We're Havin' A Heat Wave

After days of being confined to the house and then when you could finally go out, four-wheel drive was necessary, the east winds are gone and it's warming up again.There was sixteen inches of snow on this table Christmas Day and it was snowing again. It seemed as though it would never end. It was like Groundhog Day--the same thing over and over everyday. Each storm was supposed to bring south winds and warmer temperatures, but instead it just brought more snow. I've never been so glad to see rain in my life.It was 50 degrees at 10:00 tonight when we were coming home from the basketball game. Outside of the piles of snow in store parking lots and the side streets that don't get plowed, like ours, most of the snow is gone. Our problem now is that our house faces north and our driveway is getting icy, but a few more days like this and we should be back to normal--45 degrees and rain everyday.

Our Winter Wonderland

Last Tuesday was the last day we saw the sun. We went to the Blazer game Tuesday night and by the time we got home it was starting to snow lightly. It snowed off and on Wednesday, but only accumulated enough to be annoying on the side streets. The freeways and main roads were clear, but the threat of freezing rain caused school closures Thursday and Friday. The freezing rain never came, but it started to snow Friday evening and didn't stop until about 8:00 Saturday night. The freezing rain finally came in the night and left a crispy coating of ice over our six to eight inches of snow.This morning we woke up to this.Everything is cancelled all around the metropolitan area. Roads are closed to the coast and blizzard warnings in the gorge have closed I-84 east and westbound. Our elevation is less than 100 feet at our house, so you can only imagine what it looks like in the hills around town. We took a little drive around the neighborhood before lunch. Not much happening at the park--or on the baseball field.Freezing rain started to fall before we got home to add to the thin sheet of ice from last night.And low and behold, in the midst of all of this--covered with ice--we found the last of the fall leaves.

A Four Mountain Day

Early December found me in Utah doing post-op duty at my dad’s house. I was freezing the whole time. We’ve apparently been away from Utah too long. I was so excited to get back home where it was at least a balmy 50 degrees. Within three days, it was snowing and cold—that was last Sunday. By Tuesday we had east winds and blue skies. It was so clear that it was "a four mountain day."
When you approach the I-5 Bridge from the south, you can see Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and on a really clear day you can even see Mt. Rainier. I haven’t figured out how to get a good shot from the middle of the freeway yet, so I drove up to the Washington State-Vancouver campus to take pictures of three of the four mountains.
Mt. St. Helens to the north,Mt. Adams peaking over the foothills to the east,
and Mt. Hood to the south.

Thanksgiving Visitors

We’ve noticed that we’re not the only ones to get too busy with the holidays to blog. Lindsay and Jeremy came up for Thanksgiving and we spent the week before trying to Rylie and Tyson proof the house. With no grandchildren in town, we only have to think about that a couple of times a year.
Blogging pictures from their visit is difficult since every pictureis the best pictureto proud grandparents.
We stayed in Vancouver for Thanksgiving so the girls and I did all the cooking. Ashley prepared her assigned dishes at their apartment, so she was free to help Rylie with her gumdrop turkeys.Lindsay brought her Bosch mixer and so we had homemade rolls.Rylie helped with the relish trayand was in charge of sprinkling powdered sugar for the pumpkin rolls.Saturday, we took Rylie and Tyson to Jantzen Beach to ride the carousel. It goes really fast, so we weren’t sure if they would like it or not. Tyson wasn’t too sure about it,but Rylie could have stayed on it all day.We went to Washington Park to what Rylie calls “the castle playground.”
She was so excited that she just ran from one thing to the next.The rocking seahorse seemed to be a favorite. As always, Tyson loved the swings.There were still tons of leaves on the ground at Washington Park. We found a beautiful pile that seemed to go on forever and made a great background for pictures of Rylie and Tyson. The only thing that could have made this Thanksgiving any better would have been if Brad and Mel could have come.

