A Full-time Life

VISIT TO WASHINGTON (STATE)

 

Earlier this month we traveled North to spend a few days visiting our son and his family in Tacoma (Washington State).    We like to explore and  so does our son, who guided us on this day drive through pretty farm country (although it is also rapidly growing housing developments).   We saw Mt Rainier from a side we hadn't visited before.  

 

    

 

Views of the Mountain from the town of Orting heading towards Rainier National Park.   

 

 

 

 Mt. Rainier is the tallest peak in the Pacific Northwest and it is an active volcano.  

 

 

 

Signs in the Orting City Park remind area residents to be prepared in case of an eruption.  As the sign says, it may not happen in our lifetime, but preparedness is the best defense.

Just as in Florida where streets and highways are marked with hurricane evacuation routes, here in this part of Washington, there are volcano evacuation routes. 

(Danger lurks everywhere, but we might as well enjoy the beauty in the meantime.)

  

 

 A few miles outside of town, we crossed the Carbon  River.  It flows from Carbon Glacier on the Mountain and joins the Puyallup River at Orting.  We walked over this bridge for amazing river and forest views.

 

A few miles further on, we  stopped to walk in this mini rain forest area barely into the National Park.

 

 

Bill and Pete -- wondering if that rickety boardwalk is safe.

 

 

Sure, why not.  Let's do it.   

(I have more problems with city sidewalks as it turns out.)

 

 

 

 

 

It was a green and beautiful nature walk -- but cold!

 

 

And no wonder -- by the time we headed back to town for dinner,  there was even more snow on the Mountain than there had been in the morning.

***

Linking to:  Our World; Nature Notes; Mosaic Monday; All Seasons ; Wednesday Waters; and Signs Signs.  

Thank you to all of the hosts. 

OOPS!

 Linking to ALL SEASONS;   MOSAIC MONDAY,  NATURE NOTES, OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY, WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY, SIGNS SIGNS, and a tiny bit of fence in the top right collage picture for Theresa's final GOOD FENCES .   Thank you to all of the hosts.

 

And thanks to everyone for the thoughtful comments on last week's post.  It helps to talk things over with friends -- virtual as well as in real life.   As you'll read below, I'm a little bit slow with my visits and replying, but I will get there.  

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!   This is an urban wild turkey  spotted  a week ago Sunday just a few blocks from our mid-town apartment.  

 

I know these birds do well in this part of Oregon, but have to admit I was surprised to see one this close to the City center/downtown mall. 

 

She didn't seem at all worried about ending up on the dinner table -- and in fact is probably safer living on downtown streets this time of year than out in the country.  

 

The turkey was the first thing I took a picture of that afternoon.  I'd gone out for a short photo/exploration walk, with the main  goal being to figure out the sign below.  

 

We'd spotted it on the side of a building below the Ferry Street Bridge  -- one of the main city connectors -- earlier in the week.  And wondered what we'd missed.

 Because why would there be a sign with just a picture of a falling girl.  But there was nothing else on the sign.  

Just the girl falling.    

Or maybe she's diving.  

Or floating through the air.  

 

 

 

But I'm going with 'falling' as a symbol.   Because just a few minutes after I'd taken her picture, and obviously while my mind was still on the puzzle,  I tripped over a curb -- and splatted flat on the sidewalk  --  could have been worse  I suppose, except for the fact that I caught myself on both hands.  My fall was not nearly so graceful.

Besides various scrapes and bruises, I broke and dislocated one little finger and twisted and bruised bones on my other wrist.

I was thankful I had my cell phone to call Bill  (a  driver crossing the street beside me kindly stopped to offer help but as soon as I saw that my cell wasn't crushed, I told him help was only minutes away).  

We certainly didn't spend the rest of that Sunday evening the way we'd planned!  Without going into all the boring details I'll just tell you that Sunday afternoon is definitely  not a good time to visit Urgent Care or the Emergency Ward here in Eugene and our  hours spent in those places were fruitless.   We didn't really get anything done until we visited an Orthopedic clinic on Monday.   Now, my finger is strapped, making keyboarding difficult and both hands get tired.   (It's a little easier on the IPAD where I can use the stylus, but my pictures are here on the laptop.)  Tomorrow afternoon (Monday) I'll find out if I will need surgery.  

Bill has been waiting on me literally hand and foot -- the two things I still can't manage at all are tying my shoes and fixing the strap around my hand.

 Below are some examples of urban nature taken on my walk 'before the fall.'

 

 

So besides the things I always give thanks for, this Thanksgiving Week I'm especially grateful that nobody is depending on me to cook the feast -- grateful that we will be with our family.  And I'm grateful for a patient and helpful husband.  And that my fall didn't completely ruin my point-and-shoot camera or damage my cell phone ... those two necessities of life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE MORNING AFTER

 (the day that was for me, and most of the people I know and love, a sad election.)

