It snowed here in Ashland over the 2016 new year, which was very exciting for our twin grandchildren, who were visiting. Skiing on Mount Ashland was enjoyed, despite a long wait to rent equipment. I think, however, the most fun was had riding sleds down large heaps of snow we found on the way back down the mountain.
Over the year-end holidays, Ashland has most of the downtown buildings lit up with Christmas lights. It is an interesting challenge to photograph and faithfully reproduce what the eye beholds.
Early in the year I spent time with David W. taking photographs in the immediate area, it was good to get out and exercise the photo muscles again.
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| Mist in the mountains |
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| First signs of spring |
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| One shoe lost |
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| Idle bottle tops |
We have a local author friend who released a new book in the spring and I was invited to take a few photographs at the book launch. ( A very interesting book, by the way).
I also had a great experience sitting for a local artist, Gabriel Lippert, as he demonstrated his portrait painting technique. It is quite odd to see yourself in oil!!
Spring also brought the start of the Bocce ball season. The group that I play with meet three mornings a week, starting at 8:00am in the summer to avoid the sun, which can be pretty fierce by 10:00am.
That is John Kirk demonstrating his very accurate form, with Cliff Wilton looking on. (Unfortunately, Cliff passed away recently at 88 years young. He is missed.)
The local Art Center, where Diane and I are members, requested a photo of the gallery frontage without cars. This turned out to be quite easy at 6:00am, and I was happy that they were able to use the image.
We have another friend here in town who was one of the founding members of a local Buddhist temple and retreat center built in the nearby Colstin Valley. She asked if I would be willing to take a few photographs that might be of use in a book she was co-authoring about the origins and building of the Tashi Choling temple.
I was fortunate to have several of my images included in the book, now published, "Dharma Treasure in the Mountain Valley - A History of Tashi Choling" by Lisbeth Duncan-LaCoste and Gaea Yudron.
We also drove to Disneyland in May to join our Seattle grandchildren on their Disney adventure. We were most impressed that they both kept going right up through the fireworks and light parade.
Grandad had fun trying to capture the light parade.
On our return home we stopped by to visit our San Jose grandchildren.
Among many interests, soccer and climbing rank high.
May is a good time to visit the coastal redwoods since there is often a good possibility for fog, making for potentially interesting images. We set off in high hopes for fog and blooming wild rhododendrons.
Not a lot of fog and the rhododendrons had finished blooming, ah well.
Local musician friends put on monthly "house concerts", and the August one was held on their very large front lawn. A great concert with an opportunity to try my hand at candid photos as well as night photography.
We have long time friends whom we hadn't seen in a very long time who now live hear Savannah, GA.. We wanted to pay them a visit and they suggested that October was a good time of year as the humidity and temperature was lower, and fewer bugs! So we booked a vacation to visit and also check out Charleston, SC.
We arrived in Charleston at the same time that hurricane Matthew was charging up the coast with a direct hit forecast for Charleston and Savannah. Our reservation at our AirBnB was canceled and we were told that the Charleston area was under an evacuation order. Our friends decided not to evacuate, but we thought it best to head inland, but keep in touch. We were lucky to find hotel rooms in Columbia, SC and Augusta GA, until the curfew around where our friends live was lifted.
We finally made it to their lovely home and were rewarded with this beautiful sunset after the storm had passed. The air is clear and cool after a hurricane has moved on.
We went into downtown Savannah several times and saw quite a lot of tree damage like this large one above. The city was well on it's way to clearing up all of the downed trees and branches, but only a few businesses were open. Many residents were still "evacuated" away from their homes.
These ladies, however, were hard at work making new batches of candy.
We were also fortunate to eat at the famous "Mrs Wilkes" restaurant. Normally there is a line around the block to get a seat since they do not take reservations. Because of the hurricane, they had just reopened and, surprise, there was no line! Seating was family style and the table then served with many typical Southern dishes. You are invited to help yourself to as much as you can eat! The gentleman in the photo above is Mrs. Wilkes grandson.
We returned to Charleston on our way home as we wanted to eat at "Husk", a restaurant started by Chef Sean Brock. We had become acquainted with his style of cooking through a series called "The Mind of a Chef" which we saw via Netflix. Needless to say, the experience and food were memorable.
Back home, fall was beginning to show its colours and more opportunities to capture some images.
I also took a photographic workshop on the Oregon coast at Bandon. One of the fun aspects was taking photographs in the early morning, at sunset, and after dark.
The year comes to a close with a Christmas visit to grandchildren in the Seattle area.
In this household, mom loves to bake cookies, with some help from little hands. All were delicious and I ate far too many, but what the heck, it's the holidays!
We stopped in Portland on the way home for a quick visit to Powell's Bookstore, which is pretty silly, as one would need a week to even begin to take in what they have on offer. It is claimed to be the largest independent bookstore in the world, with 1.6 acres (6,300 sq m) of retail floor space. Quite amazing.
They also have a very cool coffee shop.
