“Welcome!”

Olympus TG6 @ 5.4mm, f/3.2, 1/100s, ISO 800. Larkspur on Lowder Mountain.

Larkspur flower

Finished: Between Dawn and Sunrise, by James Branch Cabell 📚. By some lists this is the final volume of Cabell’s massive Biography of Manuel series. It’s a collection of excerpts from all the other books in the series, chosen and lightly introduced by John Macy. I enjoyed the speed-run, though I probably wouldn’t pick the same selections. Still, it’s a good starting point to see if Cabell’s main writings appeal to you.

Finished: Top Secret, by Ralph Ingersoll 📚. A novel (to me) look at the WWII Allied invasion of Europe from the perspective of a staff officer who served mainly with Gen. Bradley. Much more coverage of politics and bureaucracy than most war histories include. The author doesn’t think much of Eisenhower or Montgomery, and ends with a curious couple of chapters about how the Americans need to keep peace between the Brits and Russians moving forward.

The law giveth, and the law taketh away. I just wish it wasn’t giving us a military dictatorship taking over the country.

Finished: Puppetmaster: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover, by Richard Hack 📚. A straightforward history of a man who believed in authoritarian rule and ignoring the law to preserve democracy. There’s a straight line connection from him through Roy Cohn to Donald Trump, too.

“Cafeteria”

Olympus E-M10 IV with 14-42mm kit lens @ 25mm, f/5.6, 1/60, ISO 1600. A spot on the French Pete trail where a squirrel spent time gathering pine nuts.

#mbjune Day 20: gather 📷

Litter of pine cone bits on a fallen tree

“Pom-Pom”

Olympus TG6 @ 18mm, f/6.3, 1/125s, ISO 800. Bluehead Gilia on Lowder Mountain.

Bluehead Gilia flower

“The Missing Dwarf”

Olympus E-M10 IV with 14-42mm kit lens @ 22mm, f/5.6, 1/60s, ISO 500. Along the Quaking Aspen Trail.

Large fungus on a tree stump

ACIP draft agenda revives anti-vaccine boilerplate topics

RFK Jr. and his band of nutbar enablers are going to set the health of American children back at least a century. The amount of blood on this man’s hands will be phenomenal. Maybe that’s why Trump is looking to bomb Iran, so he can keep up in the body count.

“Twinsies”

Olympus E-M10 IV with 60mm f/2.8 macro lens @ f/8, 1/320, ISO 640. Twinflower along Elk Creek Trail.

#mbjune Day 19: equal 📷

Two equal flowers

“Yellow”

Olympus E-M10 IV with 60mm f/2.8 macro lens @ f/5, 1/320s, ISO 160. Glacier Lily in a meadow near the top of Lowder Mountain.

Bright yellow flower

DHS places new limits on lawmakers visiting ICE facilities

Ya know, if you don’t want people to keep calling you secret police or Gestapo, maybe stop acting like you are?

“Split View”

Olympus E-M10 IV with 14-42mm kit lens @ 35mm, f/6.3, 1/100s, ISO 500. Sign at the intersection with Lowder Mountain trail.

Trail intersection signs

“Delicate”

Olympus E-M10 IV with 14-42mm kit lens @ 42mm, f/5.6, 1/50s, ISO 1600. One of the many flower spikes of Coralroot Orchid along the Lowder Mountain Trail.

Coralroot orchid flowers

Cannabis use linked to a doubled risk of heart disease death, new study finds

I’m a firm believer in your right to use whatever intoxicant you like, as long as it doesn’t harm others. But I’m also utterly unsurprised that filling your lungs with smoke for years is bad for your health.

“Gnarled”

Olympus E-M10 IV with 14-42mm kit lens @ 30mm, f/5, 1/1000s, ISO 250. Shot at the shore of Waldo Lake.

#mbjune Day 18: texture 📷

Close up of old stump

Seen around town today:

Elon: Privatize your penis and leave my social security alone.

I do enjoy living in Eugene.

“Antics”

Olympus E-M10 IV with 60mm f/2.8 macro lens @ f/5.6, 1/500, ISO 500. At Salt Creek Falls.

Close-up of an ant

“Not a Pine Cone”

Olympus E-M10 IV with 60mm f/2.8 macro lens @ f/6.3, 1/800s, ISO 6400. This is actually a clump of mushroom caps along the Elk Creek Trail.

Clump of mushrooms on a log