I also posted some more photos on flickr:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
slideshow:
Early December 2012, Olympia, Washington
06 December 2012
Jellyfish and Heavy Rains
Yesterday there were a lot of jellyfish in the waters of lower Budd Inlet, Olympia Washington. The day before the water was quite turbid due to run-off from heavy rains in outflow from the Deschutes river. I posted a couple entries about that on OlyBlog.net: olyblog.net/blog/berd.
I also posted some more photos on flickr:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
slideshow:
Early December 2012, Olympia, Washington
I also posted some more photos on flickr:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
slideshow:
Early December 2012, Olympia, Washington
22 November 2012
A Day of Thanks
I am thankful, and grateful, for peoples' visions of a future world that is just and humane.
Also grateful for friends and family, and for all loving and kind relations.
Also, good to remember and acknowledge that Thanksgiving, while perhaps not as bad as Columbus Day, brings up reasons to not celebrate for many people, notably the indigenous First Peoples of this land, known as "Turtle Island" by some, and that these grievances are real, as evidenced in the placard in this photo:
It is possible to understand how being harmed can conflict with the effort to generate feelings of gratitude.
...I am thankful, indeed grateful, that peoples have visions of a world in the future that is just and humane...
Also grateful for friends and family, and for all loving and kind relations.
The Buddha encouraged us to think of the good things done for us by our parents, by our teachers, friends, whomever; and to do this intentionally, to cultivate it, rather than just letting it happen accidentally. —Ajahn Sumedho
www.tricycle.com/daily-dharma/happy-thanksgiving
Also, good to remember and acknowledge that Thanksgiving, while perhaps not as bad as Columbus Day, brings up reasons to not celebrate for many people, notably the indigenous First Peoples of this land, known as "Turtle Island" by some, and that these grievances are real, as evidenced in the placard in this photo:
It is possible to understand how being harmed can conflict with the effort to generate feelings of gratitude.
...I am thankful, indeed grateful, that peoples have visions of a world in the future that is just and humane...
17 November 2012
06 November 2012
Beautiful Fall Foliage
beautiful evening light and air, twitter.com/berdww/status/…
— Robert F W Whitlock (@berdww) October 12, 2012
28 October 2012
Some Photos, Late October 2012
Mountainous terrain, seen from Sim'layshee (Eagle Peak), Ti'swaq' (Mt. Rainier)
Mt. Rose Vista
Drepung Monastery Loseling Monks ceremonially pour sand from a Mandala into water at Percival Landing, Budd Bay, Puget Sound, Pacific Ocean
Light of autumn Moon with mountains and sea
Surreal light with smoke in the sky
These photos are from the past few months, weeks, and days.
Still working hard on the public power campaign to authorize the PUD to provide electrical service. Vote Yes on County Proposition No. 1. Lower rates, better reliability, good for labor and environment, jobs, service, infrastructure, local economics, stewardship. www.ThurstonPublicPower.org
25 October 2012
Response to Misinformation about Public Power
I posted a response to some of the misinformation about County Proposition No. 1 that has recently been pumped out by the Puget machine, here on OlyBlog: http://olyblog.net/support-public-power-response-misinformation
15 October 2012
Support Public Power Proposition 1 for PUD Electrification
For the full view, support public power proposition 1 on your Thurston County election ballot this fall. Ballots go out this Wednesday, and the electric company has been spending huge amounts of cash to oppose this proposition. The proposition would allow for the Public Utility District to provide electricity.
So please mark your ballot Yes on Proposition 1. Whether it's because you dislike PSE, or because you just want a better way of doing business for generations into the future— vote Yes on Prop 1 for local control, so that the people of Thurston County can have a choice.
Take the wide view, increase our options. Vote Yes on Prop 1.
Cheers!
And on a separate topic, just for fun here's a 360º panoramic photo from Mt. Ellinor from earlier this month:
So please mark your ballot Yes on Proposition 1. Whether it's because you dislike PSE, or because you just want a better way of doing business for generations into the future— vote Yes on Prop 1 for local control, so that the people of Thurston County can have a choice.
Take the wide view, increase our options. Vote Yes on Prop 1.
Cheers!
And on a separate topic, just for fun here's a 360º panoramic photo from Mt. Ellinor from earlier this month:
04 October 2012
Early October News
I haven't been posting on here much lately, nor on my blog at OlyBlog.net either. Have been using Twitter and Facebook and Youtube though, and Instagram.
Life has been distracting. Lots going on. Spending a lot of time and energy on the Public Power Initiative here, to promote authorizing Thurston County Public Utility District to provide electrical service.
