Spring sprung its spell...

Well, yesterday we had snow up to the neck (of Robin) and today it leaves quicker than in came.

The morning started with a low fog down in the valley. Up here where the thin air affects a persons thinking (that is my excuse and I am sticking with it) it was sunny and warm.

 

The Cat thought being outside as the snow melted was just fine and began working on her spring tan.  I mentioned her desire to stay indoors yesterday and she didn't even look at me.  I am not sure if that is the cat part, or the female part... :-)

 

A short while later and all the fog and most of the snow down below is gone.  Across the valley there is still plenty of snow to be seen in the foothills.

 I took the last photo on my concrete deck, barefoot and wearing shorts.  Same conditions today, so I told the kids this is their spring break.  I am going to have to get the winter dirt off the deck because their feet will soon be black from walking out there to enjoy it all.  Here in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) the weather changes often so you learn to go with it when it smiles on you.  Maybe a run to the ocean to get some saltwater taffy if the weather holds up???

When in Gnome...

But I am not in Gnome!! I know someone that lives near there though... (and I expect to hear from her soon after this post. :-) )

Here are some scenes from the first days of spring here in the Pacific Northwest.

I went outside to get some shots of the "Spring Weather".

The cat insisted that there were more sensible ways to take it all in.

As a certified male^tm, I only partially listened to what she had to say... I did confine my picture taking efforts to the deck and front porch which I thought was in the spirit of her advice. 

Tanks for the Memories...

Walking through life you meet the most interesting people.  Some people seem to have the talent of being a Nexus for an eclectic collection of people you might otherwise not meet.  I am fortunate to have a couple such people like this in my life.  It was through one of these friends that I met John.  John is into reuse and recycling and has the talent for finding interesting things.

One such thing was an old bicycle long buried under brush at a place that was to be bulldozed.  This bike dates to the 50's by style and looks like it was forgotten in the brush about then too.  It is a rusty hulk.  John cut the rotted tires off of it and removed the scraps of seat material leaving nothing but rusty metal, junk if you will, yet prepared like he has it, the bicycle is a beautiful piece of art.

Good art has a story to tell, be it song, sculpture, or painting.  This bike is a time machine for the curious and you can't help but imagine the events around it since its making.  My heavy-equipment-pimp friend is working on John to get the bicycle so it can become the centerpiece in the new garden he is making for his wife.  This bike really was captivating to me and I didn't photograph it.  Huh?

I believe I have confessed my gearhead proclivities, so perhaps you will understand my divided attention.  You see, john also recently found something else in a pile of metal and bought it for scrap value.  It was sitting off to the side, maybe 40 feet from the bicycle and drew me in like a moth to a porch light.

Some may focus on the surplus beer keg on the back of it, or the horse drawn John Deere sickle mower with the blade powered by the turning of its' wheels ( it is cool), but it was the thing holding all that up that caught my eye. 

It is some long forgotten  model of a tank recovery vehicle.  Who knows if this is the way it appeared when GI's were gainfully employed to use it.

For better and for worse, they don't build them like they used to... I for one would prefer a little armor around me if I was going to go pull out a tank in hostile country, but on the other hand, after installing some new batteries, this old machine drove itself from its resting place and toward a new existence where it will be reclaimed by someone for some use, all yet to be determined.  Everything on this old rust bucket works.  Even the rust is only surface deep and not structurally damaging.  Bust out the scotch pad and the spray gun and viola!; this thing will be ready for the next few decades of... well whatever the creative can think to do with it.

I better go back and get a picture of the bike before it moves on... if it ends up in my friends garden that will be easy, but what a missed opportunity.