Freedom Huts

Rainy Day Walk by a quonset hut.

With my return to the Northwest yesterday the rain seemed to follow me north. Near record heat over the last several weeks have eased with my arrival. A quick trip over to the Olympia Peninsula today where rain is nearly a daily occurrence took me into one of my favorite locations in Washington. Lots of opportunities for a picture here with majestic mountain ranges and vast landscapes in varied tones of green as far as the eye can see.

Despite all that I found myself standing not before a breathtaking landscape, but in front of a relatively homely, by some estimations, structure. I have always been drawn to these simple Quonset huts that dot rural parts of the Northwest. Named after the place where they were first manufactured for the US Army during WW II – Quonset Point, Davisville, RI. Over 170,000 of these utilitarian buildings were built in the early 40’s.

As the rain fell I did not have to wait long for a subject to appear and add scale and movement to the picture. The repeating windows framing the walker as she hurried elsewhere.

It’s interesting how easily my attention is drawn from one point of interest to another. Mountain ranges abutting the shoreline behind me and I’m focused on a rusty icon from years past. That is the beauty of discovery that photography brings to my life. Nothing is set in stone. No subject having the power to hold me for longer than I’m will to give it. That might be the very definition of freedom for me. Going where my interest takes me. No expectations. Nothing taken for granted.