PSE, the current provider, has not been treating the county well, charging the highest rates in the state for an inferior quality of service. Public electrical utilities are known to provide, in general, a higher quality of service at a lower rate. And since they are public, they are subject to the volition of their electorate.
There are a lot of reasons to support public power. And current PSE employees need not be in fear that their jobs are in jeopardy, because there is every likelihood and reason to believe that the PUD would seek to hire current PSE employees with experience working on the system here in the county.
Public power stands to be a great improvement. More in county jobs, lower rates, better service, something that everyone in the county can be proud of. Also, there is the part about being non-profit and saving the revenue from being shipped away to satisfy profit-hungry shareholders, instead of keeping it in the county to benefit customers.
It's a big deal and an important contest in the election here. It's been the costliest election so far, and the disparity in spending between the David public power advocates and the Goliath juggernaut electrical utility which is part of an international conglomerate is incredible. The home-team little guys who are working for a better way for all rate-payers, a better way for all county residents and businesses, are being outspent at a rate far exceeding 10 to 1.
So please, do what you can to support the home-team effort. If they don't win it's a shame.
Make sure to check out their website, www.thurstonpublicpower.org and their facebook page, www.facebook.com/thurstonpublicpower.
Now, here's a photo of a recent Budd Bay evening scene, just after nightfall, and here's a video of a recent scene at the Westbay Rotary Park.
Please have a great day/week/month/etc., best wishes, sincerely, Berd
p.s. and I am excited, and looking forward to a visit from my sister next week.
Life has been distracting. Lots going on. Spending a lot of time and energy on the Public Power Initiative here, to promote authorizing Thurston County Public Utility District to provide electrical service.
PSE, the current provider, has not been treating the county well, charging the highest rates in the state for an inferior quality of service. Public electrical utilities are known to provide, in general, a higher quality of service at a lower rate. And since they are public, they are subject to the volition of their electorate.
There are a lot of reasons to support public power. And current PSE employees need not be in fear that their jobs are in jeopardy, because there is every likelihood and reason to believe that the PUD would seek to hire current PSE employees with experience working on the system here in the county.
Public power stands to be a great improvement. More in county jobs, lower rates, better service, something that everyone in the county can be proud of. Also, there is the part about being non-profit and saving the revenue from being shipped away to satisfy profit-hungry shareholders, instead of keeping it in the county to benefit customers.
It's a big deal and an important contest in the election here. It's been the costliest election so far, and the disparity in spending between the David public power advocates and the Goliath juggernaut electrical utility which is part of an international conglomerate is incredible. The home-team little guys who are working for a better way for all rate-payers, a better way for all county residents and businesses, are being outspent at a rate far exceeding 10 to 1.
So please, do what you can to support the home-team effort. If they don't win it's a shame.
Make sure to check out their website, www.thurstonpublicpower.org and their facebook page, www.facebook.com/thurstonpublicpower.
Now, here's a photo of a recent Budd Bay evening scene, just after nightfall, and here's a video of a recent scene at the Westbay Rotary Park.
Please have a great day/week/month/etc., best wishes, sincerely, Berd
p.s. and I am excited, and looking forward to a visit from my sister next week.
28 August 2012
Panorama of Budd Bay
This is the scene from Budd Bay, last week, on Thursday afternoon.
see below the fold for a full size image > 20,000 pixels
see below the fold for a full size image > 20,000 pixels
12 August 2012
Burrough's Mountain
Yesterday I went on a hike near Ti'swaq. Ti'swaq is the native name of the mountain according to Robert Satiacum. KOMO News has a story on that here and there is a Restore Native Names website here.
The hike was at the Sunrise area. It was my first time there, and the landscape was totally awesome. The air was hazy. And perhaps that even added to the mystical quality of the area, which alternated between moon scape and lush wildflower garden, with plenty of snow patches, even at this time in early middle August.
It was a busy weekend Saturday. And it was totally worth it. Even with so many people, the trail was not too congested, and people were in good spirits. The Sun was very hot, and for anyone with sensitive skin, sunblock is highly recommended. There was very little shade on the trail.
I have a lot of photographs, I plan to process and post more (to this Flickr photoset.)
For starters, I have already processed a couple of panoramas, and uploaded them to Flickr. I will post them below. I also uploaded a couple of videos, with more on the way.
The first panorama is the view from the escarpment on the way to the first of the three Burrough's Mountains. In the distance can be scene trails to Mystic Lake, Berkeley Valley, and Fremont Mountain and lookout.
The second panorama is from the Southern side of the first of the Burroughs, and shows the volcano, with one of the largest glaciers, the Emmons glacier, where the White River flows out of its terminus. The images were captured just past an area where a persistent patch of snow is still packed on the trail.
