A Full-time Life

CHANGE OF SEASON

 

 Early last week when we went for our city walks, it was still Autumn here in Eugene.

 

 

We shuffled through fallen leaves and admired the blue skies.

 

 

 

What a great place to live.   It seems like we just got here!

Well, the apartment is still sort of new to us -- and we definitely haven't quite finished getting it all   "Oregon-ized" yet, 

but ....

 

 

... here's what happened the day after Thanksgiving!  

 

 

I know, this pretty frosting hardly qualifies as Winter for many of you ....  but snowbird seasons spent in warmer climes have thinned our blood!   So if it's going to freeze here, by golly, we are heading to Florida.

 (In all honesty, we were planning to head south shortly after Thanksgiving anyway.  It's always hard to leave family, so in a way the cold weather is welcome as it makes it a little easier.)

 

 

Linking this week to OUR WORLD on Tuesday; to MOSAIC MONDAY; and to NATURE NOTES.

Thank you to the hosts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WINDOW VIEW MEMORIES

 

 We finally sold our Fifth-Wheel RV.  That is among the many other (and more important) things we are grateful for this Thanksgiving week.  

 

 

We're grateful we no longer have to worry about the RV and can more freely enjoy this next chapter in our lives!  But we're also grateful for the memories of of our travels in it.  

 

 

We pulled our traveling homes all over the United States over the years (the one we just sold was our second fifth-wheel) .  Wherever we went, we had our own bed, our own kitchen, our own home ... but a different view out the picture window every time we moved.    It was a great way to explore the country.

 

 I collected today's pictures from previous posts -- all were taken through that picture window.

  

 

 

 We still plan to do some  roadtrips -- in our much smaller camper van !  Although it doesn't have a big picture window, it is a lot easier to drive. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all in the US and thank you to everyone who comes by to visit FullTime-Life, especially to those who leave comments!  Your virtual friendship is a joy.

 

And MANY THANKS to the hosts of all of the sharing opportunities I link to.  Today's post is linked to  OUR WORLD on TUESDAY:  (Lady Fi,  Gattina, Arija, Sandy, Sylvia, and Jennifer) and to Stewart's WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY .

FALLING SKY

This might be stretching it a bit for a sky picture, but after all, it is November and we are in Oregon!

 

 

And it would certainly be a sky shot if we were in a plane flying through those clouds.   Instead, we were driving along the McKenzie River on a rainy, misty Sunday afternoon.   It looked like the sky was falling into the water. 

 

 

LINKING to SKYWATCH FRIDAY (with thanks to Yogi, Sylvia, and Sandy) and also to

SCENIC WEEKENDS (thank you to Gemma).  

 

 

SIGNS IN THE CITY

SIGNS SIGNS is Lesley's  fun weekly opportunity to share "interesting, funny, ridiculous or unexplainable signs."

I found examples of each of those categories on a couple of recent walks around downtown Eugene (Oregon) near our new residence.

 

Unexplainable

I have no idea why this sign was posted at an alley between offices.  I couldn't find any place remotely related to poetry.  But I am going to explore this further when I have time.

  

Ridiculous? (... or maybe not)

Found in a very crowded art/craft gallery window.  It was also kind of ridiculous because the window was so crowded it was hard to see anything.  

 

\

Funny

 At the nearby organic food store.  I lifted the sign for just a second to get a better picture.  (Don't forget to keep your organic Yukon potatoes in the dark.)

 

 

Interesting

 

I love a good ghost sign -- this sign advertises a long-gone dry cleaners -- now there is a Yoga Studio in the building.  Or a chiropractor.  I forget which.  I swear every other building downtown is one or the other.  

 

Thanks to Lesley for hosting SIGNS SIGNS.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

GeT OUT OF TOWN!

 

 Last weekend ...

Dexter Covered Bridge and Dam

... because we finally felt at home in our new City digs, we celebrated  by getting away to the country.  (A little illogical maybe ... but a fun break from selling the RV and shopping for the new apartment.)

 

 

It was just a day trip to the Mountains.  We thought we might be able to catch the last of the Fall color -- but most of the leaves were already on the ground.   However, the drive along the Willamette River to the tiny town of Westfir is always beautiful.  It's mostly Forest Service land -- we used to camp along there pretty often  (back in our previous life).    

 

  

 

What started out as a beautiful day suddenly turned dark and wet -- everything we saw for a while was through the rainy windshield.    We'd thought about doing a little hiking, but rain erased  all desires for that activity.    

 

Above  Westridge, we turned away from the Willamette River and drove  along  the McKenzie.  This route, from River to River, is called the Aufderheide Drive.     We dropped down to a lower altitude and had a little bit more dry weather (and almost sunshine)  just as the day was ending.  (Too soon, this time of year.)

One of the best parts of living in Eugene is that you can travel to the Mountains or to the Coast in less than two hours.    We didn't do enough of either one of those things this time here  (and you know why if you've been reading earlier posts).   We look forward to less busy-ness and more exploration next year.

