There are two things that bring peace and joy to my dog, Shelby.
When she’s feeling stressed or trying to get to sleep, she sucks on her blankie. She never bites holes in it. As you can see in the video, this nooking activity brings her peace.
The thing that brings her joy, is her ball. I do a “fetch walk” with her every morning. She also likes to play fetch down a hallway, in a garage, or anywhere else she can.
As a new year begins, I hope you too find things that bring you peace and joy. 🕊
These Oregon grape leaves were frosty around the edges. This picture, taken in November, shows the leaves getting their fall color.
Last year I showed pictures of part of my reindeer collection and this year I’m sharing more of my reindeer decorations. A good thing about this collection is that it’s only out during the yuletide season. I look forward to seeing them every year!
This large metal reindeer looks delicate, but it’s heavy. I like displaying it underneath this metal sun sculpture.
This beauty is made from blown glass. I love how this one’s pose is so confidant.
There’s a winter wonderland in my yard near Bend, Oregon. My favorite western juniper is dressed up for the season with a few inches of snow.
Snowfall softens edges while sharpening the contrast. It can also mute colors, as it did in this photo. The structure shines through, even on a cloudy day.
If you’re looking for a special gift of words, consider buying the Central Oregon Writers Guild 2022 Literary Collection. Local writers submitted long and short poetry and prose covering a wide variety of topics.
The work of 37 authors was accepted, including two of my pieces. My poem and short story are both about autumn, my favorite season. 🍁
To purchase the book, visit Roundabout Books & Café in the Northwest Crossing neighborhood of Bend. You can also purchase it here, from Amazon.
Local writers appreciate the support you’ll give them by buying this gift of words.
Thanks!
Siobhan
There, above a rocky shore, a cylindrical tower appears.
The shipwrecked crew stumbles towards the house of perpetual light.
They ascend a zigzagging set of stairs, rising above the gray mist.
A well-worn trail leads them towards the shining tower.
Thick fog clears, revealing a path that encircles the lighthouse.
The crew heads towards the front door, seeking warmth and sustenance.
Every year in December, the Tumalo Creek Holiday Lights Paddle Parade takes place on the Deschutes River in Bend, Oregon. This year, I took pictures of them paddling through the snow. I thought maybe there wouldn’t be as many participants, but a little snow falling didn’t stop people from joining in on this annual event.
Here’s a short video of paddlers on the river.
Paddlers decorate their kayaks, stand up paddleboards, and canoes with holiday lights and paddle from Tumalo Creek Kayak and Canoe for about a half mile to the Flag Bridge in the Old Mill district.
You can see a snow-covered inflatable reindeer on the kayak on the left side of the photo below. I enjoy seeing reindeer wherever I can.
Continue readingCould this be a pickled herring fossil? I got this fossil from my mom and don’t know anything about it’s history. It looks like the herring fish pictured on this Green River Fossil site. Though I was hoping it was something rare, fossils of this small fish are common.
The Green River Formation, located in parts of Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah, is one of the best places to find fish fossils in the world.
The details of leaves,
Rounded, serrated leaflets bearing tidbits of sweetness.
Arching narrow leaves falling in cascades of ombre colors.
These photos show a kitchen from the past, full of artifacts.
We recently visited the Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site in John Day, Oregon. The building originally served as a trading post, built in 1864. In the 1870s, business partners Lung On and Ing Hay established a business here. It served as as apothecary/medical clinic/store/boarding house/community and religious center. It closed in 1940 and was sealed up for decades. When it was finally opened, it was like a time capsule.
The building preserves Chinese history from a time when they were excluded from everyday society. This site is open from May 1 to October 31 and guided tours are offered for free. If you have an interest in history, be sure to visit this fascinating site!
See Kam Wah Chung: A Step Back in Time for more details from my previous visit.
Fish sculpture on overpass in The Dalles, Oregon. Salmon and sturgeon leap and splash in churning waves in this metal artwork. This sculpture is by the exit for the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center, a sight worth seeing.
Angles of the Earth sculpted by pounding waves.
Rising on the edge of a caldera in olivine and crimson shades.
Fracturing leaden lava flows, brushed with a glow of lichens.
Continue readingHere are a few killdeer pencil sketches I did while watching them in the field.
These shorebirds always let you know they are there with their distinctive kill-deer call. Here’s one calling near Sizzling Basin at Yellowstone National Park.
In the photo below, you can see a killdeer defending its nest from ornithologist Pepper Trail at Summer Lake, Oregon. I circled it to make it easier to see.
Continue readingfable of the fox
who crept too close to a fire
enlightened and singed
I feel most at home when visiting the Wild West.
In the West, tall tales are told in layers of intense and pale colors.
Odd-looking plants stand tall, like characters in a children’s picture book.
You may find ancient hidden stories exposed by wind and water.
Last July, on the High Desert Garden Tour in Bend, I was happy to see a place to pause in a xeriscaped garden. What is xeriscaping, you may ask. Here’s the dictionary definition:
a landscaping method developed especially for arid and semiarid climates that utilizes water-conserving techniques (such as the use of drought-tolerant plants, mulch, and efficient irrigation)
Merriam-Webster dictionary
Are xeriscaped gardens boring? No! This garden was designed by Rick Martinson, formerly of Wintercreek Restoration and Nursery. He’s now the executive director of the Worthy Garden Club. Rick has been encouraging people to use plants that require little water for years.
Happy Turkey Day from John Day, Oregon! We saw about one hundred wild turkeys alongside the road near John Day a few weeks ago. Dinner anyone?
They have become so common in some areas, that they are considered pests. They sometimes destroy crops and gardens and can become aggressive towards people in the breeding season.
Oregon created a Hunt by Reservation Program where private landowners can allow hunters onto their land to help thin out the population. A benefit to them and us!
Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
Marcel Proust
A little play on the words “let us” with this up close picture of lettuce growing in Hollinshead Park’s community garden in Bend, Oregon.
The touch of nature can be sharp and cold or
Ridged and dry
The touch of nature can be smooth and wet or
Morning
On a fall day
Brilliant colors appear
Merging into luminous wings
Soaring
I found these remnants of a solitary life in my yard yesterday. This is what was left of a Townsend’s Solitaire thrush. I suspect one of our resident Cooper’s Hawks preyed upon it. The cycle of nature continues.
I see some of our backyard beauties often, like the chipmunks. This one came right up to our sliding glass door, driving our indoor cat crazy. It was showing me its best side.
Other animals give us unique views. This immature Cooper’s Hawk posed nicely for me on the back porch.
Our regular visitors can be very entertaining. Playful Mule Deer fawns like to run full speed around the yard (when they aren’t busy munching on my plants).
I saw this fence of gold near Mitchell, Oregon last week. Aspen trees, decked out in golden leaves, looked like someone planted them at regular intervals within the evergreen forest.
the blur of autumn
catcher of fading colors
thoughts of winter’s chill
I’m showing lighter and darker nature pictures to go with the lens-artists photo challenge of “exposure” this week. Sometimes I frame a shot with lighter and darker settings; other times I make changes during the photo editing process.
The first two pictures are of maidenhair fern growing along the trail in Silver Falls State Park. In this case I like both versions. Maybe it’s because I like all shades of green. 🙂
The next two pictures show a mountain peak near Mitchell, Oregon. The first shows the structure of the rimrock at the peak and the second brings out the clouds. I prefer the darker, more evil-looking, version.
Today I’m sharing a quick pen-and-ink drawing of an Indian peacock I drew. This was for the month-long Inktober drawing challenge. The prompt that day was “ego.” When male peacocks prance around displaying their tail feathers I think of them as being proud, egotistical birds. In reality, they are trying to attract mates and protect their territory.
Here’s a photo I took of a proud Indian peacock. I increased the color saturation when I processed it to bring out his beautiful blue and green colors.
When I think of peacocks here in Central Oregon, I think of Richardson’s Rock Ranch in Madras. They have a large indoor and outdoor rock shop and peacocks wander freely around the buildings.
Here’s a photo of their old family home with the birds perched on the front porch and foraging in the front yard. Can you see the pheasant decoration on the side of the building? The peafowl must have been attracted to it since they are also part of the pheasant family, Phasianidae.
Do you have artwork you would like to share? Be sure to include the First Friday Art tag.
First Friday Art (FFA)
Just wanted to share some Halloween greetings from my cat, Motor. He was one of our favorite pets. Small in size but big in personality!
Last month, we took a trip to see the Spruce Goose at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. This museum is in McMinnville, about 50 miles southwest of Portland, Oregon. Its star attraction is the airplane associated with Howard Hughes, Jr.
In 1942, steel magnate Henry Kaiser approached Hughes about creating a massive flying boat. Hughes was well known for breaking records as a pilot, including a 1935 landplane airspeed record of 352 miles per hour. In 1938, Hughes flew around the world in 3 days 19 hours 17 minutes, beating the previous record by almost four days. He was also a brilliant engineer.
After Kaiser withdrew from the flying boat project in 1944, Howard Hughes renamed the plane H-4 Hercules. It’s also called the Hughes Flying Boat and the Spruce Goose. Hughes become obsessed with the project. Though the original intention was for the aircraft to help with war efforts, by the time they completed the project, the war was over.
Hughes flew the plane on November 2, 1947. He wanted to prove it was airworthy and not just a flight of fancy. In its first and only flight, he flew it at an altitude of 70 feet for 26 seconds. The aircraft flew for about one mile at a speed of 135 miles per hour.
I knew the Spruce Goose was large, but I had no idea how enormous it was. I’m including several exterior photos to show the scale of this massive aircraft. The first picture shows a view from the second-story balcony.
The next two show aircraft on display under one wing and then the other. They look so small in comparison.
I took this photo near Playa at Summer Lake in Oregon. Playa serves as a retreat for artists and scientists looking for a peaceful place to do their work. I was there for a workshop on Great Basin Natural History. This zigzag boardwalk was in a pond behind the cabins.
I’ll be showing how I processed this picture three ways with Corel PaintShop Pro 2021. Prior to trying out the various effects, I increased the contrast slightly. Slide the slider to see the before and after views.
The first two show the original photograph and the same picture with a Retro effect. For this image I went to Effects>Photo Effects>Retro Lab. This effect slightly blurs and darkens the edges and increases color saturation. I liked how this effect brought out turquoise colors in the sky and dark green in the marsh plants.
The next two show the original photograph and the same picture with a Black and White effect. For this image I went to Effects>Photo Effects>Black and White Film. I liked how this effect enhanced the contrast in the clouds.
Here are some peak peeks from near and far. These volcanic peaks are in the Cascade Mountains in Central Oregon.
The first picture shows a distant view of Mount Jefferson I took on a flight to Seattle. The small cloud hovering over its peak looks like a puff of smoke.
Here’s a closer view of Mount Jefferson taken from the road near Madras, Oregon.
This picture shows a distant view of Mount Washington. It’s the snowy peak in the middle of the photo.
This and that rock from Fischer Canyon, Oregon. According to the Central Oregon rockhounding map, published by the Bureau of Land Management, you can find petrified wood, jasper, and agate here. Other sources list calcite and quartz as being at this site.
This small conglomerate includes several types of rock that merged together.
