A Full-time Life

GIVING THANKS

Mid-November in Eugene 

The trees are a little barer, the leaves are a little browner ....

but we still have some blue sky days  .. 

 

 

 and we still have some color.

 

 

We have new surroundings and each day brings surprises.  Last week, robins were everywhere we looked.   Maybe they think it is Spring again.  

     

 

I share the walking trails with a variety of flora and fauna. 

 

 

We are grateful for so much.

Thanksgiving Week and always.

    

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

It turns what we have into enough and more.

It turns denial into acceptance,

Chaos to order, confusion to clarity.

It can turn a meal into a feast, 

A house into a home,

A stranger into a friend.

Gratitude makes sense of our past,

Brings peace for today,

And creates a vision for tomorrow. 

 

​​​John O’Donohue

 

 Linking  to the following sharing opportunities.  I'm thankful for the hosts.

 NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; MOSAIC MONDAY;   THROUGH MY LENS;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;  SIGNS SIGNS;  Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;    SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING  

 

SCENE AROUND HOME

  

We are still getting organized in our new Eugene home.  It does already feel like home  except for the kitchen, where everything seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  There's a lot of storage space, just not where I want it. But we're getting there.  (And by that, I mean that Bill is  installing shelving where it is needed.)  

 

 

So we are busy -- but there is always  time to walk ... and there are many nearby choices.  None  are in the wrong place and it is never the wrong time!    

 

Canada Geese, Mallard Ducks, and some white geese which I think are tame ones that have gone wild (or the escapees' descendants).    

 

All of the pictures in this post were taken along the Willamette River behind Valley River Center, the largest  shopping mall in Eugene.  I had an errand to do in the mall, but had a lot more fun walking the river path after I had accomplished that task.    The mall is about a mile and a half from where we live now -- walking distance (but I drove this time and parked next to the walking path.)    

 

Scrub Jay

One of the best parts of Eugene is the easy access to natural areas.   I don't think everybody in this area even realizes how fortunate we are here.  We  visited a lot of shopping areas in our RV travels and I don't think I ever saw any others with these nearby views and walking paths.

 

 

 

The pictures were taken this weekend.   Almost the middle of November and we still have blue sky and sunshine.   As long as you get outside between 10 and 4.   We've had freezes at night and fog in the early mornings.  Bud mid-days are still beautiful.

 

 

 

The walk/bike bridge crosses the Willamette from  Valley River to the parkway opposite, and from there is a couple miles walk to downtown Eugene, where we lived before this move.  So we aren't too far from where we were when we lived right downtown, but everything about it is different.  

It's good to get outside and enjoy the beautiful Autumn days -- and we'll get organized indoors eventually (probably around the time we are ready to head for Florida)....  it will all come together ... and after all, in the meantime ...

 

All you need is .... 

 

 

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

 NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; MOSAIC MONDAY;  GOOD  RANDOM  FUN;  THROUGH MY LENS;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;  SIGNS SIGNS;  Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;    SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING;  and GO OUTSIDE SATURDAY

 

WE MOVED!

     

  

 

We moved last week.  Not across the country to our winter home-away-from-home (not yet).  Just across town -- to another part of Eugene.   The picture above is a view of the Willamette River from a walking path around our new complex.    The mosaic below is from our backyard (which, happily for us, we are not in charge of raking).  

    

 

It does seem like we are moving a lot lately.    I know people who have moved so often they can't even remember all their homes.  And I know at least one  who has lived  all her adult life  in one home.  We are, like most people probably, somewhere in the middle -- but we used to be closer to the latter than we have been in the last few years.     

 I guess we are still figuring out this phase of retired life. This move gives us more living space than we had in our previous apartment.   It also means the end of our experiment with living downtown.    There were many things about city living that we enjoyed, but also definite downsides.    As with anyplace, I'm sure there will be ups and downs about our new home as well.   But we are in the right  place for us right now.

 

 

   

Above is one of the upsides -- On our first walk on the now nearby river paths  I actually got a picture of this Kingfisher.   I'm pretty sure I've written before (or at least commented on other blogs) that this bird has for years refused  to allow me to get a picture.  We see them fairly often, but they always  fly as soon as I even think of taking their picture.   This one actually posed long enough   ---  a welcoming omen!  

