Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday: New hiking companion
Wordless Wednesday
Nature
The Sentinel
Warped and twisted in its quest for water, this lone tree keeps watch over the Lava Cast Forest. The sentinel standing tall over the forest.
Weekly Photo Challenge – Solitude
Red Rocks Resting: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
The T. rex within
While on vacation, I picked up a rock and it told me what it was meant to be. A T. rex of course!
I took it home and got ready to paint a Tyrannosaurus rex. All of the ridges and depressions seemed to be in exactly the right spots. Even the greenish color was right. I darkened a few spots and enhanced others. I added scales with a tiny brush. The crooked T. rex grin fit right into the contours of the rock. The nostril and eye placed themselves along a ridge and depression.
Look past external appearances and you may find magic hidden within.
Weekly Photography Challenge – Repurpose
Wordless Wednesday: A wintery moonset
Wordless Wednesday
Dissipating clouds: Remembering the pronghorn
Sometimes you can be trudging along with a little dark cloud hovering over your head and you almost walk by something intended for only you to see. I had one of those moments years ago at Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge. I had been doing research there and often saw pronghorn on sagebrush covered hills in the distance.
Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge
The refuge was created in southern Oregon in 1936 to protect pronghorn, otherwise known as antelope. This icon of the Wild West is an interesting creature. More closely related to giraffes than deer, their uniquely shaped horns have a bony core that is covered with a sheath that they shed every year. They are capable of running at speeds as fast as 55 miles per hour for short distances.
On that long ago day, I took a hike by myself to sort out my thoughts. I walked on a trail that bordered a willow-lined creek. My head was down, focused on the gravelly trail ahead of me.
A close encounter
I almost didn’t notice the pronghorn next to the trail. It was so close I could have stretched out my arm and touched it. I stopped and looked at it as it stared at me. Pronghorn have enormous eyes shaded by long lashes. The pronghorn looked at me curiously with those expressive eyes. The disc of white hair on its rump started to stand up as it does when they are alarmed. I stood stock still.
I’m not sure how long we both stood there regarding each other. The pronghorn eventually made a soft snorting noise and moved on its way. I stood there for a while and the thoughts of anger I previously had disappeared.
Steps in the right direction
Sometimes you just need to move on from things that make you angry or sad. I had a big loss this week but I decided to try to focus on some of the good things in my life. I also took steps towards more happiness.
Here are some of them:
• Rejoiced at having 150 followers on my blog as of this week (Thanks followers!)
• Joined a new children’s book writing group that meets locally
• Joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators group
• Signed up for eight springtime hikes
• Took pictures of wintery scenes
• Continued “research” on coffee shops in Bend
• Wrote, wrote, and wrote some more
I hope you find ways to dissipate the dark clouds in your lives! 
Finding grace
Headwaters of the Metolius River, Oregon
Rivers make their own way
Flowing
In a steady direction
Turning
When they find obstacles
Rising
And descending towards
Finding
A unique form of grace
Weekly Photo Challenge – Graceful
And counting…: Wordless Wednesday
Snowfall makes
Snowfall makes
Mountain ranges on branches
Snowfall makes
Stars burst forth below
Snowfall makes
Logs into letters
Snowfall makes
The roughest spots smooth
Snowfall makes
New tracks in ancient places
Zigzag – Words of Wisdom
As you make your way along the path of your life, you may make sudden and abrupt turns. Stay steady and remain on course to get to where you were meant to be.
Weekly Photo Challenge – Zigzag Path
Rudolph finds nose: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Tucked in for Winter
These ducks are getting themselves all tucked in in anticipation of a long cold winter.
Weekly Photo Challenge – anticipation
Tales from an Oregon Wanderer: William L. Sullivan
On a warm night at the Sunriver Nature Center last summer, visitors packed the room and stood outside the door for a chance to listen to tales from an Oregon wanderer. Who were they waiting so eagerly for? Fifth-generation Oregonian and author, William L. Sullivan. There are many people that write about the wonders of Oregon, but few are as prolific. His 18 books cover a variety of topics but he is best known for his travel guides that cover different regions of the state.
As he was introduced to the crowd that night, we were reminded that he had trekked across Oregon many years ago. Sullivan’s account of the 1,000-mile journey from the southwest corner of the state to the northeast corner can be found in his book, Listening for Coyote.
