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Netarts Bay and Oceanside beach, Oregon…receding tides and excessive winds create the most unusual, other-worldly sand formations looking like ice cream cones, space ships, pyramids, witches hats, etc. This series of photos were taken in Sept. and Oct. 2013 when shapes were particularly astonishing. Post note in Nov. 2015 – I have returned many times since, at different times of the year, and have never seen them quite so spectacular. I now know them to be extremely rare. The phenomenon seems to be restricted to within a 1/4 mile area near the town of Netarts.
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The Long Beach, Washington Kite Museum holds an annual Kite Festival. This year, turn-out was minimal due to extreme winds and temperatures.
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Sometimes subjects are so intriguing, I feel effectively spellbound. “Cringe” cannot quite describe the lingering feelings of regret and anguish over losing touch with the reality of holding a $1500 dollar camera while taking this photo! My EOS50D smashed to the cement sidewalk while trying photograph this unusual spider-ball. I cringe just thinking about it — the camera incident though, even more than the creepy spider-ball phenomenon. Thankfully everything appears to be in working order, except the lens.
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Earlier this year, just before the leaves came out on the eighty foot high Sweetgum tree in our yard, my husband cut it down. Any doubts we may have had about removing it as an ornamental disappeared when we saw how easily the branches snapped, and how the tree was starting to rot from the inside out. Setting the logs aside as I helped to lower them, I noticed these shapes produced by the dying core.