A Full-time Life

SUNDAY SMILES

 

A collection of smiles -- all pictures from last week here in the Willamette Valley.  

 

 

Happy Halloween .... 

 

Don't Forget to Wear Your Mask  

(I'm not lion)

 

 

 Is this a good buy?  Have you ever bought a pound of wine?  

 (Still trying to figure out exactly how much wine that is.  My math skills are poor, but I have the soul of a proof-reader.)

 

Hot Lips

Funny name for a beautiful plant 

 

Just Hanging on By a Thread

(There's a metaphor in there somewhere.)

 

 

And some genuine smiles from out at the country place last week.  That's our oldest great-grandson with the new family puppy (a very big puppy).   And beautiful blue skies and October sunshine.   Thankful for every beautiful Autumn day.

 

LINKING this week to these sharing opportunities, with thanks to the hosts:

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS;  THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY  ; FRIDAY  BLISS; and  SATURDAY CRITTERS   

 

The BEAUTIFUL and the BAD

It was perfect  October weather last week -- just about as perfect as perfect can be.  Not too hot, not too cold.   No rain, but it has rained recently so it's no longer  too dry!  

 

All the colors of Autumn with blue sky -- from a Saturday morning walk around our neighborhood.   Earlier in the week, we took a drive up the McKenzie River.  The Highway is open again after being closed because of the Holiday Farm fire.       

 

 

Goodpasture Bridge, McKenzie River -- built 1938

 

Oregon has more covered bridges than any other state west of the Mississippi.   Back when bridges were built of wooden timbers, the roofs were protection from the Oregon rain.  Quite a few of them have been preserved and some like this one are still in limited use.  

   

 

We stopped at the bridge above and this stretch of the river just after leaving the urban area of Eugene/Springfield.    The sun was shining, the river flowed, the trees were green.   Over the years, we've had so many happy times along  the McKenzie and at first, the drive-by views  looked just like old times.   Because of last month's fire, we knew to expect  damage further along  but felt like we needed to see it for ourselves.     

 

 

We didn't have to drive too much further before seeing blackened trees and crews removing dangerously damaged ones .  Along here, we were surprised to see places where one home would be severely burned and the one on the next property still standing apparently unharmed.  In our travels, we've been in areas where we've seen the aftermath of hurricanes and tornados, but didn't expect fire damage to be so sporadic.   But this fire was exacerbated by a severe windstorm, so it was wind patterns here as well.   

 

 

We began to see signs thanking the fire crews for the amazing job they did stopping the fire where they did.  But soon we reached the towns of Finn Rock and Blue River.  Those towns are near where the fire started.  They are pretty much completely destroyed.

 

 

There used to be a store and cafe where the structure at the top left and center were taken.  Small vacation cottages lined the portion of the river where some owners are still sifting through the remains.   The three pictures on the bottom are from what was once the town of Blue River.  Firefighters saved the district school building, but the town is just gone.

 At first as we drove through the remains of the town it somehow  felt wrong that the sun was shining and the sky was blue.   I suppose it is a sign of hope.   It was so very sad, but I was still glad we took the drive.  We don't watch the news and  nothing I had read had quite prepared me for this.  It will be a long time before things are anywhere near back to normal in this part of our county.

Rather than re-trace our route  along the McKenzie River, we made it  a circle drive by going home over the Santiam Highway.  

 

 

 We were traveling a portion of this aptly named scenic byway.    Here is a brief bit of info from "America's Scenic Byways."

This 66-mile route begins in the rich farmland of the Willamette Valley, and then winds along rushing streams, and through dense forests as it climbs into the Cascades to join the West Cascades and McKenzie Pass-Santiam Pass National Scenic Byways.

Along the way travelers will pass through some of Oregon's oldest settlements, while experiencing the geographic diversity of five western Oregon ecosystems. With access to rivers, reservoirs, parks and campgrounds, many trails and winter sports access areas, this byway offers a wide range of scenic wonders and recreational activities.  

 

 

Short Bridge, Santiam River , Built 1945 to replace an earlier one built in 1920

 

Short Bridge crosses the South fork of the Santiam River.   Like the Goodpasture Bridge at the beginning of the post, this one is also named for a pioneer Oregon settler.  The name is not meant as a description, but it could be -- it really isn't very long.   (I think it is shorter than this blogpost is.)    If you've read this far, thank you!!    Even though I usually try to keep this blog "my happy space", another purpose of it is to keep memories.  And I don't want to forget this fire (which I can only hope will be a rare happening).    