He also wrote a book about how he and his wife constructed a log cabin using only hand tools. They lived there for several years and still do so during summer months. Their account of that ongoing adventure can be read in Cabin Fever: Notes from a Part-Time Pioneer.
Continue readingEyes of Fall Watching You: LAPC
September Moon: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
A Tiny Nap
A young barn swallow taking a quick nap
We sleep, but the loom of life never stops, and the pattern which was weaving when the sun went down is weaving when it comes up in the morning.
Henry Ward Beecher
Weekly Photo Challenge – Tiny
Giving art wings: Calming through creating
I decided I needed to spend some time giving art wings. Here’s a painting of a scrub jay that I worked on this week. It helped me cope with some of my stress. Jays are one of my favorite birds and the most common one in my neighborhood seemed to be the perfect subject. Click here to see another of my jay paintings and to read an entertaining post about jays.
Shine their own light: WPC
Doris Lake & Blow Lake hike
A short and beautiful hike
Blow Lake, Oregon
If you’re looking for a short hike to a couple small, quiet lakes, try out the hike to Blow Lake and Doris Lake southwest of Bend. It’s only a mile to Blow Lake and another mile and a half from there to Doris Lake. There are 400 feet of elevation gain. You can park at the Six Lakes Trailhead along the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway. As the trail name implies, there are six wilderness lakes to explore here.
Doris Lake, Oregon
The elevation here is 5,310 feet and you pass through subalpine forest on your way to the lakes. Blow Lake is 45 acres in size. Windfall trees form a frame along one edge of the lake and can be seen resting on the bottom of this clear lake. Doris Lake, a mile and a half away, is slightly larger at 69 acres in size.
August Juniper: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Blue Pool is a Jewel
Blue Pool, Oregon
As I hiked to Blue Pool, I wondered if it would really have the jewel-toned blue water I had seen in so many pictures. We walked for four miles and finally caught a glimpse of this small lake. Walking to the edge of a steep cliff, we looked down at its crystal clear waters.
About Blue Pool
Blue Pool, also known as Tamolitch Pool, was breathtakingly beautiful on this bright and sunny day. The turquoise and sapphire blue waters sparkled up at us. The leaves of trees surrounding the pool were just beginning to change color. Their reflections in the water looked like an Impressionist painting.
Blue Pool reflections
Clear Lake – Sunken Sights
Sunken sights
Sunken sights await you at Clear Lake in Linn County, Oregon. This “young” lake was formed by nearby volcanic activity 3,000 years ago. The McKenzie River originates here.
Clear Lake Underwater Forest
The cold water temperatures preserved a forest of ghostly trees beneath the surface. The water temperature averages 35-43° F. Brrrr! The leaves and needles of the trees are long gone but their trunks and limbs stand like some prehistoric creature preserved in time. Some visitors get a closer look at the underwater sights by scuba diving here.
Icicle Edge: Weekly Photo Challenge
Weekly Photo Challenge – Edge
“Chi-ca-go!” California quail: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Our Parks as Works of Art: Weekly Photo Challenge
Our National Park Service is celebrating its 100th birthday this week. I thought it appropriate to share pictures of our parks as works of art – with each framed and matted. Our 59 parks represent diverse and beautiful places and the Park Service works within a framework that helps to protect them. Hope that my “gallery” inspires you to visit some of them soon.
I have only been to 14 National Parks. How many have you been to? Do you have any photos to share of our parks as works of art?
Weekly Photo Challenge (WPC) – Frame
Small Swallows: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Dee Wright Observatory: A wonder to behold
Dee Wright Observatory in the distance from the trail
Dee Wright Observatory, McKenzie Pass, Oregon
Looking like some medieval castle about to be attacked by dragons, the Dee Wright Observatory is located near the top of McKenzie Pass at an elevation of 5,187 feet. No, there is not a telescope set up here for star viewing, but you can see several Cascade Mountain peaks nearby standing tall amidst 65 square miles of black lava rock.
The lava is from relatively recent flows from Yapoah, Little Belknap, and Belknap Craters. One of the types of lava you will see here is called Block or A A lava.