 

 

Here are some snaps from almost the first day we were in our new home.   At that point, we weren't yet sure where everything should go (or what we needed to buy to fill the extra space).  There were still boxes to be unpacked and we couldn't find anything in the kitchen (the last is pretty much still true).  But most of what I need  for daily smiles was in place--  my laptop,  some of our books,  a pretty window view and a few bird-themed accessories.   The rest of life's necessities will follow in time!

     

 

Grateful  for our successful move and for a few more beautiful Autumn days in between the much needed rainy ones and glad to be organized enough to be back to blogging.  

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

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; MOSAIC MONDAY;  GOOD  RANDOM  FUN;  THROUGH MY LENS; WILD BIRD Wednesday;   Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;    SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING 

 

 

 

SUMMER MEMORIES

It's still a beautiful Oregon October around here -- perfect walking weather, wonderful Fall color.   Long beautiful Autumn days are great in real life, but as far as pictures go, last week wasn't all that different from the two posts just before this one.   And besides  it is still October for us -- that month when we have all our appointments and other un-bloggable activities  -- and this year, it is even more Octoberish than usual. 

So this week's post is a collection from the not-so-long-ago archives (all pictures are from this past season and not used in earlier posts.)

 

We see colorful motor homes, buses, and other  tiny homes-on -wheels often.  I'm not sure if there are more of these here in the Pacific Northwest or if it is a country-wide phenomenon nowadays.  I don't remember seeing so many of them when we traveled (in our own, not-quite-so-colorful) tiny home.    Some of the ones we see around here are quite creative and a few are even a little scary.   

 

 

These units are also fertile grounds for interesting signs, because most owners seem to like to let everybody know where they stand on pretty much anything and everything.   This is a closer look at the rear window in the tiny house in the center of the collage.

 

   

The pictures in the above mosaic are all from Eureka beach.  There were patches of that red plant here and there in the sandy beach grass.  It was almost jarring to see that bright color popping up amidst all the blue and green.

 

 

 

At Eureka (California) beach with the birds.

 

 

 

These pictures are from Kirk Pond, near Fern Ridge Lake .  I wish those geese wouldn't always turn their backs to me. 

 

LINKING the memories to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to all of the hosts.

 

 

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  MOSAIC MONDAY;  GOOD  RANDOM  FUN;  THROUGH MY LENS; ;   WILD BIRD Wednesday;  SIGNS SIGNS;  Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;    SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING 

 

 

IT'S GOLDEN!

 

There were Autumn reds in last week's post and red is beautiful, but October around here is really more about the gold and amber.  The  collage below is a combination of photos from city and country walks.   We've had bright blue skies and warm days this week in both places.

  

October seems to be the month when we spend a lot of days at regular appointments -- doctors, dentists, eye checkups, ...  all the fun stuff.     We should probably try to balance those out over the half year we spend in Eugene, but we get into a routine.  And  it is nice not to have to think about appointments during the beautiful summer months. 

  

 

 So we've been sticking pretty close to home this week.  But we always have time for a visit in the country  (and to raid the garden and vine bounty).  Their grapes are at luscious perfection right now.

  

 

Autumn flower boxes on Eugene's downtown streets. 

 

 

 

And more photos from the dahlia garden at the Fairgrounds.

 

 

It really isn't necessary to wander far from home to find gold. 

Especially this time of year.

 

LINKING THIS WEEK to: 

NATURE NOTES; MACRO MONDAY;  ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday;   MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;   SIGNS SIGNS;   Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and  FRIDAY  BLISS  

 Thank you to all of the hosts.

A LITTLE BIT OF LAKE

 

October blue skies are the  best blue skies in the world.   

Knowing those bright days won't last much longer makes each perfect day even more special.

 

To celebrate the new month, our daughter and I took a walk  to Fern Ridge Lake.  It's almost exactly a mile from their home, but  it was quite a few steps more than that as we wandered through Orchard Park, on their side of the shore.   

