“Sea Serpent”
“Rainy Rhodies”
“Drizzle”
I had a GoPro along on the trail yesterday, and it accidentally caught this shot when I took off my pack to dig out a rain jacket.
This morning’s letter to my Congressional representatives:
Dear Sen. Merkley, Sen. Wyden, Rep. Hoyle,
I write to you from Eugene, which President Trump has just made clear (in a lie-filled “Truth” Social post) is in his sights as another target for unhinged Federal law-enforcement attacks and repression. I implore you to:
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Vote against ANY funding for DHS that includes any further money for ICE without serious, substantial reforms, starting with (but not limited to!) those outlined by Senator Schumer. I am fully aware that voting against the short-term CR holds the possibility of collateral damage to other services such as TSA. When balanced against the well-documented, continuing, atrocious behavior of ICE (including the blatant murder of US citizens) this is, I feel, an acceptable risk.
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Work to claw back the $75 billion ICE slush fund that was included in the OBBBA last year. This is money that should never have been appropriated, and it is continuing to pay for a burgeoning, unaccountable Gestapo in the US even as I write.
I know that the Democrats are currently in a position of relative impotence in the Congress, but as an Oregonian and Eugenian, I expect you to not become complicit in the ongoing brutality. When the Democrats regain power this fall, I will look to you to lead the quick and decisive reversal of funding for this out-of-control agency.
“Resurrected Tree”
“Bud”
I didn’t get a lot of photos on yesterday’s hike, but I did like the way this little reminder of spring came out. And yeah, despite being January, this year’s weather has everything in Oregon convinced that spring is here.
“Drawdown”
Before this valley was Lookout Point Reservoir, they logged it completely (because why drown useful trees?). Right now the Corps of Engineers has the level drawn down so far that the field of rotting stumps is the reservoir’s main feature.
It’s 2026. I’m living on a fixed income. I shouldn’t have to be thinking about how to afford a full-face gas mask.
Coyote that was hanging around the parking lot at the trailhead this morning. I was 10 feet away and it was just looking for a handout, no doubt because people have been feeding it. This probably isn’t going to end well.
This is for @dwalbert - I don’t know how widely this manhole cover was used, but it’s on many of the storm drains around Eugene. We like our nature here.
“Ladybug”
Just another little bit of Eugene street art.
“Happy Valentine’s Day”
Someone went through the trails around Spencer Butte with pink chalk and colored all of the vaguely heart-shaped rocks.
Meta Suppressing links to Ice List while fighting any responsibility for teen mental health have combined to get me off Instagram. Moved my #dailyphoto posting over to Pixelfed.de (and offshored at the same time, bonus win).
“Friendly Fence”
I always get a smile when I’m walking up this part of Amazon Parkway.
“The Haze”
We’ve had temperature inversions in the Willamette Valley for a week, leading to much stagnant air. And the pollutants just sit in between all the hills. I was glad to be up in the clear air for a little while.
“Bell System”
An artifact that is, I think, getting more mysterious with each passing year. Certainly my own kids have no idea what the Bell System was.
“After the Sea Gulls”
“Crab Memories”
“Triptych”
“Mossglow”
