Clear, Cold, and Windy

Posted on December 30, 2010 | 1 comment

December Inlet


It’s clear, 38 degrees F, and windy. It’s also December 30th so perhaps the latter two should be expected. The photo, taken from my deck, looks north across Dyes Inlet toward Alaska Silverdale. It doesn’t show the whitecaps as well as I hoped or any windsurfers, a species seldom found this far north in winter. Come to think about it, paddleboard man hasn’t been out for a few days either, although I haven’t been looking for him. I was gone over Christmas visiting family in Del Mar, CA, where it rained about as much as it did here.

For the record this post is the first written with a used replacement keyboard I got this morning at Northwest Computer for $5. The old one died yesterday after being swamped by a serious coffee spill. Who knows what inspiring prose the replacement keyboard’s previous owner wrote with it. Hopefully it will inspire me to do more writing in 2011.

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Posted in Mud Bay & Rocky Point, Weather

Buy Four, Get One Free

Posted on December 20, 2010 | Leave a comment

I’m a big fan of loyalty punch cards. There may be a better name for them, but I’m referring to paper cards that you get punched or stamped each time you buy a product or service. When the card is full, your next purchase is free. I have cards from sandwich shops, North Mason Fibre, the Lyon’s Pride (my barber), and numerous espresso stands. Today I got a card for the unlikeliest of products and one that will take years to fill up.
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Posted in Business Beat

Paddleboards on Mud Bay

Posted on December 19, 2010 | 2 comments

A lot colder sport than winter biking


For several weeks now I have been trying to take a picture of paddleboard man. Although he’s out exploring on his paddleboard often despite the cold, wet December weather, I haven’t had any luck until this morning (see photo). We had a brief chat, and it turns out there are two hardy guys doing this. But they aren’t related and apparently don’t know each other.
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Posted in Mud Bay & Rocky Point

How About Naming It Duck Point?

Posted on November 27, 2010 | Leave a comment

Quack quack


The Zillow map control outlines waterfront neighborhoods with a distinct yellow line when you zoom in to get property values (see illustration). This makes the north end of Marine Drive—the point of land across Mud Bay from my house—appear to resemble the head of a slightly bewildered duck. My view is of the back of the duck’s head. The bill, made by a small spit of land that pokes out into Ostrich Bay, points west toward Naval Hospital Bremerton.

To my knowledge, the peninsula accessed by Marine Drive has never been given a geographic name. Roughly a mile long, it’s a good-size chunk of land to be unnamed. On maps and charts, cartographers either label it as Marine Drive or just draw in the distinct shape and let it go at that. Area residents have gotten by for years by calling their neighborhood Marine Drive and likely don’t need any help from me. But if they do decide to name it (and Marine Point isn’t the overwhelming favorite), my suggestion is Duck Point. That’s appropriate, I think, given the number and variety of waterfowl paddling around in the local waters. And the Zillow outline.

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Posted in Mud Bay & Rocky Point

How Strong Were the Winds?

Posted on November 23, 2010 | Leave a comment

What's wrong with this picture?


Coverage of yesterday’s arctic blast on the Kitsap Sun web site has attracted hundreds of reader comments. Most describe problems encountered while commuting over the county’s icy roads or how people coped when the power went out last night. No one mentioned the hardship I will remember longest about the storm: more than 12 hours of frigid almost-continuous gale-force winds from the north. The photo shows one casualty of the gale.
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Posted in Home, Mud Bay & Rocky Point, Weather

Snowed In Again

Posted on November 22, 2010 | 2 comments

The steepest part isn't shown


Winter is apparently here, roughly a month early if you go by the calendar. It has been snowing lightly off and on all day, and the forecast calls for below-freezing temperatures tonight and tomorrow. Plus high winds. I’m already snowed in (see photo). The conditions aren’t as bad as they were two years ago, but are notable enough for a blog entry.
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Posted in Home, Weather

“Hippos” Provides an Insight

Posted on November 17, 2010 | 1 comment

Saying I don’t like poetry would be too strong a statement. A better way to put things is that generally I avoid it, especially modern free-form verse that doesn’t rhyme. So yesterday when my sister called to read “Hippos on Holiday” to me while I was waiting for the ferry to Seattle (poetry by cell phone), I was pleasantly surprised. I also had an insight and wondered if I have been missing something by only reading prose.
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Posted in Books & Movies, Friends & Family

A Wake for Cars & Parts

Posted on November 10, 2010 | 20 comments

There was no warning, not even a hint. Cars & Parts, the best all-around magazine covering the collector-car hobby, is dead. I learned this on Monday, when Auto Enthusiast, accompanied by a brief letter from Amos Publishing, arrived in my mailbox.
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Posted in Cars

Connecting with Dino

Posted on October 27, 2010 | Leave a comment

Will I feel a bond toward Republican Dino Rossi if he upsets three-term incumbent Democrat Patty Murray when the votes are counted next week in Washington’s senatorial race? I might. I did shake the man’s hand today at a rally at the Silverdale community center. Moreover, I feel good about my vote, which I marked on the mail-in ballot last week and dropped off at the post office this morning.
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Posted in Government

So Many Blackberries, So Few Goats

Posted on October 18, 2010 | 1 comment

These two could use some kids


The owner of the Rocky Point Mobile and R.V. Park is using, if not a novel approach, at least a green one for controlling blackberries on the property. When I took the photo shown above, the two organic yard machines (aka goats) had already made good progress clearing the growth along the hillside. And that was after a single morning of work. But there’s a lot of brush and blackberries left to go, particularly on the property’s southern border.

For the record the nanny appeared to be a better worker than the billy. The latter was spending more time showing off his great set of horns than in chowing down. Perhaps he was the on-site supervisor. Unless he starts doing his share, the goats could be there for the rest of the week. To head off any danger that they’ll wander out onto Rocky Point Road, the goats are tethered to a rope.

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Posted in Mud Bay & Rocky Point