Here they are, with videos to follow:
The hike was at the Sunrise area. It was my first time there, and the landscape was totally awesome. The air was hazy. And perhaps that even added to the mystical quality of the area, which alternated between moon scape and lush wildflower garden, with plenty of snow patches, even at this time in early middle August.
It was a busy weekend Saturday. And it was totally worth it. Even with so many people, the trail was not too congested, and people were in good spirits. The Sun was very hot, and for anyone with sensitive skin, sunblock is highly recommended. There was very little shade on the trail.
I have a lot of photographs, I plan to process and post more (to this Flickr photoset.)
For starters, I have already processed a couple of panoramas, and uploaded them to Flickr. I will post them below. I also uploaded a couple of videos, with more on the way.
The first panorama is the view from the escarpment on the way to the first of the three Burrough's Mountains. In the distance can be scene trails to Mystic Lake, Berkeley Valley, and Fremont Mountain and lookout.
The second panorama is from the Southern side of the first of the Burroughs, and shows the volcano, with one of the largest glaciers, the Emmons glacier, where the White River flows out of its terminus. The images were captured just past an area where a persistent patch of snow is still packed on the trail.
Here they are, with videos to follow:
10 August 2012
29 July 2012
hikin' video +
following is a little bit of video from a hike i did today.
also been thinking about changing the name of the blog (maybe url too.) because of the association of potential with unused energy, "great potential," and such —and wanting to achieve more of an acceptance with the present reality sort of an ambiance... anyway, been thinking about that a little bit, today.
here's that video, i will probably post some photos to flickr in the next few days or so.
berdtrude
also been thinking about changing the name of the blog (maybe url too.) because of the association of potential with unused energy, "great potential," and such —and wanting to achieve more of an acceptance with the present reality sort of an ambiance... anyway, been thinking about that a little bit, today.
here's that video, i will probably post some photos to flickr in the next few days or so.
berdtrude
12 July 2012
Live Updating on Twitter
I went to the beach yesterday, and used Twitter @berdww to post about ten photos. GPS was enabled, and the location that showed up was specific to Washington State. Here are the updates as posted to Twitter:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
1.
Sunshine at the beach, beautiful sunny summer weather twitter.com/berdww/status/…
— RFW Whitlock (@berdww) July 11, 2012
2.
South view twitter.com/berdww/status/…
— RFW Whitlock (@berdww) July 11, 2012
3.
What do you see? twitter.com/berdww/status/…
— RFW Whitlock (@berdww) July 11, 2012
4.
Zoom zoom #art #nature twitter.com/berdww/status/…
— RFW Whitlock (@berdww) July 11, 2012
5.
Beach scene! twitter.com/berdww/status/…
— RFW Whitlock (@berdww) July 11, 2012
6.
plenty of room at the beach twitter.com/berdww/status/…
— RFW Whitlock (@berdww) July 11, 2012
7.
water is delightful twitter.com/berdww/status/…
— RFW Whitlock (@berdww) July 11, 2012
8.
nice water twitter.com/berdww/status/…
— RFW Whitlock (@berdww) July 11, 2012
9.
more art twitter.com/berdww/status/…
— RFW Whitlock (@berdww) July 11, 2012
10.
Tree line twitter.com/berdww/status/…
— RFW Whitlock (@berdww) July 12, 2012
07 July 2012
Burfoot Beach
Today I went to Burfoot Park, to the beach there, with Charles. It was about the third or fourth day in a row of cloudlessness. Bright blue sky and hot sunshine as far as the eye could see. A little bit of haze in the air too.
It has been interesting helping with the Public Power Initiative, feeling a sense of nationalism, or at least "countyism." Going to parades and Fourth of July fireworks shows.
Last week, had a talk with Michael about nationalism, and how it's not necessarily a bad thing, if the spirit is good. If the competition is toward a good goal, like sustainability and human rights. Say, hey, we can compete as a county for the most efficient and sustainable electrical infrastructure. We can compete to drive down the factors that cause homelessness and unemployment... Sort of along those lines, we were thinking.
Anyway, here are some striking photos of a bright summer day at Burfoot:
It has been interesting helping with the Public Power Initiative, feeling a sense of nationalism, or at least "countyism." Going to parades and Fourth of July fireworks shows.
Last week, had a talk with Michael about nationalism, and how it's not necessarily a bad thing, if the spirit is good. If the competition is toward a good goal, like sustainability and human rights. Say, hey, we can compete as a county for the most efficient and sustainable electrical infrastructure. We can compete to drive down the factors that cause homelessness and unemployment... Sort of along those lines, we were thinking.