 

LINKING this week to the following, with thanks to the hosts.  

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;  SIGNS SIGNS;  OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  FRIDAY  BLISS; 

 

 

EARLY OCTOBER -- A COLLECTION

 Here in Eugene this year, we have only half as much Fall Color as usual. 

 

 

The proof is in the picture!  

 

 

Above  is my  collection from last week of what color there was.     All  pictures  taken in between much needed rain showers.   

Not a lot  from last week -- partly because of that rain.  So the  rest of this post is a random selection from past Octobers.    

 

 

Custer State Park, South Dakota  October 2013

 

Custer State Park is one of our favorite places.  The wildlife viewing there  is outstanding.   In October 2013 we visited when driving from Oregon to Florida.   Although you couldn't tell it from this picture, we also saw quite a bit of snow that time.   Our youngest son had driven from Colorado to spend some of his vacation time with us.    We were glad to take him up on the offer to drive us around on our scenic tours.  That way Bill was able to admire the scenery more than usual.  We were all even happier that the roads were clear by the time we left the area.    (In truth,  I was the only one of the three of us who worried about the weather -- and I was the only one who was not driving.)  

 

Fern Ridge Lake October 2012

 

We spent many summer/fall seasons at Fern Ridge Lake here in Lane County Oregon.   In early October the Lake, which is really a reservoir,  is  beginning to recede.  That makes it a good month for birding.    I have taken tons of pictures of Great Blue Herons from here in Oregon, from Florida and from points in between.  This is one of my favorites.

 

 Booth Bay Harbor Maine October 2010

 

We were looking at a different body of water in October 2010 when we were close to winding up our  tour of the Eastern Seaboard States.   That whole trip was wonderful, full of new places and new experiences.  We had some prior knowledge of Booth Bay Harbor because years earlier our oldest son had been stationed there on his first Coast Guard posting.  He liked it very much and we did too.  

 

Fern Ridge Lake October 2014

Back to the Lake for another between-showers picture.  In fact "Between Showers"  was the title of the October 2014 post where I found this picture.  A typical Oregon October.   I am thankful for the rain, because we need it so much this year.  And thankful that I have this blog to jog my memory because memories are much needed this year too. 

 

Linking this week to the following, with thanks to the hosts:

MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;   TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY  BLISS; and SATURDAY CRITTERS 

THE WEEK THAT WAS ....

What a week!    Even in 2020, the one just past stands out as one of the strangest -- nationally.  Everybody knows that already, so  I'll just say that since we are still in semi-isolation, we probably have way too much time to follow the news.  Sometimes I think it would be nice to live on a deserted island with no contact with the outside world! 

 

 

 But  then I wouldn't be able to blog!  This pretty Stellar's Jay showed off for me exactly at the point where the path behind our  apartment complex reaches the river path.  

 

 

Nature walks are, as always, a refuge.  These pictures however are from out in the country on our daughter's and son-in-law's acreage.   I guess those are nature walks for me.  I walk around the edge of their property taking pictures while everybody else in the family is busy working on projects or  on-line school.   (Then I sit under the big tree watching birds and reading.)  

 

 

Back to the earlier walk in our own neighborhood.   Some days when I walk the River Paths I don't see a single bird.  On this walk, I  saw the Great Blue Heron standing in the shadows of the trees where the Jay was perched.

 

 

 

After our weeks of smoke, we don't take blue skies for granted.    And the weather has been beautiful.  Most years, October is a good month here in Oregon.    There isn't a lot of  color so far -- and there may not be.  I think it might have been too dry during the summer.  But even without vivid Autumn color, it is good to have perfect walking temperatures -- and of course blue sky.  I am thankful for that.

 

LINKING THIS WEEK to the following.  Thank you to all of the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  FRIDAY  BLISS; and  SATURDAY CRITTERS

 

FALL

We had rain off and on and wind last week --  the first official week of Fall in the USA.  One windy afternoon we were reading quietly when there was a strange and loud noise outside our window.   Here's what we saw:

 

FALL  (two definitions) 2020

 

My first thought was that this poor old tree just gave up on 2020 (because why not? -- It really feels as if we're all just waiting for the other shoe to drop.)   In reality, saturated ground and sudden wind may have had something to do with the tree's demise.    No buildings or people were hurt  and we were happy that it was "not our problem."  That is the head of maintenance for our complex surveying the damage.    I grow fond of trees and it was sad to see whenever I looked out our windows.  This weekend a crew came in and chain-sawed it all away.    

