Second Best Photos of 2023

 

And here are the second best photos of 2023.  I notice that there are more snowy landscapes, plants and animals, and people I know photos in this set of pictures. There is even one picture that I did not take! And now to get back to posting what has been happening lately on Kodiak.

Patrick

Best Photos of 2023

 

I finally finished editing all my photos from last year down to just the best.  I ended up with 800 photos that were good, and then cut that down to 100.  Then came the hard part.  All of the last 100 seemed really good.  But I picked out the top 15 that I like here, and then the second best 15 for another post.  This year I did not choose photos by themes.  I noticed that I did not pick out the snowy scenics, or many close up plant photos for my best of categories.  They have made it too many times in the past! This year I went for photos that seem different.

Anyway these are what I consider the top 15 photos that I took last year.

Patrick

Final Japan Post

 

That's Narrow Cape on the left and Ugak Bay almost exactly 24 hours after we left Kodiak

 

It's been over 2 weeks since we got back from Japan and it is finally time to wrap it all up.  These are the final random pictures and thoughts from the trip.

The top picture was taken from our plane on the way to Japan.  To get to Japan we flew to Seattle and spent the night.  And flew from there to Japan.  A few hours into the flight Nora and I looked out the window and there was Kodiak.  I checked my watch and it was almost exactly 24 hours after we left Kodiak and here we were flying over home.  I could see the Bay I surveyed for archaeological sites last May (right center), I could see where Nora and I found a glass ball last April (cape just in front of engine), and I could see the mountain where I harvested a deer in August (center).  There was the mountains, bays, lakes and roads I know so well,  The people seated around us on the plane were a bit skeptical - after all, how could we still be over the USA if we left Seattle and flew over the Pacific Ocean?  But there is was and after a bit our fellow plane mates believed us.

To kill time in airports and on trains or while waiting to board planes or trains I used the drawing program on iPad. I'd draw on top of the photo and then take away the original.  It is kind of fun.  In the one of Nora skiing at Hakuba below you can see the 3 step process - the original, the drawing with details still shown from photo (like the second one below), and finally just the drawing with the photo removed.  I've been doing this a lot lately, and may even post a few more non-japan oriented drawings.

Well that's it for Japan!  Now on to the regular 'Winter in Kodiak' postings.

Patrick

Inside of a Japanese sushi bar in Hakuba

View from restaurant window at our final dinner

Learning about how to prepare tea at a tea shop on out Tokyo food tour

Imperial Gardens

 

On our final morning in Tokyo Nora and I went for a walk in the Imperial Gardens. I think this was  my favorite place to walk in Tokyo, and Nora and I visited there three times.  It is a very cool place and there are little placards to read that explain the history of the place.

Back when I was in college I took a class in Japanese History (you got to love a Liberal Arts Core Curriculum) and I remember the story of the ronin (outlawed warriors) who killed the noble man who had had their Lord killed.  It turns out that the original murder that is the cause of the whole story took place in a palace that was once in the gardens. The ronin were actually honored for their loyalty and allowed to commit suicide rather than get executed in disgrace.  Kind of a scary story.

Anyway, another thing about the gardens that amazed me was that there were grapefruit and orange trees with fruit on them.  I thought it was too cold in Tokyo for citrus fruit.  I was also amazed that no one had stolen the fruit off of the trees.

Patrick

Cross walk on the way to the Imperial Gardens

This is the emperor's bamboo - they have all the varieties of bamboo in one place