With good weather finally happening, the garden is really coming to life with new growth and flowers everywhere. Evening light, just before sunset gives all the foliage and blooms a glow you don’t see during the day and I find it irrisistable. One day this week the constant breeze or gusty winds finally quit and I was able to photograph the sights around my house.
This seems like a lot of images for a blog post. There were many more they didn’t make the cut!
If you’re a mountain goat, that is.
In early summer, when the road up to Harts Pass first is drivable, a person can frequently get lucky and see the local mountain goats at a natural salt lick. It is shortly past the scary section of the road when it goes into the trees and just over the steep edge of the downhill side. Sometimes the goats will be on the road. They seem quite familiar and used to the minimal traffic passing by so a car or truck makes a good blind for observation or photography. I’ve only seen them in this season when they are shedding big chunks of fur and looking mangy. There are young ones and the moms tend to keep them away from the cars. Here are a few that I saw today.
Despite a windy morning, Suzanne and I had a nice hike to the top of Patterson Mountain. The calendar says it is summer and yet the wildflowers still look like spring. I was surprised to see so many alliums in bloom. Some areas were carpeted with them. And still there are lots of bitterroot. In addition to wildflowers we saw a pair of Golden Eagles, a Lazuli Bunting and other birds. We are SO lucky to live here!
Bitterroot
Allium and a yellow buckwheat
A tiny daisy, maybe an aster?
Allium and its shadow
A hummingbird visits scarlet gillia to collect nectar with Mount Gardner in the background
It’s time to move on. Not that the honeymoon is over, that’s for sure. But the road trip is. There is a lot to be said about enjoying life on the road and getting away from day to day tasks and worries. And there is a lot to be said about being home and enjoying one’s own bed and shower and waking up to familiar birds and devoted dogs. So here are a few more images from our trip to Oregon. All of these are from my phone.
Malheur’s vast water
One of the craters
On the road from Burns to Bend – 130 miles of Sagebrush and Juniper
Oh gosh, there’s the ocean!
The bridge at Newport
And another thing…………..
We liked the Rogue Brewery.
The trail to the beach through the rain forest.
Ken was like a kid at the aquarium.
I wonder if it’s still there?
At the beach. We considered doing all of our wedding photos in this style……..
We always ate well.
Watch out for tripping bikes.
That’s a good one.
Astoria
Over the bridge and into Washington again.
Klickitat oaks
This turtle was sunning itself at Patterson Lake last week. The weather has finally begun to be pleasant enough that the turtles are able to get some sun most days.
There is still one more post from the road trip waiting to go online. I hope to finish that today and go on with current work!
My Everyday Photos 