THE DUST WILL WAIT

  When I came around the corner at dusk to see this stranger on the fence, the sight stole my breath.   So, I grabbed my cell phone and stole their moment.  Tit for tat. Yes, another February with lots of cold and snow.  

 Watching the weather channel makes me feel very guilty. In some states, friends have endured weather colder than Antarctica.  But, in our little corner of the world it's been a fairly easy going winter.  The local snow pack is currently 93%, so at least the mountains around us are getting some normal winter moisture. From our back yard we can see the Blue Mountains over the neighbor's fence.  And, they're on my mind. I'm hoping that winter snow pack is protecting the beauty that bursts forth in May.  Here are some samples to distract from that polar vortex . . . . . . Lady Slippers / Orchid Family                                                           Striped Coralroot / Orchid Family Field of Balsomroot / Sunflower family Small False Solomon Seal / Lily Family ...

Last evening we saw our first snow.  Obviously someone was very happy about that and it wasn't me.

I didn't get a post in yesterday for my 30 days in November. Yesterday's birding quest in the morning ended in the middle of nowhere in a downpour.  Yes!  I did look at the weather report -  it was off by several hours with the predictions. Grand Auntie Fern's check up at the clinic went well.  She is 104 and now in a care home. This summer she fell and broke her hip.  Things have gone down hill.  She is unable to walk.   However, her wonderful sense of humor is intact along with lots of 100 year memories. But short term has been zapped and she now thinks she is a little girl and wants to go home to live with her dad.   Her heart rate and blood pressure are better than mine; she may outlive us all.  Next week it is the eye physician, and the week after that is the dentist.  Hopefully there won't be any snow and ice until after these are completed for the year. Lunch with my "almost 17" year-old granddaughter yesterday was fun. ...

When I left the house the other morning to head West on a 4 hour drive that takes me through the gorge, I wasn't expecting the fierce wind.  Teach me to check the weather report through the Columbia Gorge. When I joined the trucks and cars on I-84, I feared we would all become bumper cars for the gusts that channeled through the gullies.  We were certainly targets for the tumbleweeds that had long lost their tumble in exchange for bullet intensity.  The anxiety and my morning coffee combined to make me so appreciative of an Oregon's highway rest stop... they really are nice and well kept ...but I could barely get my car door open, not to mention the struggle to get the heavier restroom door to respond to my road weary arms.  If I had designed that particular rest area, I would have put the men's room on the prevailing wind side. Deeper into the gorge the rain was relentless, but the wind backed off a bit. The river, however, was doing its best to impersonate t...

A quick trip to Portland, OR and then headed home.  We travel east on I-84 and pass through the Cascade Mountains via the Columbia River Gorge.  Our trip takes four hours or more depending on how often we stop.  Once we passed through the mountains and could see the weather to the east I was infatuated by the storm and snapped a few photos through the windshield.  For two hours we chased and occasionally crossed paths with small squalls that lagged behind.  We caught up with the main cloud formation at dusk in the valley we call home.  As always I wonder why I didn't take the time to pull over and make an artistic attempt to focus.  As beautiful as this storm presented, it reminded me that there are many who have been dealing with some very frightening weather in their own valleys.  My hearts go out to them.

According to Wikipedia , the free encyclopedia:  An umbrella or parasol (also called a brolly , rainshade , sunshade , gamp or bumbershoot ) is a canopy designed to protect against rain or   sunlight.. The term parasol usually refers to an item designed to protect from the sun; umbrella refers to a device more suited to protect from rain. But not wind.  That weather phenomenon has been blowing for days now, and this is what has happened to our patio umbrella.  At least it wasn't open, or it may have flown across town by now.  I hope it will still function properly. We have at least three regular sized umbrellas that find places to hide in our cars or closets.  They are rarely where we remember putting them. One is black, one is brown, and one is red.  And -  because of their ability to conceal themselves in plain sight - rarely used.  Gattina wants to know if you're all wet, ..or do you let your smile be your umbrella?  Jo...