 

 

 

When we were full-time RVers, we used to stay on the opposite side of the Lake whenever we came to Oregon to visit.  Back then, I often blogged about how the Lake is almost emptied every Fall.    (Here is a link to a post from way back when -- it explains a little more about the reservoir draw-down.)   That draw-down started earlier this year than usual because farmers needed the water -- it has been so dry here.   The above picture is looking across the Lake at the Marina -- most of the docks are already empty --  people need to haul their boats out while they still can. 

 

 

There was even less water on the side where we were.   Great Blue Herons and Egrets have  good luck this time of year, as all of the fish in the lake swim into the  shallows.

 

 

Nobody is swimming here this time of year -- supervised or unsupervised.  When our grandchildren were small they enjoyed the empty lake as much as they did during the summer.  No swimming, but they had fun running around on the big field and, when the rains first started, getting muddy.  

Cyndi and I took their big puppy with us on this walk.  When we got back to their home, Parker was happy to get off leash and run around  his very own five-acre off-leash park (our daughter and son-in-law live there too, but I believe their dog thinks it is all his playground.)

 

 

He found a chew toy!

 

Cyndi and I sat outside for a rest after our walk.   We enjoyed watching the dog tear around the yard for a while until he too settled down for a rest.

 

 

We never seem to visit our son-in-law and daughter without going home with food!  Their picnic table was covered with several varieties of recently harvested winter squash.  We took one of each.   And a dozen eggs.  And some blueberries from the freezer.   All of the pleasure  and none of the work.

 

 

Red leaves in the City too when we got home that afternoon.  And it rained a little bit, but just as we were nearing our door.   A perfect October day!

 

SHARING with thanks to all of the hosts as well as to all the terrific bloggers  who link to the following:

 

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; MACRO MONDAY;   OUR WORLD on Tuesday;   MOSAIC MONDAY;  GOOD  RANDOM  FUN;  THROUGH MY LENS; ;   WILD BIRD Wednesday;  SIGNS SIGNS;  Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;    SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SEPTEMBER'S END

   

 

The last of September was about enjoying  beautiful Fall flowers all around the City ....

 

 

 ... and the rich colors of Autumn in the country  ... here, on a walk to Kirk Pond.

 

  "Leaves of three, let it be."

Unfortunately, those richly colored plants included poison oak.   I paid for this macro shot with itches!  (Not the best memory of the month, but maybe posting it will help me remember next time.)   

 

Wall Signs as decoration at the home of our granddaughter and  family 

Like every month when we're home in Oregon, September included family get-togethers.  After all, that's really why we're here ...   the rest is a bonus!    For a change, I managed to remember to get a few snapshots.  I'm not very good at people photos.  It is more fun to just enjoy being together, but I like being able to look back.  

 

 

More floral beauty of the definitely non-poisonous variety.   All of the dahlia pictures were taken on the grounds of the Lane County Events Center (Fairgrounds) on the last day of September.

 

 

Out in the country again,  Mom and the youngsters were enjoying wild apples and leftover blackberries in a field near  our daughter and son-in-laws' home.

 

 

 

More flowers and below, another blue sky day.  We actually need rain and 'they' keep telling us it's coming.   But it is hard not to be grateful for beautiful Fall Days.

 

Thankful for Fall Beauty and family to enjoy it with.   And looking forward to October -- rain or shine!    Thankful also to  the hosts of the following sharing opportunities:

 

    NATURE NOTES; MACRO MONDAY; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday;   MOSAIC MONDAY;  GOOD  RANDOM  FUN;  THROUGH MY LENS; Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD;  SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  FRIDAY BLISS; SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and  SATURDAY CRITTERS;

 

 

 

 

COASTING AGAIN -- CLOSER TO HOME

 

A bit of Autumn color  from Saturday's  first-day-of-Fall walk in the country (near our daughter and son-in-law's home).    It's fun to see the seasonal change and I like Fall.  But this week, I'm still blogging about summer fun.

 

Siuslaw River Bridge, Florence

We spent a couple of  early September days in Florence (Oregon).   Florence, in the same county where we live here in Oregon, is only an hour's drive from home.  We're lucky  to be so close to the Pacific Coast, but even so we made this a two-day trip ...