Though there is little rainfall in this area, there can be up to 20 feet of snow. The melting snow travels through cracks in the lava to underground reservoirs that feed the McKenzie and Metolius Rivers.
History of Dee Wright Observatory
The McKenzie Pass Highway follows parts of the McKenzie Salt Springs and Deschutes Wagon Road that was built in the period of 1866-1872. It was used to move cattle east. The wagon road was established as a toll road in 1872. It’s hard to imagine how travelers made it over the rough lava rocks at the pass and many had to abandon their wagons. See my previous post on the Santiam Wagon Road for a little bit more history on the wagon road.
Ponderosa Pine Puzzle: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Grounded 2: Notice the world beneath you
Look beneath your feet
And notice
Notice the textures
Notice the colors blending
And bold
Bold and brilliant hues
Bold and distinct edges
And patterns
Patterns of cracks
Patterns of smoothness
And transitions
Transitions moving towards new
Transitions moving in a rhythm
And beat
Beat into the earth
Beat into your memory
And soul
I am re-posting one of my favorite posts in celebration of one year of blogging and 100 entries. Hope you are enjoying my blog!
Earth and Water: Daily Post Photo Challenge-Opposites
Earth and water photographed at Spring Creek near Camp Sherman, OR
Daily Post Photo Challenge – Opposites
Embrace them
Fox kit at Yellowstone National Park
A gust of wind
Can take them away
Embrace them and guide them
With gentle breezes
Dean Hale Woodpecker Festival: Where’s Woody?
Last weekend I was out looking for some of the 11+ species of woodpeckers that can be seen near Sisters, Oregon. The Dean Hale Woodpecker Festival brings birdwatchers from all over the world into the woodpecker-rich habitats in the area. East Cascades Audubon Society has been putting on the well-attended event since 2011. There were 17 different field trips this year.
It was a hot day and stunning views of the Sisters peaks, Black Butte, and Mt Jefferson welcomed us.
Continue readingWords: A poem on Sticks and Stones
Words
Sharp and cutting
Smooth and soothing
Colored by what surrounds them
Words
Forked and dividing
Fibrous and fortifying
Defined by what surrounds them
Words
Tangled and eroding
Tranquil and tempering
Embraced by what surrounds them
Desert Sky
Painted skies
Sky. Where I live in central Oregon, it’s big and bold. The sky is rarely shrouded in shades of gray. Sunsets are painted with bold strokes of golds, pinks, and purples.
Scattered clouds on sunny days are referred to as “beauty clouds” by the local weatherman. My daughter thinks they look like the clouds in The Simpsons cartoon. Flat on the bottom with perfectly sculpted puffs on the top.
Wild creatures and plants
The colors of the sky are reflected in the local plants and wildlife. Mountain bluebirds surprise with their intense colors. Wildflowers like Oregon sunshine shine forth in warm golden tones. Perfect pink bitterroot flowers provide punctuation. Ancient twisting western juniper trees frame the scene.
Volcanoes bordering the High Desert are often encircled with crowns of clouds. Cool white clouds appear to temporarily cool the hot magma rumbling below.
The sky here is an ever-changing message. Clouds, rainbows, and rain and snow are the emojis on the big blue screen. Wind sweeps them to the side to create another conversation. Look up and notice what the sky is saying and listen to its meaning.
Mendel’s Garden: Lupines of many colors
Is this Mendel’s garden? I think the Gene Jeannie has been at work in my backyard. I planted one purple and white lupine and it has multiplied. Now I have a violet and purple one, two purple and white ones, a violet and white one, and an all white one.
Spare: Daily Post Photography Challenge
The road to Steens Mountain in Oregon may appear Spare , but there is an abundance of beautiful sights, sounds, and scents in the high desert.
Optimism in a single flower – Inspiration
Some put everything they have into making the world a better place.
May Showers, High Desert Flowers
Purple sage and paintbrush
A desert can be desolate
Arid and barren
Spring showers
Splash colors
Of brilliant hues
Amidst the sand
Painting with a delicate brush
From a palette of rainbows
Balsamroot 
Who Times Two: A pair of burrowing owls
Who times two is a portrait of two burrowing owls, Athene cunicularia. Observed at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon.
Purple Mountain Majesties: Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday