A Full-time Life

Category: Oregon homes

  • CHANGE OF SEASON

     

     Early last week when we went for our city walks, it was still Autumn here in Eugene.

     

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    We shuffled through fallen leaves and admired the blue skies.

     

     

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    What a great place to live.   It seems like we just got here!

    Well, the apartment is still sort of new to us — and we definitely haven't quite finished getting it all   "Oregon-ized" yet, 

    but ….

     

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    … here's what happened the day after Thanksgiving!  

     

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    I know, this pretty frosting hardly qualifies as Winter for many of you ….  but snowbird seasons spent in warmer climes have thinned our blood!   So if it's going to freeze here, by golly, we are heading to Florida.

     (In all honesty, we were planning to head south shortly after Thanksgiving anyway.  It's always hard to leave family, so in a way the cold weather is welcome as it makes it a little easier.)

     

     

    Linking this week to OUR WORLD on Tuesday; to MOSAIC MONDAY; and to NATURE NOTES.

    Thank you to the hosts.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • WINDOW VIEW MEMORIES

     

     We finally sold our Fifth-Wheel RV.  That is among the many other (and more important) things we are grateful for this Thanksgiving week.  

     

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    We're grateful we no longer have to worry about the RV and can more freely enjoy this next chapter in our lives!  But we're also grateful for the memories of of our travels in it.  

     

    Sky

     

    We pulled our traveling homes all over the United States over the years (the one we just sold was our second fifth-wheel) .  Wherever we went, we had our own bed, our own kitchen, our own home … but a different view out the picture window every time we moved.    It was a great way to explore the country.

     

    Sunset

     I collected today's pictures from previous posts — all were taken through that picture window.

      

     

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     We still plan to do some  roadtrips — in our much smaller camper van !  Although it doesn't have a big picture window, it is a lot easier to drive. 

     

    Happy Thanksgiving to all in the US and thank you to everyone who comes by to visit FullTime-Life, especially to those who leave comments!  Your virtual friendship is a joy.

     

    And MANY THANKS to the hosts of all of the sharing opportunities I link to.  Today's post is linked to  OUR WORLD on TUESDAY:  (Lady Fi,  Gattina, Arija, Sandy, Sylvia, and Jennifer) and to Stewart's WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY .

  • SIGNS IN THE CITY

    SIGNS SIGNS is Lesley's  fun weekly opportunity to share "interesting, funny, ridiculous or unexplainable signs."

    I found examples of each of those categories on a couple of recent walks around downtown Eugene (Oregon) near our new residence.

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    Unexplainable

    I have no idea why this sign was posted at an alley between offices.  I couldn't find any place remotely related to poetry.  But I am going to explore this further when I have time.

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    Ridiculous? (… or maybe not)

    Found in a very crowded art/craft gallery window.  It was also kind of ridiculous because the window was so crowded it was hard to see anything.  

     

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    Funny

     At the nearby organic food store.  I lifted the sign for just a second to get a better picture.  (Don't forget to keep your organic Yukon potatoes in the dark.)

     

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    Interesting

     

    I love a good ghost sign — this sign advertises a long-gone dry cleaners — now there is a Yoga Studio in the building.  Or a chiropractor.  I forget which.  I swear every other building downtown is one or the other.  

     

    Thanks to Lesley for hosting SIGNS SIGNS.

     

     

      

     

     

     

     

     

  • LAST OF THE AUTUMN LAKE

     

     

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    It's the last of the Lake — we've moved away to the City.  These pictures were taken earlier this month while we were doing some last-minute moving chores.  (Well, one of us was.  I was busy taking pictures.  Obviously.)

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    Even if we were staying out there in our RV, it would still be the last of the Lake – for this year.  It's really a man-made  reservoir that gets drained every winter  for flood control purposes. It is always hard to imagine that a month or so ago boats pulling water skiers were skimming over the tops of all these stumps.

     

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    Some Fall color across the Lake — but the sky is awfully  gray (especially since I'm planning to link this to Skywatch Friday).    However, it is a true representation of what the Autumn sky looks like much of the time here.

     

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    A few wispy clouds, just so you know there really is a sky up there.    This picture is  focused toward the end of the Lake that still has water. Stumps will be showing up there pretty soon.

     

     

     

     

    Linking to: SKYWATCH FRIDAY (thank you to Yogi, Sandy, and Sylvia);  and  to SCENIC WEEKENDS (thank you Gemma); 

  • RUFOUS-SIDED TOWHEE

     

     Rufous-sided (spotted) Towhee —

    and poem of the week.

     

    image from http://s3.amazonaws.com/hires.aviary.com/k/mr6i2hifk4wxt1dp/15110802/93bb864c-ba7a-4ea1-a10e-c86b03277eeb.png

     

    "Rufous-Sided Towhee" by Barbara Crooker. Text as published in Little Patuxent Review: A Journal of Literature and the Arts (Winter, 2014)

     

    The teaching of Zen is: drink your tea. 

    Which is what the towhee says as he

    scratches in the underbrush, searching for food.
    Black and white with rusty sides, he loves
    the understory, the margins, the hedgerows.

    He sinks into the afternoon like brown leaves
    steeping in hot water. He knows no ambition

    or envy, wants nothing beyond this spring day,

    sunlight spreading like honey on toast. Up pops
    my list, the items to check off, the errands to run,

    the weeds to pull. The towhee sings again:
    Drink your tea.



     
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    The poem came  through an e-mail  site I subscribe to called "A Year of Being Here."  I took the pictures at Fern Ridge Lake near Eugene this Fall.
     
     
     
    Linking to: NATURE NOTES (thank you Michelle); WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY (thanks to Stewart);  to SATURDAY CRITTERS (thank you Eileen) and to RATHER B'BIRDING (thanks to Anni)

  • AUTUMN WHIMSY

     

    We're trying to take advantage of every sunny day this time of year so, there have been  lots of downtown walks.  This is  a small collection of  the City's whimsy and wonder. 

     

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     These acrobatic animals (skunks? otters? who knows?)  reside at the corner a block away from our apartment.    The top fellow has usually been given a flower of some kind to chew on.   (But one day he had a mushroom.)

     

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     An understated and pretty window at a jewelry and gem store.  This was their Halloween window.

     

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    Fall leaves are still so pretty!  The espaliered branches (in the middle photo)  are along a wall of a parking garage.   I think that's really neat!

     

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    Some daytime views of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.  We walked there one evening last week for a show.    What a nice advantage of City living!     (We saw the revival of the musical "42nd Street" by a Broadway touring company.)

     

    So that's OUR downtown WORLD this week — lots to see, lots to do.  We like living here!

     

    Thanks to Judith for hosting MOSAIC MONDAY and to the hosts of OUR WORLD on Tuesday (Lady Fi, Sandy, Sylvia, Gattina, and Arija) 

  • ONE BLUE FEATHER

     

     

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     It's fun playing with found objects in nature.   In real life ….

     

     

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    … and virtually!

     

     

    Linking with:   Monica's DIGITAL ART MEME and (next weekend) to Gemma's MACRO MONDAY

    Thanks to both hosts.

     

     

  • EPISODES OF SUNSHINE

     

    It rained hard all day Sunday.  It was needed — so much so that I wouldn't think of complaining.   

     

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     But the weather forecast in this morning's paper said to expect "episodes of sunshine."   Who wouldn't love that forecast after a rainy day! 

     

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    It's still a beautiful Autumn  – when you can get out in it!

     

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    There was a good two-hour window of sunshine this morning!  Perfect for a down-town walk.

     

     

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     We enjoyed this episode to the fullest!

     

    LINKED TO:  OUR WORLD TUESDAY.  Thank you to the team.

  • DUCK DUCK GOOSE (and heron)

     

    Seen while walking along the Willamette River recently:

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    Duck, Duck …

     

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    …. Goose  (goose goose geese?)  …   

     (and a photo-bombing cormorant)

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    Goose, Goose and Great Blue Heron

     

     

    Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY CRITTERS;  Annie's RATHER B'BIRDING;  Stewart's WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY; and Gemma's WEDNESDAY WATERS  

    Thank you to each of the hosts.

  • IMAGINE ….

     

    This sign is posted in many windows around the City.  I'm not yet sure who posts the signs.  I only wish it were not necessary to designate specific zones.

      

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    Imagine if the whole world were hate free.

     But sadly we can't even guarantee freedom from hate in our own little corner of the State of Oregon.

     

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    This picture is Air Force One flying over Fern Ridge Lake.   We happened to be  at the Lake on the day that President Obama flew into Oregon to offer sympathy to the families of those killed and injured in the shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg earlier this month.   (A crime committed by a  man who was fueled by hate and who had too easy access to lethal weapons.)  

    (Eugene is the closest large airport to the town of Roseburg where the crime took place.  At the airport here, the President changed to a helicopter to fly into Roseburg).   

    Sadly, on that day, a group of gun-toters (some of whom flew into the state specifically for this reason) felt the need to demonstrate even more hate by lining the streets of Roseburg to show their prejudice for all the world to see.  

    None of this represented the Oregon we know and love.  

    Of course there are many Oregonians demonstrating their sympathy for the victims in good and productive ways.   It was so sad that the TV networks and news outlets chose to feature the haters.

     

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    Imagine all the people living life in peace.      

      

     Linking to SIGNS SIGNS (thank you to Lesley) and  SKYWATCH FRIDAY (thank you  to Yogi, Sandy, and Sylvia)