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Where Does the Time Go?

Honestly, I have no idea where the time goes. I finally just let go of November images. November was mostly warmish and very wet. And December has been cold and dry. Seems like every other day we get an inch or two of fluffy powder snow that can be swept rather than shoveled from the porch. Quite different from the heavy wet snow that fell last year early in the winter. I have gotten used to the cold and if the temperature gets up to freezing, it seems warm, almost balmy! Skate and classic skiing has been excellent on the Methow Trails! Morning walks have been beautifully illuminated with wondrous light.

The mountains of the Pasayten Wilderness as seen from our house
A view of Bridgeport and Chief Jo Dam on the Christmas Bird Count
Gray Partridges bury themselves in the snow near Bridgeport
Growing icicles
Morning
Ice on Goat Wall looming above the ski trail
Skate skiing near Mazama
Christmas tree along the ski trail
Morning
Morning
Morning
Oh look, Sky has a stick
Along our road
Northern Pygmy Owl
This bromeliad has covered itself with flowers
Sparkly roof snow
Yarrow with caps of snow
Caption this
Suspension bridge on the Methow Trails ski trail
View from the suspension bridge
Luna
Sky
Our road

What Happened to June?

June 25 and what have I done this month? One hike. Two sets of visitors. Designed the cover for Ken’s soon-to-be-released CD. Walked my dogs. Two weddings that you can see here and here. Time flew by and now it’s nearly July.

We had one week of hot weather and then it returned to often windy and cloudy and even some good June rains. The grasses on our hill are taller than the dogs. Lupine continues to bloom along with the beautiful mariposa lilies that I cannot quit photographing. Bluebirds and swallows have fledged. A raven family spent a couple of weeks terrorizing the nesting birds. I do admire ravens but really I wish they did not eat eggs and other baby birds. Smokejumpers from the airport across the valley trained in the hot weather and in the windy weather.

Sunrise
dew drops on spider web
Tiny fawn
Raven breakfast
The vernal pond is still there
Eastern Kingbird
Sky
wild aster
Lupine and a dusting of new snow on the mountains across the way
Serviceberries
Currants
Dusky Grouse displaying to me and the dogs
Tree Swallow
Western Bluebird
Western Bluebird
Buckwheat
Mariposa
New growth on sage
Lupine and yarrow
tall grasses and yarrow
Lush grasses and dead trees
sunset

More New Snow

We already have a good layer of snow on the ground – enough to last us most of the winter, I imagine. And today it’s snowing some more. We had a nice walk in the white stuff while Ken got out his classic skis to make some trails around our hill. It’s a nearly black and white world around here.

Look! I found a new stick!
Oh look, there’s Ken!
Are you taking all that home with you Luna?

Hummingbirds at Sunset

The long hours of dusk in the summer time are some of my favorites. And recently we’ve had tremendous sunsets most every evening. This is partially due to smoke from neighboring wildfires. It doesn’t slow down the hummingbirds. We still see them going to the feeders, sometimes aggressively defending them from other hummers. There are fewer than there were a month ago. They are mostly juveniles now. The adults have moved on, migrating south to their wintering grounds or up in the mountains in search of nectar from wildflowers. I do enjoy warm summer evenings on our deck.

The clouds provide an ever-changing view.

Ed’s Images

Our friends Ed and Torre live directly across the valley from us and a little higher on the hill. They had a perfect view of the perfect storm of a fire that burned here on August 1. Torre was on the phone to me telling me to get out as I was grabbing stuff and throwing it in the truck as fast as I could. Later we kept in touch by phone as they watched our house disappear into the thick smoke and then later reappear to be saved by helicopters with buckets of water. When the smoke first covered the house there were three fire trucks from our local volunteers – Okanogan District 6! We believe they saved the place the first time as the initial fire raced across the hill.

Here are some of Ed’s photos of the helicopter action. You can see more of Ed’s work at his Flickr site.

Ken found the pilot of the orange and white helicopter that put out that burning woodpile and expressed our undying gratitude to him.

That burning wood pile had the huge potential to set the shop on fire and then the house. We are so lucky.
This one stopped the fire.