<p>Great skies coming home from the <a href="/2009/10/20/fractus/">Arboretum</a> last weekend.</p>

<p>This is not <em>the</em> Big Puppy, my daughter’s absolute favorite animal, but his backup. Big Puppy recently started showing the signs any animal would if he weighed five plus pounds and was carried <strong>everywhere</strong>, usually in a stranglehold about his neck. My wife and I decided acquiring a backup would be a prudent decision, especially considering the Huge size was no longer available in the catalogs.</p>

<p>So many old friends came out today, the sun, blue skies, Mt Rainier and an animal!</p>

<p>Thanks to all the <a href="/2009/01/02/snowdown-saws-show/">well-wishing</a> I walked away pretty thrilled with the outcome of the Mountaineers’ photography show. Three of my photos took awards, including the <strong>Best in Show</strong>:</p>

<p>I took these photos a day early because the weather forecasts called for cloudy skies this evening and I wanted to capture the <a href="http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/09dec_fullmoon.htm">largest full moon</a> of the year.</p>

<p>We’ve been experiencing crisp, clear days and nights coupled with stunning sunrises and sunsets – it’s been so clear Mt Baker has been visible the last couple of days.</p>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rainier">The Mountain</a>: morning, noon, dusk. Happy Thanksgiving!</p>

<p>We saw quite a show on the ride home tonight – even the iPhone gives a sense for the colors and what looked like a sky on fire.</p>

<p>I’ve been wondering if the actual ferry path resembled that on Google Maps so I tracked it today.</p>

<p>Polar Bear was chosen as today’s ambassador for the great stuffed animal collection. While we’ve been experiencing some really heavy rains recently courtesy of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineapple_Express">Pineapple Express</a> today wasn’t so bad. I’m a bit of foul weather junkie so this weather suits me for the most part.</p>