 

 Below are some more conventional (and happier) pictures of Fall around our neighborhood:

 

Weekday walks, Eugene  -- first week of Fall 2020

 

September is such a nostalgic month -- I think because it brings back memories of starting school.   My archives don't  go back quite  as far as those boxes of crayons and new workbooks, but because I didn't have many new pictures for the week I did comb through them.  

 

Fern Ridge Lake Oregon                                              2012

 

I looked for September pictures  that would work for the sharing sites that I like to join.   We spent part of the summer/fall season at the Lake for several years when we were full-time RVers.  (We traveled the rest of the year.)

 

Mergansers, Bald Eagles, and a Bear ---   Haines Alaska 2014

We spent almost four months in Alaska in 2014 -- the trip actually ended in mid-September,  so these pictures would have been taken earlier in the summer.  But I was still blogging about that trip for weeks after it ended.      There was so much to see and do there!   

 

 

 

Vermont  2001

 

I used the above picture in the first FullTime-Life blog post I ever made in September 2007  (and have repeated it every few years to mark the start of the season.)   But it was taken several years before that on our first RV trip out of the western states.  We loved this trip, loved that part of the country,  and loved being leaf-peepers.   

 

 

And here we are back home in the neighborhood in September 2020 --  one of the paths we walk along the Willamette River.  A lovely place for dreaming of the past and planning for the future!  We are grateful for time to do both.

 

Thank you to the hosts of the following  --- for the sharing opportunities they provide and also this week for the impetus to do a search through "the olden days" of the blog so that I'd have pictures that would fit all of the themes! 

  MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;   THROUGH MY LENS;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  SIGNS SIGNS;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;  and  SATURDAY CRITTERS; 

 

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

It rained hard last Thursday night! 

 

 

 The storm cleared the air enough so that on Friday we were able to go grocery shopping, even to the Farm Market.    And on Saturday afternoon, the sun came out for a little while and the sky was blue.  I even went for a neighborhood walk around the loop.  The picture above is from earlier in the summer, but the sky was almost this blue on Saturday.   I didn't take pictures because I was too busy appreciating the fact that I could breath fresh air.  

 

River Road near Junction City

In fact, all pictures in today's post are from the archives.  The little abandoned outbuilding is on a farm near the market where we shop for produce.   

 

From the archives

I'm so grateful for the rain.   I swear I won't ever fuss about gray days again as long as they are caused by rain, not smoke and ash.   (Especially if there are rainbows after.)

 

Delta Ponds Pedestrian Bridge, near our neighborhood 

Of course all is not sunshine and lollipops yet -- over 700 structures were burned in the Holiday Farm fire which is still only about 10% contained.   This fire, the closest one to us, is just one of the climate fires burning in Oregon.  This one alone has burned (is burning) over 170,000 acres.    The Red Cross has housed evacuees from the area   in Eugene/Springfield hotels.  (Some had other places to go, so the number of displaced people isn't known.)

And of course even if the skies are smoke-free we still need masks whenever we leave the house.  

 

For that reason -- and for many others -- we can all use some spots of sunshine.    Yellow flowers always brighten my day.  Even when they are pictures from the archives.   May these spots of sunshine on the ground brighten yours.

 

 

RIP,  RBG.  

 LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to the hosts:  

MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES;  OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and FRIDAY  BLISS 

 

OREGON ON FIRE

 We are safe at home, but the State of Oregon is burning up.  Government authorities have reported over a million acres have burned.   It is hard to believe that a week ago today (Sunday) my weekly blog post talked about how dry and hot it was, but we had spent that last week doing our usual things.  Usual in the age of Covid anyway -- we took walks, we visited outdoors with family,  went to the grocery store and Farm Market.... just the normal.   

