A Full-time Life

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