One could easily write a book on the mosses, lichens and liverworts of Boren-Interlaken Park.

Moss, Feb. 15, 2010

Copyright © 2010 Paul D. Natkin, All Rights Reserved

Today was a clearer day than yesterday, although, as I recall, today wasn't completely sunny, either. I didn't make it to the Viewpoint. I was busy, and after yesterday, anything would have been a let-down. Yesterday's fog so impressed me that I didn't want to spoil my memory of it by seeing the place in different conditions.

From the Side Strip, Feb. 16, 2010

Copyright © 2010 Paul D. Natkin, All Rights Reserved

It was very foggy this morning. A few joggers came by, and a dog-walker or two. But for a good while, there was almost complete silence. All I heard was the chirping of the birds.

Foggy Morning, Feb. 15, 2010

Copyright © 2010 Paul D. Natkin, All Rights Reserved

There are many kinds of moss growing in the parks below. Each one is different from the next. No two kinds are the same.

Moss Down Below, Jan. 20, 2010

Copyright © 2010 Paul D. Natkin, All Rights Reserved

This morning, the visibility was very low here. We've had many foggy mornings in the last few weeks, but this was the thickest fog I've seen this year.

Sentinel in Fog, Jan. 16, 2010

Copyright © 2010 Paul D. Natkin, All Rights Reserved

I made it to the Viewpoint before dawn today, but I didn't take any photos. Later I went back. Just as I arrived, a couple came walking by. I asked them whether we were looking at fog or mist. The woman seemed especially sure that it was mist. I asked them what the difference was. The woman said, and the man with her concurred, that mist is made of larger droplets of water. I'm not sure, but I'm always curious what other people think.

Fog, Jan. 5, 2010

Copyright © 2010 Paul D. Natkin, All Rights Reserved

It rained all day yesterday. By evening, the fog set in. There may have been fog earlier, but not as much as there was by evening. In the evening there was more fog than during the day.

The U District from the Hill, Jan. 4, 2010

Copyright © 2010 Paul D. Natkin, All Rights Reserved

The Sentinel and Samaras

There was no one at the Viewpoint when I went there this evening. It was drizzling, and there was a fair amount of mist in the air, which gave the Christmas lights here and there an aura. I noticed that there were still a few dry leaves hanging lifelessly from the Sentinel, and some samaras, too. Then I thought of the artist Lucas Samaras and wondered how it came about that his name is the same as the name for the things that contain the seeds of the maple tree. When the wind blows, and they're ready to fall, the samaras get picked up by the wind and carried quite far from the tree where they grew. As I left the Viewpoint, I passed a person walking a dog--a woman, I believe.

Beyond the Edge

When I passed by the Viewpoint this morning, there was nothing to be seen beyond the Edge but fog. And this reminded me of the genealogist's addage "Work from the known to the unknown."