 

 

 But that was last Sunday and I was blogging about the previous week.   On Monday night (September 7), the Holiday Farm Fire started up the McKenzie River -- in an area about  50 miles east of  us.  It has now burned to about 15 miles from us, as well as further north and south.  Conditions were hot and dry and there was a strong 40 mph wind (very unusual for here) -- it fanned the fire out of control very suddenly.   People who lived up the river  got no warning  -- some of them  awoke to flames against their house.  Several small communities were destroyed.   It is not yet known how many lives have been lost.  People have been evacuated to high schools in Springfield, the twin city to Eugene where we live.  Fire fighting conditions improved Friday, and the fire has slowed, though still is not controlled.

 These two pictures were taken from  our front door on Tuesday morning, September 8 -- the  only time all week I've stepped out of the house.   We, and our Oregon family, are not near the flames and in no danger of having to evacuate, but air quality is at a dangerous level.   

 

 

 The Holiday Farm Fire is just one of several climate fires that are burning out of control in our State, all caused by the same conditions. But it is the closest one to us. The Upper McKenzie River has been our mountain playground for years. I made the collage below from the last time we camped there.

 

Memory of Blue River -- from last April.

We stayed at the Blue River RV Park on the last night of our trip home from Florida.  It is practically certain that this beautiful little RV park has been destroyed.   We have so many memories of staying along the River in years back.  This was just the latest time.  We used to go  camping with our kids up there, we often took carloads of Boy Scouts and supplies to camp, and every summer we have taken at least a day trip  up the river to walk or hike.  It will be a while before anyone is able to do that again -- and it will never be the same.   

 

 

 

Sun on Tuesday morning  

Climate change has come home.    It is heartbreaking to think of the people who have lost everything in these fires.       We hope for happier times and better days to come... and soon.

 

LINKING this week to:  MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; and  SKYWATCH FRIDAY .   

Thank you to the hosts.

HOT WEATHER OREGON

It was HOT last week!  Oregonians aren't used to 90 degree temperatures --  It's really not even fun to go for a walk when it's that warm.  One morning we took a drive up into the hills East of us just to get away.   It was a little bit cooler and a  whole lot greener.  We drove rather aimlessly around the back roads, sometimes on  logging roads, stopping now and then to admire the views.  And to take pictures  or to figure out where we were  (depending on which half of us we're talking about.)

  

 

Layered hills are my favorite.  This view was on Bill's side and he stopped the car before I even saw it.  He knew I'd want this picture and I'm actually glad he can read my mind.    

 

 

Views nearer to the roads. 

The green really was refreshing -- it really is dry and hot in the valley and sometimes smoky.  Several wildfires are burning in Western Oregon -- one in our county, on the way to the Coast.  We need rain.

Saturday was the coolest day of the week -- still in the 80s (F) but more manageable.  We went out to the country to say hi to whoever was home. And to work on a project  or to take pictures (once again, depending which half ....).

 

One 

I wandered out to the back-of-beyond part of their property.   This little guy caught my eye.  His perch on a  blackberry cane did not look real comfortable.  I took the picture mostly so I could try to identify what it was ... it didn't look like the small birds I usually see in their  yard.

 

 

Two 

 

Before I even moved there were suddenly two birds on the same bushes.   -- I'm not sure if they're even the same kind of bird as the first one I saw -- but they were also enjoying whatever was left on those dead branches.   

 

Three 

 

And then there were three.  One definitely showing off athletic skill.

 

 Four 

 

 Five!  

 

By the time the whole flock flew away all at once,  it was feeling as if  I were in the middle of a children's counting book.   One, two, three..... how many little birds do you see?        I'm wondering if these are some kind of recent fledglings.  (ID help is always welcome.)  

 

 

I'm still surprised that those birds chose the bare branches when there was this colorful tangle of ripe berries and rose-hips nearby.   I picked a cup or two of blackberries for our cereal the next day.   Before we went home we also picked a big basket of those wonderful cherry tomatoes and our daughter gave us a dozen of those green and brown eggs. (see here).    Good company, good food, fresh air  -- can't be beat.  

 

LINKING this week to the following:  Thank you to the hosts of these sharing opportunities.

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  FRIDAY  BLISS; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

 

 

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL?

 

Is there light at the end of the tunnel?  

 

 

 

  It all depends on which way you're going.  Let's pretend we're all coming out of the dark into the sunshine. It could happen that way.  

 

 

 

The best walk of the  week was at Eugene's Delta Ponds.  This bit of nature in the middle of the City is a peaceful -- and hopeful -- place.  It's a City Park reclaimed from gravel pits.   Gravel extraction during the 1950s and 60s  provided much of the material for construction of local roadways, including Interstate 105.  

