General thoughts

So things are good. I'm moved in and trying to lay the foundations for what comes next which means that even though I have a few days off before I have to work, my days are still like work, but its what I do, so no complaints. I've been sick for about a week or so now. I'm trying to napalm it out of my system with DayQuil. Worked last time. The weather here is gorgeous. Port Townsend is in what's called the Rain Shadow, meaning we don't get as much of it, but you still have your grey days. But recently the sun has been out, blue skies. Truly gorgeous. Makes me wonder what it will be like during summer when they have all sorts of events going on. But for now, its still cold. Thankfully my room stays nice and toasty with the help of a space heater and plenty of blankets. Been working on some paintings, walked around quite a bit, played banjo and am generally getting my feet about me. All while trying to get not sick. Today's a Sunday though, so I'm dedicating as much time as I can to the bed and rest for today.

I have dedicated Wi-Fi, really for the first time ever, so hopefully I'll be able to post plenty of content in the times to come.

With love,
Jamie

Junk Drawer 2! Art and lake stuff.

More Random Pictures. These are all from Lake Crescent. After my last roommate moved out, I started to paint again. I made a few pictures for a Murder Mystery at the lodge, which is the three smaller ones you see here. So I guess this is was my "studio" at the time. I worked out really well actually, and I'm excited to be in the place that I am in now, because it affords me even more opportunities and space to work.

Reflections on the lake.

Painting in progress. Interesting to see it now at an earlier stage. 

Welcome to the Junk Drawer!

I'm going through my pictures and here are a bunch of random ones I found:

From a downtown bus stop in Port Angeles. You can see the Olympic Mountains in the background. And Bella Rosa in the foreground, a cafe I used to frequent. Behind it is the William Shore Memorial pool. The only salt water pool I've been in. Great dry sauna. Umm, dry sauna.

We had more cold at Lake Crescent. This a frozen structure I liked.

Madronas a very pretty trees here in the Northwest. In the winter their bark will turn white and peel come summer becoming a lustery brown.

A picture from one of Port Angeles' bridges. You can see the Strait of the Juan de Fuca in the distance.

Moody day on Lake Crescent.

I don't know what kind of tree this is, but I liked how its underside looks like a root structure and its funky leaves. From Port Angeles.

Downtown Aberdeen.

Conner on the banjo. At Lake Quinault in the house we shared.

The next three are from walks in the woods at Lake Quinault.

A sketch and dream I wrote down.

In downtown Aberdeen there is a dedicated Star Wars shop. I didn't go inside, but they had this funny mural on the side of their building.

The water at one of Lake Quinault's creeks. If you look closely, you can see how clear the water is. Most of the water comes from snow and melting glaciers high up in the mountains.

A big owl at the Aberdeen library.

Naked tree in Port Townsend.

This is a bridge I used to walk most days going to and from work at Lake Crescent that crossed the Barnes Creek.

From Lake Quinault

These are some miscellaneous photos from my walks in the woods at Lake Quinault, but they all have something I like about them. The way the sun shines through the first one. The magnitude of the cut trees, massive cheese wheels and the size of the trees. The last is of the largest known Spruce Sitka tree in the World.

Willaby Creek

My housemate at Lake Quinault was Conner, an Irish-Chinese fellow from Chicago who worked in the kitchen as a line cook and who had a passion for Kerouac, the ukulele and American Spirits. He would sing and play around the house all the time. Willaby Creek was one of his favorite spots and he took me on a hike there one of our last days.

Conner at Willaby Creek.

Willaby Creek without Conner.

This is one of the massive trees in Lake Quinault Rain Forest. What you are seeing here, aside from Conner, is a tree that has grown through a fallen dead tree. You see it quite a bit in the woods, though not with this magnitude. You will see often new trees sprouting from fallen ones or out of dead stumps. These are known as Nurse Trees and they are one of my favorites. They will often result in strange looking shapes, often like fingers curling, such as in thus one where the hand is facing down, impaled by a stalk, fingers curling towards the ground.

You must be this tall to ride this tree.

Perspective

Fort Worden

The first is of a castle on property built in the late 1800's by a preacher for his wife who never came from Ireland. Ironically, couples can stay here now. Its quite interesting inside. There is a staircase that only goes up a few steps before becoming a wall, and a trap door in the floor that leads to who knows whee. The third floor is sealed off. It is a beautiful building and one of the most unique on the property.

On the far left is the cabin where I stayed, called Bliss. In the middle of the picture is a building which used to be barracks for the military, and on the far right you can see some of the other buildings, what used to be commissioned officers' homes, but are now available to rent by the public. The body of water you see in the distance faces east, and is the Juan de Fuca. In Port Angeles, this is known as the Strait of the Juan de Fuca.

Walk Around

These are some pictures from around town on a walk yesterday. 

An abandoned ferry terminal. There is a new one now that crosses the Juan de Fuca to Coupeville. A short while ago I got to see it returning at night under the stars, all lit up.

Here is the beach not far from the house I am staying in. If you look to the far right, you can the little white dots, which are part of Fort Worden. It was quite chilly out here to me, due to the winds coming off the water. Very beautiful, and we are having gorgeous weather recently.

Walking back to the house, a family of deer grazing in a nearby yard, with people walking by.

A skatepark in downtown Port Townsend. I look forward to seeing the riders come summer. 

I like this picture because it gives you a sense of the Olympic Mountains, which you can see here off in the distance. I do happen to enjoy the yellow and blue building too.

The downtown port. Port Townsend is famous for its Wooden Boats Festival. It has a gorgeous Maritime Museum and you will see many types of vessels here.

I just liked this truck.

A downtown bed and breakfast I believe.

A house off the same beach from earlier.

House I'm staying in.

This is the house I am living in. Its in Uptown Port Townsend and is its own little neighborhood. Around the corner is a grocery store, a French bread bakery, movie theatre (Fifty Shades if Grey), library, pool amongst other places. Quite a beautiful spot and only a few blocks to the beach. Still kind of cold down there with the wind, but I picked up a good jacket yesterday for that.