 

Linking to:  OUR WORLD on Tuesday; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; TREES and BUSHES; and WEDNESDAY WATERS.

 

Thank you to the hosts:  Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy, Gattina, Arija, and Jenn for OW; Judith for MM; Michelle for NN; Monica for Trees; and Gemma for WW.  

LAST OF THE AUTUMN LAKE

 

 

 

It's the last of the Lake -- we've moved away to the City.  These pictures were taken earlier this month while we were doing some last-minute moving chores.  (Well, one of us was.  I was busy taking pictures.  Obviously.)

 

 

Even if we were staying out there in our RV, it would still be the last of the Lake -- for this year.  It's really a man-made  reservoir that gets drained every winter  for flood control purposes. It is always hard to imagine that a month or so ago boats pulling water skiers were skimming over the tops of all these stumps.

 

 

Some Fall color across the Lake -- but the sky is awfully  gray (especially since I'm planning to link this to Skywatch Friday).    However, it is a true representation of what the Autumn sky looks like much of the time here.

 

 

A few wispy clouds, just so you know there really is a sky up there.    This picture is  focused toward the end of the Lake that still has water. Stumps will be showing up there pretty soon.

 

 

 

 

Linking to: SKYWATCH FRIDAY (thank you to Yogi, Sandy, and Sylvia);  and  to SCENIC WEEKENDS (thank you Gemma); 

RUFOUS-SIDED TOWHEE

 

 Rufous-sided (spotted) Towhee ---

and poem of the week.

 

 

"Rufous-Sided Towhee" by Barbara Crooker. Text as published in Little Patuxent Review: A Journal of Literature and the Arts (Winter, 2014)

 

The teaching of Zen is: drink your tea. 


Which is what the towhee says as he

scratches in the underbrush, searching for food.
Black and white with rusty sides, he loves
the understory, the margins, the hedgerows.

He sinks into the afternoon like brown leaves
steeping in hot water. He knows no ambition

or envy, wants nothing beyond this spring day,

sunlight spreading like honey on toast. Up pops
my list, the items to check off, the errands to run,

the weeds to pull. The towhee sings again:
Drink your tea.



 

 

 

The poem came  through an e-mail  site I subscribe to called "A Year of Being Here."  I took the pictures at Fern Ridge Lake near Eugene this Fall.

 

 

 

Linking to: NATURE NOTES (thank you Michelle); WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY (thanks to Stewart);  to SATURDAY CRITTERS (thank you Eileen) and to RATHER B'BIRDING (thanks to Anni)

AUTUMN WHIMSY

 

We're trying to take advantage of every sunny day this time of year so, there have been  lots of downtown walks.  This is  a small collection of  the City's whimsy and wonder. 

 

 

 These acrobatic animals (skunks? otters? who knows?)  reside at the corner a block away from our apartment.    The top fellow has usually been given a flower of some kind to chew on.   (But one day he had a mushroom.)

 

 

 An understated and pretty window at a jewelry and gem store.  This was their Halloween window.

 

 

 

Fall leaves are still so pretty!  The espaliered branches (in the middle photo)  are along a wall of a parking garage.   I think that's really neat!

 

 

Some daytime views of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.  We walked there one evening last week for a show.    What a nice advantage of City living!     (We saw the revival of the musical "42nd Street" by a Broadway touring company.)

 

So that's OUR downtown WORLD this week -- lots to see, lots to do.  We like living here!

 

Thanks to Judith for hosting MOSAIC MONDAY and to the hosts of OUR WORLD on Tuesday (Lady Fi, Sandy, Sylvia, Gattina, and Arija) 

ONE BLUE FEATHER

 

 

 

 It's fun playing with found objects in nature.   In real life ....

 

 

 

... and virtually!

 

 

Linking with:   Monica's DIGITAL ART MEME and (next weekend) to Gemma's MACRO MONDAY

Thanks to both hosts.

 

 

BACKYARD WALK

Every year I keep trying to get a perfect picture of the magnificent Black Walnut Tree that graces our daughter and son-in-law's backyard....

but never quite succeed -- partly because the tree is so big that it's impossible to get it all in one frame (and of course partly because ... well, because it's me taking the picture).  

Here are this weekend's  attempts:

 

 

 The tree is home to several birdhouses for sparrows, finches, and swallows.  One year it housed a family of screech owls.  Our kids (who need to sleep at night for some odd reason) could not help but be happy that the owl family did not become permanent neighbors.

 

 

The backyard birds that I was able to photograph on this weekend's visit were mostly sparrows -- white crowned and others.    And the sky was full of migrating Canada geese.   

 

 

 

LINKING THIS WEEK:  to MOSAIC MONDAY; to OUR WORLD on TUESDAY; to TREES and BUSHES; and to WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY.

 

 

Thank you to Judith for MM; Lady Fi, Arija, Gattina, Sylvia, Sandy, and Jenn for OW; Monica for Trees; and Stewart for WBW.