A Break in the Clouds

A few miles north, just off the Columbia River, is the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge. It’s several acres reserved as a bird sanctuary. There are two entrances. The north entrance is for hiking and the south entrance takes you around a thirty minute driving loop. With a brief break in the clouds and just a couple of hours before piano lessons, I decided to go out and take the driving loop. When you’re alone, it presents some challenges. Since you aren’t allowed to get out of your vehicle on the loop, all of these pictures were taken from the window of my car. There weren’t many birds out, but the sky and the leaves were beautiful.When you drive in, you drop down a hill to the river,and drive over a railroad bridge.Not long after I started my drive, a blue heron flew almost over the hood of the car. Since I wasn’t expecting such a shot, I wasn’t prepared to get it. After I went about halfway around the loop, there he was, sitting in the marsh. You may have to double click on the picture to see him.Canadian geese are every where up here in the spring and in the fall. This was just a small flock I came across.My favorite picture from my drive was of clouds and especially this one with the reflection in the water.It's taken years for me to be able to appreciate the different shades of blue and gray in the sky and the reflections of light in this area, but I've learned that there's beauty everywhere--even on a gray day--if you just look for it.

A Balmy November Night

Dave has always wanted to take pictures of the crystal towers at the Convention Center at night. A warm, breezy rainless Friday night opened the opportunity to finally go out and give it a try. With dark, rainy weather settling in for the winter, you just have to take the attitude that if you can't beat ‘em, join ‘em. I guess we'll be trying our hands at a lot of low light pictures.We got down there and found there were a lot more things in the area to take pictures of than just the crystal towers.The MAX lines run past the Convention Center and down to the Rose Garden. It was kind of fun to try taking pictures of moving trains in the dark.
We went downtown to take some pictures of signs, but the place was hoppin’ and there was NO PLACE to park, so we drove over to the east bank of the Willamette River to take pictures of the Portland skyline instead.We finished just in time, because as we were leaving, it started to rain—imagine that.

Is Rip City Back?

So in a weak moment last spring, after we went to a couple of Blazer games, we decided it was time to become NBA season ticket holders.The Portland Trail Blazers are one of the youngest teams in the NBA, full of energy, and fun to watch.The whole town is just abuzz with this young team and their potential.
We’re up in the cheap seats, of course, but every game is like a party, so it really doesn’t matter.
ESPN covered the home opener on Halloween Night, which only added to the party atmosphere.


It’s just a short walk from Dave’s office, so his parking pass comes in handy.If it’s too cold or rainy, we can just hop on the max with hundreds of our closest friends and ride back up to the Lloyd Center stop.Check ESPN on Friday to see the heart-stopping buzzer beater we saw tonight. The place was rockin'. What a way to spend rainy winter nights!!!

Up the Canyon and Back in Time

For the last ten falls, I’ve yearned for the colorful autumn leaves of northern Utah. I’ve missed the spectacular beauty of bright yellow leaves illuminated by sunlight against a blue sky and the blazing reds in Sardine Canyon. Spending more time looking through the lens of a camera this year, I find myself looking for beauty and framing shots everywhere I go.The lack of an early October wind storm has kept the leaves on the trees and cool sunny days have allowed the colors of fall to continue to line the streets and paint the hillsides with the warmth and beauty of my favorite season of the year.Last Saturday, we drove about twenty minutes north on I-5 to Woodland, Washington. If you drive east along the Lewis River for about nine miles, you come to the turn off for the Cedar Creek Grist Mill. You drive down the hill and across the covered bridge to the mill. It was built in 1876, predating Washington statehood, and is now owned by the state, but leased by the members of the community for one dollar a year. They’ve restored the mill and mill grain every Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Every year, they have a cider fundraiser. They bring in four tons of apples and make fresh apple cider and sell it by the half gallon. They have a blue grass band playing on the deck behind the mill. It’s like stepping back into a simpler time.
After we left the grist mill, we discovered that the road out takes you past one of Dave’s favorite fishing holes. Brad will recognize it. They call it the Meat Hole. Dave hasn’t caught anything there yet, but I’m not sure why. We stopped for just a minute to take some pictures and saw at least a half dozen big fish jump. If you look closely you can see the ripples in the water.The nice weather has continued this week, so I’ve tried to take the opportunity to grab a few more pictures before it all fades away.The forecasts show storms waiting offshore and I’m afraid the wind may be coming to blow away a lot of our fall color. It’s supposed to start raining tonight and continue through at least the next seven days.