Anyway, here are some striking photos of a bright summer day at Burfoot:
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| view to the North |
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| rock pile |
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| view to the South |
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| curious dog |
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| marsh area |
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| poison oak |
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| forest in summer |
03 July 2012
Full Moon July 2012
The Moon is in its Full phase now. It's Tuesday afternoon. Here's a photo from last Saturday, when the Moon was near the Gibbous phase.
I have wondered how much the Moon might have to do with the preponderance of life on this planet Earth. Is it possible that the relationship between planet and satellite are responsible for the conditions that make it possible for such a diversity of life to flourish?
02 July 2012
Tricycle Magazine Website "Daily Dharma"
The Tricycle Magazine website, Tricycle.com, posts Daily Dharma, short statements about meditation, wisdom, spirituality. They're really great, I recommend signing up, whether or not you are Buddhist, or practicing. Sign up here: www.tricycle.com/.
26 June 2012
New Profile Picture
A friend asked me about my new profile picture, "What's the story" ...
I was standing in front of a helicopter, I think it's a 'blackhawk', at the Olympia Air Show, while taking a break during a day of tabling for the Thurston Public Power Initiative (www.thurstonpublicpower.org).
I guess the story might be something like, I want to stand in front of this helicopter to make it impossible to use it to perpetrate acts of aggression!
Aggression is wrong in our community, and it is wrong amongst nations. And a great amount of Aggression has been committed in the name of the national interests of the USA, enough is enough. No more people of any nation shall suffer harm because of the Aggression of this nation!
I also used the photo as inspiration to write a letter to my Senator, Patty Murray, to ask her to support changing national policies with regard to benefit the health of people in the military. The rate of suicide among people in the military is very high right now. I argue that one of the reasons is because so many of the activities of the military are unjust, and are geared not toward defense, but instead constitute an Aggression geared toward national dominance, and international economic hegemony for giant corporations and their benefactors...
here's the photo again:
I was standing in front of a helicopter, I think it's a 'blackhawk', at the Olympia Air Show, while taking a break during a day of tabling for the Thurston Public Power Initiative (www.thurstonpublicpower.org).
I guess the story might be something like, I want to stand in front of this helicopter to make it impossible to use it to perpetrate acts of aggression!
Aggression is wrong in our community, and it is wrong amongst nations. And a great amount of Aggression has been committed in the name of the national interests of the USA, enough is enough. No more people of any nation shall suffer harm because of the Aggression of this nation!
I also used the photo as inspiration to write a letter to my Senator, Patty Murray, to ask her to support changing national policies with regard to benefit the health of people in the military. The rate of suicide among people in the military is very high right now. I argue that one of the reasons is because so many of the activities of the military are unjust, and are geared not toward defense, but instead constitute an Aggression geared toward national dominance, and international economic hegemony for giant corporations and their benefactors...
Dark Clouds and Capitol
Dark Clouds, a photo by ˇBerd on Flickr.
Seen on the 8th of June, 2012, at Percival Landing during the weekly Oly FOR peace vigil.
24 June 2012
20 June 2012
The Cables
June 2007
I climbed these things back in June 2007. It was gnarly. I was intensely sore for three days after. 17 mile round trip with a 5000 foot change in elevation from valley floor to the top. That's Half Dome at Yosemite Park.
I climbed these things back in June 2007. It was gnarly. I was intensely sore for three days after. 17 mile round trip with a 5000 foot change in elevation from valley floor to the top. That's Half Dome at Yosemite Park.
18 June 2012
For Better Mental Health: End Aggression
I just received an email from Senator Patty Murray. She is working on getting a system wide review of problems with the health of people in the military.
Here's an email I quickly sent off in reply to the Senator's:
b
Here's an email I quickly sent off in reply to the Senator's:
Dear Patty,
Do you think part of the issue with the health problems of so many active duty and veteran military personnel might be that the military itself, overall, is engaged in unjust actions geared toward posture and practice of aggressive national dominance?
Thanks for giving it some thought.
Maybe it's time for an overall shift in priorities here. Away from aggression, bullying and questing for dominance—and toward equality and cooperation, with goodwill toward all people, regardless of their nationality, or any other defining difference (be it age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, or socio-economic status, etc.)
It is one thing for Senators and other politicians and the State itself to talk about having goodwill toward all people. It is another thing entirely to practice goodwill toward all people.
The facts on the ground show that the USA does not practice goodwill, but instead practices an aggressive and hostile posture of control over resources and economics.
Also, please consider how the policies affect people who are not directly in the military, or in the path of military aggression.
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Berd
Robert F. W. Whitlock
Olympia, Washington
(360) 259-4291
http://peacepotential.blogspot.com
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| At the 2012 Olympia Air Show |
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