This is a snow squall over the Blues.  It left a trail of white behind it as it sprinted the edge of the valley..  I couldn't help myself.  I grabbed my camera and set it on the dashboard and clicked this photo yesterday while I was driving.  I played it safe... I just clicked and didn't look at the photos until I got home.

I woke up at sunrise yesterday, grabbed my pillow and comforter, padded quietly out to the hammock on the deck, and snuggled down in hopes for another hour or so of slumber. I may have drifted off for a moment. Not long. I realized that my little blanket wasn't going to keep me comfortable in the cool moist dawn air. Easy answer, you say? Just pad back in and grab another blanket? Nope! The sprinklers came on and surrounded my one dry spot with more cooling splatters of water. They don't call them rainbirds for nothing. So, I just wrapped myself up, waited, and shivered. I listened to the birds waking up - so it wasn't time wasted. If you take a look at the right side of the photo, you can just make out that the net is still on the pond. It will probably be a few weeks before the water lilies provide the fish protection from the marauding King Fishers and Giant Herons. As for othe r news, I'm just waiting for that call from California - where I'll be headin...

The old timers say this winter "is like the winter of..." Like when they were kids. I would be one of them (old timers), but I grew up in the Seattle area. However, I do admit to memories of the winter of 1969 when the Puget Sound area had one of those freak snow storms. Eighteen inches blanketed our small farm. We have that much here tonight and more falls as I write. I discussed the snowstorm with with my friend Glenda on the phone this evening and it went as follows: Me: I can't believe it is still snowing, isn't it just beautiful? Glenda: Yeah. At first it was pretty. Now it's just STUPID ! (She has to go to work in the morning, her husband is recovering from leg surgery, she doesn't have snow tires, she's out of sick leave because she used it all when she broke her leg during the last big snow, she was worn out from shoveling, and she was a little misty eyed from having just received a letter from her son in Iraq.) Me: Oooops. So, Glenda, ...

Don't worry. I really did use chocolate. Happy Birthday Karmyn .

Cloud of pastel pink green Rainbow arc Hearing theme from close encounters ? No photoshopping in these pictures. Does anyone else think these are strange messages in the sky? (The color may be from a fading Circum Horizontal Arc ? )

I don't know when I will be back. It is inevitable that a computer will do this. For the past few weeks I have hardly been able to visit blogs because of the "slow" processing. Yesterday a little pop up in my task bar told me I was out of virtual memory. (Same thing is happening in my own processor!) I'm hoping this will not be too time or dollar consuming. See you on the other side of whatever.

Nekked Lizard Adventures is hosting todays Fun Monday. There are two Nekked Lizards, so I'm assuming they are co-hosting. They gave us an assignment with some parameters: FIVE PICTURES - FIVE WORDS PER PICTURE. I guess they wanted less jabberwocky. Well I'm ready to shut up and go 5 x5. Are you? A favorite place to walk! The sky reveals a raptor. The brush conceals the deer. Gopher snakes enjoy the sun. And I enjoy it all! Please sign up to join the fun. Or, just pop over to the hosts blog to find all the participating links. I know the Nekked Lizards will welcome you. One more Fiver: They are not really nekked.

Friday, a furious wind rushed in over the Blues. The dust that it carried made driving precarious. When it settled there was no electricity and no trail home through the debris. Many of you know how much I loved those trees..... Our electricity returned after almost 12 hours. There are still many neighbors without. I am so thankful for our dedicated power and phone service people. God Bless Them! What a way to begin a new year.

Many distractions the past few week; not exclusive to computer problems and illness. The weather in our "neck of the woods" has garnered attention. Fortunately we are not in an area that had noticeable floods. First we had a cold front with snow. Within 24 hours of a beautiful snowfall, the wind blew in with a vengeance. It stayed 3 days. However, the worst of the storm hit the west side. Then it blew right over the top of us and tore through northeastern Oregon. We have returned to a beautiful snow covered morning on December 7.