dulcinea,
And thy name is like a prayer
An angel whispers... Dulcinea... Dulcinea!

If I reach out to thee,
Do not tremble and shrink
From the touch of my hand on thy hair.
Let my fingers but see
Thou art warm and alive,
And no phantom to fade in the air.

Dulcinea... Dulcinea...
I have sought thee, sung thee,
Dreamed thee, Dulcinea!

Now I've found thee,
And the world shall know thy glory,
Dulcinea... Dulcinea!

… Dulcinea's predicament is very much like that of Mary Magdalene's, as portrayed in another favorite musical of mine..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn7exBrCiUI
FULL SCREEN...

Mary Magdalene

I don't know how to love him
What to do, how to move him
I've been changed, yes really changed
In these past few days
When I've seen myself
I seem like someone else

I don't know how to take this
I don't see why he moves me
He's a man
He's just a man
And I've had so many
Men before
In very many ways
He's just one more

Should I bring him down
Should I scream and shout
Should I speak of love
Let my feelings out?
I never thought I'd come to this
What's it all about?

Don't you think it's rather funny
I should be in this position?
I'm the one
Who's always been
So calm so cool
No lover's fool
Running every show
He scares me so

I never thought I'd come to this
What's it all about?

Yet
If he said he loved me
I'd be lost
I'd be frightened
I couldn't cope
Just couldn't cope
I'd turn my head
I'd back away
I wouldn't want to know
He scares me so
I want him so
I love him so

.. I don’t know.. I guess I just went on a sort of Love tangent..

… the mirror of Love itself is like a god perhaps.. reflecting in us our most exquisite selves.. as if it knows all the beauty we’ve seen.. and all the hurts we’ve encountered.. Maybe I’m back to the True Guru again.. to be seen truthfully through the eyes of Love.. is to weep eternally for all that is whole and fine and good on this strange, imperfect planet.. it’s to weep for beauty.. which must ascend, like Don Quixote’s unreachable star, in some wondrous afterlife.. if there be any justice at all in this Unknowable Universe…

.. I like these “tarnished” women who feel cleansed by love, but who are frightened by their true beauty, which gets so nakedly revealed unto them..

.. I read somewhere that that’s what the fear is.. not that we may never become what we might have become, if only.. but rather we fear what it would BE to become.. how frightening a thing that is.. better to just not let that happen.. better to stay in the shadows, maybe.. better maybe.. to dream..
v i o l e t

[Casey Butler]

So, casting myself as God doesn't work either, discussion-generation-wise. Must be too big of a stretch... I apologize.

You so flatter me, however, all these literary characterizations of Casey you come up with... it almost makes me feel literate.

Today we stumbled on herds of birds. Hawks kept flying over us too, but always when I couldn't pull over to take their picture.

A pastoral series then, after all those warbirds of yesterday:


The first photos I posted were of Pelicans flying over the desert, but today we got to see them on their home ground, so to speak, "mar del terra"...


These are the best bird action shots I've ever gotten, which doesn't say much for my skills at photography, but I like 'em.


Pelicans congregate too... They were crowded though.


Millions of birds hang out at Pacific City during the winter... or at least during the beginning of December:


The sunset today from three locations along the Pacific Coast Highway bypass that actually follows the Pacific Coast:






Back to casting myself as the willing victim of your judgements... :-)

Casey