 

 

When it feels  like the world's turned upside down  .....

 

 

 

 

 

And we're falling  into a black hole ....

 

 

 

 

.... it's good to look for a different angle on things.

 

 

I wish that such a change were really as easy as zooming the camera lens in and out.   But of course it is not.

 

 

 

What really helped:  Long talks with decent people and long walks in natural surroundings. 

 

 

 

 And there are still blue skies and sunshine.

 

 

 

 

Some things are still right with the world.

 

All photos from our walks on the morning after (last Wednesday November 9) at Delta Ponds -- and on Friday at Kirk Pond, Alvadore (top three pictures).

 

 

Linking to: ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; WEDNESDAY WATERS; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; SATURDAY CRITTERS; RATHER B'BIRDING; and SCENIC WEEKENDS.   Thank you to all of the hosts.

IN THE CITY

 

 For OUR WORLD*, SIGNS SIGNS, and GOOD FENCES.  Thank you to the hosts.

 

Last week's post was about a country walk .  In contrast, here are a couple of recent City strolls.   We are fortunate to be able to do both while we're here in Oregon.     

 

 

 

A city fence surrounds this beautiful corner home a few blocks from our apartment.  If we walk in one direction from home we're in the center of downtown -- the other directions take us into older residential neighborhoods.    We are lucky to still have some Autumn color, even after days of rain.  These pictures were taken last week.

 

 

 

 

 Same one from another angle.   I counted seven different colors of paint!   I remember the days of helping to paint our one-and-a-half story home here in Oregon (in our former life, before we sold out to travel full-time).... that house had three colors and was hard enough to keep up.  I wouldn't want to help with this one.   It's a lot more fun to take pictures.

 

   

 

Another house in the neighborhood, not quite as grand, but the happy colors are a standout.     That's not a poster in the doorway window, but a reflection of trees from across the street.  I hoped that the homeowners had been outside at the right time to see the pretty picture at their doorway. 

 

 

 

This is Maude Kerns Art Center near the University of Oregon campus.   I walked there one day to see the Day of the Dead (Dia De Muertes) display before it closed on November 4.

 

 

This embroidered sign with the good advice  from George Bernard Shaw caught my eye.

      

 

 

 

A few of the altars on display.   Day of the Dead is a Mexican celebration  that remembers and honors loved ones who have died, while at the same time re-affirming life.   

We learned about it when we spent some RV time in  Southwest states and Mexico.  At that time, this holiday hadn't yet made it to public awareness in our part of the Pacific Northwest, so it was all new to us.     In the ensuing years, the culture here in Eugene has become more diverse and enriched.  While these altars weren't as elaborate as some we've seen elsewhere,  it is a good start.   Here's a link to an NPR article explaining the meaning of the altars.  

 

 

 ** In real time, I'm trying to stay positive in light of the fact that Our World as we know it may end on Election Day tomorrow.

 

Not my bike, not my unicorn,  not my sign.   But I  kind of wish they were.  

(Bike and sign seen parked in front of the Eugene Library.)

 

 

  I hope I will still be able to post something positive next week.

 

IN THE COUNTRY

Linking to GOOD FENCES; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; TODAY'S FLOWERS; SCENIC WEEKENDS; SATURDAY CRITTERS; The BIRD DEPOT; and  ALL SEASONS; MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; BARN COLLECTIVE and WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY.   Thank you to all of the hosts.

 

  

Some of our 'stuff' is stored in the barn at our daughter and son-in-law's and last Friday we had a couple of tasks to do there.  And when I say 'we', I mean Bill.     But of course I went along for the ride picture opportunities.

 

  

 

I thought about good fences as I walked the perimeter of the property.  In the country, fences are not necessarily decorative.   

 

 

 

Barbed wire does just fine, especially out on the 'south forty' where all these pictures were taken.    There is a row of tall evergreen trees between the fence line and the rest of the property so that the wire fencing isn't visible from the house and yard.   The pathway between the trees and fence makes a narrow walkway -- our great-grandsons love that secret spot and so do I.

  

 

I'm always glad for a chance to visit  the farm, even when our son-in-law and daughter are busy elsewhere.     And I was especially glad after this visit, because Friday was the only day last week when it didn't rain.  I caught a blue sky and a couple of blue birds when I looked up.    These are the two Jays that we see here in this part of Oregon.  The one on the left is a Stellar's and the other a Scrub  (one of the most common birds around here).  

 

 

 

 

 And when I looked down, everywhere all over the property,  there were fungi!   I'm going to cheat a little just this once and link these to Today's Flowers.  After all, they were growing in the ground -- and I found them quite decorative (although I'm not sure the gardeners who live there would agree with me).