 

 

 ...  so that we had more time to explore the beautiful Oregon Coast with these beautiful people.   Our (much-younger)  sister and brother-in-law were visiting from Seattle.   The weather was absolutely perfect.  Not necessarily a given in these parts! We were grateful.

  

Great Blue Heron  

This Great Blue Heron was among several birds that posed beautifully for us right outside of  our hotel room balcony.   

 

 

 

There were  the usual shorebirds and gulls on the beach.   It always looks like the gulls are babysitting the tiny waders.  

 

On the second morning of our stay, older sister and brother-in-law led the younger ones astray when we ventured on a totally out-of-character experience for all of us:

 

 

Between Florence and Coos Bay there are  miles and miles of rolling sand dunes.   It seems more like being on  a desert than right near the ocean.  We  went to a company just South of Florence that has offered rides on the dunes for years.  The four of us and the driver fit somehow into that red sand rail vehicle  ...goggles and seat belts in place we were off.  The  pictures don't do justice to  the roller coaster effect of riding the dunes.   My sister had actually said she thought the ride would be fun (she'll learn) ... so we voted to let her ride in front next to the driver.   I'm quite sure he was showing off for her!  

No pictures could really illustrate the feeling of being totally out in the middle of nowhere -- all you see is sky and sand a lot of the time.  (The driver stopped on flat places for these pictures).   

 

 

 

So just when we were getting used to sand flying in our faces and jumping over gullies, and our stomachs doing the roller coaster bit, we heard this loud bang and our vehicle ground to a stop.  Oops.  Yup, that frame is definitely broken.

(Did I mention that we had taken the last buggy ride of the day?  Other drivers and office staff were already leaving for home as our driver buckled us in at the beginning of the trip.)

But all was well --  and, hooray for cell phone service,  the boss person arrived in a rescue vehicle within half an hour.     Just as I was starting to fantasize about spending the night on the shifting whispering sands!    (The rescue vehicle was actually one of the company's larger and slower sand rail vehicles.)

Notice that the lady in the new front seat is still smiling ... and actually we all were. It was fun  -- sometimes it's good to do something completely different and unexpected.

 

 

More Autumn color and more family in future posts.   This one is linked to the following sharing opportunities -- with thanks to all of the hosts.

  

NATURE NOTES; MOSAIC MONDAY;  ALL SEASONS;  MACRO MONDAY  ; FLORAL BLISS ;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;    GOOD  RANDOM  FUN;  THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;   WILD BIRD Wednesday;    Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY;    SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING 

 

 

 

 

EUREKA!!

 It is hard somehow to write the name of the California City we visited last month without using explanation marks!!  Besides being the name of the County seat and largest city in Humboldt County, Eureka!! is also the motto of the State of California.  It is a Greek word meaning "I have found it" and in this State refers to the discovery of gold in 1849.

 

  

We stayed in Arcata, a smaller city right next to Eureka.  Here is another shot of some of  the  wading birds we saw on our two visits to the Marsh during our stay.  (More bird photos from the Marsh in this previous post.)  Also a couple more bird photos at the end of this post.

   

 

 This is the Carson Mansion in Oldtown Eureka.  It's probably against some rule to visit the City without taking a picture of it.  Seriously -- you see paintings and photos of it everywhere in the area -- (supposedly it is one of the most photographed structures in the country) -- but if you're there you've just gotta photograph it yourself.    William Carson was one of the many who came to the area in 1849 for the gold, but he  got rich by dealing in lumber.   He had the home built in 1884 .  (There's another slightly smaller mansion nearby built as a wedding gift for his son.)   According to Wiki,  this mansion is a mix of every style of Victorian architecture.    (Here is a link to the Wikipedia Article.  

    

The Mansion is now owned   by the Ingomar Club which was  formed in the early 1950s by a group of Eureka businessmen.  The original purpose of the club was   to save the mansion from being demolished.  It had become rundown and the City was financially unable to buy and restore it.  The Club has had it restored it to original status and also done extensive  repairs after an earthquake damaged it.    Although the building is eligible to become part of  the National Registration of Historic Places, Ingomar members have  chosen not to do so, because  they do not want  to allow public tours (which would be required with that designation).     The Club does deign to let the rest of look inside virtually -- here is a link to that tour.