 

 

The City purchased the land from the gravel company in the late 1970s, but it remained wild and unclaimed until 2003.      

 

 

 

Work to restore the Delta Pond System and reconnect it to the River  has been ongoing since then.   It's a wonderful resource for the community and one for which I'm grateful!  

 

 

More usual suspects -- the white duck must be an escapee who decided to join his wild cousins.   The female Mallard at the top left has a feather on her beak.  I kept expecting her to sneeze.   Also seen, but not photographed (even badly) were a few darting songbirds and a Kingfisher.

The next two pictures are from last week's visit to our daughter and son-in-law's.  

 

 

 A few mid-summer flowers are still hanging in there. 

 

 

The Black Walnut tree is magnificent in all its fully leafed out glory.   It is too bad that it couldn't stay at this stage for longer!   The leaves will probably start to fall just about the time the rainy season arrives, which (according to our children) makes a big messy job.     I've taken so many spring and summer pictures of this beautiful tree this year, the least I can probably do is pick up a rake in the fall.   Or not.  (Maybe I will just take some more tree-watch pictures instead. )  

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to all of the hosts:

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS;    THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  FRIDAY  BLISS; and  SATURDAY CRITTERS; 

 

 

A TRIP TO THE OREGON COAST

 

We stayed at the coast for a couple of nights last week.  It was our first out-of-town trip since we arrived back home in early April.  We have always loved the fact that  the Eugene-Springfield area is so close to the ocean.    We can be in Florence, the closest town on the coast  in about an hour.  On this trip however, we headed south from Florence to Winchester Bay, one of our old favorite places to camp.

 

The Pacific Ocean at Yachats 

It was a perfect getaway.   The kind of short trip we used to take almost regularly.    We're thankful it felt safe to go again.    We took the RoadTrek (camper van).    On the second day we drove along the coast south to Coos Bay and the next we went north to Waldport before heading inland and home.    The pictures in this post are not necessarily in chronological order, but they are all from this trip.  

 

 

Windy Bay Campground, Winchester Bay

This white-crowned sparrow welcomed us to   our Winchester Bay camp site.

 

Highway 101  -- just South of Winchester Bay 

Driving between Winchester Bay and Coos Bay we pass rolling sand dunes and five minutes or less later our road takes us past green evergreen forest and rhododendron undergrowth.   It is an interesting contrast.  Driving along this part of the Coast Highway, you don't really see the ocean until nearly Coos Bay.  I didn't take pictures of the ocean then because we knew we'd have better views later.   Just outside of Coos Bay we visited Shore Acres State Park, one of our favorite places to walk.

 

 

 The  gardens at Shore Acres are beautiful in any season.

 

 

This time of year, dahlias are the star of the show.   It's hard to believe Autumn flowers are already blooming when this was our first summer trip.  It's been a different sort of year.  

 

Shore Acres State Park

 

Still a bit between seasons  --  we  enjoyed seeing both the last of the summer roses and the earliest Fall flowers.   And  as always the lovely ponds and greenery.

 

Perfection!  

 

 

Fuschia plants made  lovely reflections in this pond.

 

 

Almost all the while we walked in Shore Acres we could hear sea lions barking on the reefs below, but the day was (blessedly) a bit overcast and we couldn't really see them from there.  After we walked around the park for a while we drove south a little ways to Simpson Reef where we watched hundreds of them enjoying the warm rocks.    

 

Back to blue skies (and heat)  when driving inland from Waldport

The next morning we checked out of  our campsite and drove north to the pretty little coastal town of Yachats where I walked along the rocky beach (and where I took the first picture in this post.)  That first  picture looks as if it was taken in black and white but it is straight out of the camera.  Although it looks misty and overcast in the picture, it really was a perfect two days at the coast -- in the mid- 70s F.     But that coastal weather seldom makes for beautiful sky pictures.  We had to wait until we were well inland  before we saw brilliant blue sky and fluffy white clouds.   Beautiful.  But we were grateful to have enjoyed two days of perfectly comfortable cooler temperatures.   The Oregon Coast is the place to go for that!  

 

LINKING this week to the following with thanks to all of the hosts:

NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY  BLISS; and  SATURDAY CRITTERS