It was a good week — life is slowly coming back to normal.   But not many pictures, so it's archive-mining again — from earlier this month, a year ago, and a few years (too many) ago.    

 

 

Wonder if it counts if you never knew the name in the first place.  I am fond of yellow flowers, even when I don't know what they are.  

 

 

Make that usually fond.  Not of this one.    This eye-catching bush is Scotch Broom, an invasive plant here in this part of Oregon.  And one that is highly allergenic.  (Eye-catching in the case of this plant means that our eyes will water as we sneeze.  It is nobody's favorite around here.)    Both the above pictures are from this month, this year.  The collage below is really mining the archives — it is from 2014.

 

 

We spent that whole summer (May through September  2014) in Alaska.  Wonderful memories.  These are some of my favorite critter pictures from that beautiful State.  Sea Otters, Puffin, Mother Moose with very new and wobbly baby, Eagle and gulls, and one bird I'm not sure of.  I'm trying to label old pictures but it is slow work.  However, that  project was the impetus for this trip down memory lane, so it is  always worth the time even if I never complete it.  

 

 

This  is from a couple of weeks ago, but I blogged a different picture of the same tree last year and from bloggers who know things I learned that it is a Laburnum Tree.  We have always called it by it's nickname: Golden Chain.   

I always appreciate learning. 

 

 

 And here is my picture from May a year ago.  We saw this ring around the sun while social distancing in our daughter and son-in-law's yard last year.   It's called a sun halo and is caused by sunlight passing through ice crystals within the Earth's atmosphere.     That information was shared by blogger friend Mary Beth who recently saw a similar halo from her yard in Stanwood Washington.  Her post reminded me of this one!    Thank you Mary Beth.  (Her blog is here.)

 

Thank you to all the bloggers who share the beauties of nature and of just plain living life from so many places all over the world.  I am grateful.    Thank you all for wandering through these memories today.  And special thanks to the hosts of these sharing opportunities:

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;   TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  FRIDAY  BLISS; and  SATURDAY CRITTERS;