 

 

 The Mosaic just below is made of pictures taken from the upper deck of the Ferry Boat Madaket during our Harbor Cruise on Humboldt Bay.  (This is the same picture as in last week's post, but I wanted to tie it into the scenery we saw from it.) 

 

Our Captain (and tour narrator)  said that the rundown building on the top left was a church at one time.  It and the home in the center picture are on the opposite shore of the Bay from the City Harbor and can be reached only by water.  The top panel shows a lighthouse on the harbor side and a distant view of the Carson Mansion.  The ferry passed by pretty scenery, but also  working examples of the area's main industries..... fishing and lumber.   

 

 

 

This is another photo icon of Eureka.  The very large statue of a Fisherman reeling in his nets was placed at the Harbor by the Fisherman's Wives Association, in honor of Humboldt Bay fishermen who have lost their lives at sea.  It is a dangerous occupation.

 

 

In fact, Humboldt Bay is one of the most dangerous harbor areas in the country because of the reefs.   We visited the Maritime Museum, which now owns the Madaket Ferry.  There were many pictures, articles, and artifacts from shipping disasters in the area.  Although safety measures are more advanced these days, the United States Coast Guard is still an important presence in the area.  

 

 

Brown Pelicans 

Here are a couple more pictures from Arcata Marsh.   

The whole Eureka-Arcata area is so rich with things to do and photographic opportunities.  We  always enjoyed visiting the area back when we   lived  in Oregon (the first time)  and are grateful that we were able to go there again this season.

 

Snowy Egret

 

 

LINKING THIS WEEK to the following:   Thank you to all of the hosts for providing these sharing opportunities.

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday;   MOSAIC MONDAY;  GOOD  RANDOM  FUN;  THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;    TUESDAY TREASURES ;   WILD BIRD Wednesday;  SIGNS SIGNS;  Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY;    SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING 

 

 

REDWOODS to EUREKA

 

 

Redwoods

 

This picture captures (as best as my camera can) the beauty of the magnificent California Redwood Highway.  The Coast route takes you into this scenic area shortly after crossing the Oregon-California border at Crescent City, where we spent one night.

 

 

Sea Stacks

 

Moving on down the highway, between the Redwoods and our next overnight stop at Trinidad (previous post here) we stopped to walk at part of the California Coastal National Monument on Trinidad Bay.    An explanatory sign told us that some of the rock formations we could see were once part of the ancient coastline.  They are called sea stacks and were isolated from shore by rising seas, erosion,  and geological uplift.   

   

 

The day after our stay at Trinidad (California), we arrived at our trip destination of Arcata/Eureka.   One day while we were there we took a harbor cruise on Humboldt Bay.  We traveled on the Madaket, the oldest passenger ferry operating in the United States.    It is  now a tour boat, but when first launched it ferried people, goods, and supplies to stops all along the bay.   The cruise was  a good way to learn more about the history of the area.   The ferry has been beautifully  restored.  Although obviously not authentic to the original, the Madaket now boasts what might be the world's smallest bar in its hold.  There's only one barstool, but the Captain announced that the mate would be happy to bring drinks to anyone on deck.  It was the wrong time of day for us but I'm sure it is a very popular feature for the dinner cruises    

 

 

Heermann’s Gull 

We saw many many types of gulls on this trip -- it was the Coast after all.  But this is a first sighting.  I believe (hope?) it is a Heermann's Gull.   We saw this handsome fellow as we  strolled along the lovely harbor boardwalk near where we boarded the ferry cruise.

More about the harbor and towns another day, but I wanted to end  with  pictures of a different excursion during our stay--  because this post needs a little more color!   It was cool enough on the ferry that the lap blankets the crew made available felt good, but a few days later when we drove to the beach from our RV Park, we got this beautiful sunny bright day -- the perfect Coast temperature.  We were fortunate in the wonderful weather we had on this trip.

 

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

 

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday;   MOSAIC MONDAY;  GOOD, RANDOM, FUN;  THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;   WILD BIRD Wednesday;  Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD;  SIGNS SIGNS;  THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING