A Full-time Life

Category: Oregon homes

PICTURES and PONDERS

Pretty pictures and pandemic ponders.

"It is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in this broken world” – Mary Oliver

Like many bloggers these days, I'm reaching back for memories of sunny mornings. But they will come again.

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather" – John Ruskin

The picture above is from the last time we spent the winter in Oregon — over a dozen years ago. We had a fireplace in the fifth-wheel RV that we lived and traveled in back then. There was a little bit of a hiccup in our plans that season — we weren't planning to spend the winter here, but health- and healing-related events changed that. At least this winter we are mentally prepared (more or less) for cozy winter months. After all, like everybody else, we've been thinking up ways to keep from being bored at home ever since April. Below is what we did one day:

Bill worked on the computer and I got a new pet. (I learned how to do this from someone's blog and sadly I've forgotten who it was as well as how to do it.) This day happened when we were totally self-isolating for two weeks when we were first back in Oregon.

Although we still do stay at home more than usual, we are now able to go outside and play some. I'm grateful for that.

The pictures below are from one of those times — one of what I call our Covid country drives.

Leftover pictures from a recent country drive

Scarecrow doesn't seem like the right word for the two fashionably-dressed ladies in the top row, but I think they're meant to serve the same purpose. We pulled over so I could take their picture and at first neither of us noticed the real-live-human woman plowing her garden. She waved at us and her protective dog never even barked, but he was sure ready to act had we stepped onto his property (as he should have).

We have another, slightly longer, getaway planned this week as we spend a few socially-distanced days in our tiny trailer.

Gold Beach Oregon 2017

We're looking forward to this year's version of the Thanksgiving holiday – camping on Oregon's south coast.

THANK YOU to the hosts of the following, where I'm linking this week:

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

November 22, 2020
THE LEAVES ARE LEAVING

Want to buy a post office? Yep, the Lorane post office building, the second smallest we've ever seen, can be yours for only $99,000. We saw the "for sale" sign and looked it up when we got home. The ad said the "iconic building" is leased to the USPO for the next four years — so there's a guaranteed source of income.

The post-office sighting was on one of our recent "covid drives" out in the country, All of the rest of the pictures are from last week, even closer to home.

Saturday, November 7

To be perfectly honest, the picture above is from a week ago yesterday. That's the Black Walnut Tree at our D and SIL's that I've been watching since April. We spent part of that Saturday out at the farm visiting and admiring the Fall colors, a lot of which appeared in last week's post. It was perfectly beautiful blue-sky Autumn weather.

But the next day it turned cool and windy.

On Monday, Cyndi texted that it was "snowing leaves" at their house. She included a quick movie from her phone but sadly I can't figure out how to embed a video so it's a screen shot.

Friday, November 13

And this is my picture of the same tree from our latest visit a couple of days ago. What a difference a week makes.

Cyndi also texted this picture. How lucky that they had some help with the raking! That is their grandson (our great), who was visiting them for the day. You can tell from my latest picture above that there are a lot more leaves to come down. Enough to keep this little guy busy the next time he spends the day with his grandparents.

I didn't help with the raking when we visited on Friday. But I did collect some of the last of the Autumn color from the back pasture. I'm grateful to enjoy the beauty and have none of the work. Sometimes growing older is not a bad thing at all!

While we were there, the sky kept changing from gray to blue. So Cyndi and I kept moving our lawn chairs around from sunny spots to dry ones as we visited. Beautiful Autumn color is just about gone, but I hope this rainbow is an omen of a manageable winter and brighter things to come in non-weather related matters. (Rainbow shot through the car window the same day, as we drove home.)

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities. Thank you to all of the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; TUESDAY TREASURES; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SIGNS SIGNS; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS;



November 15, 2020
DAWN OF A NEW DAY

We woke up Saturday morning to a beautiful golden day. And not only because of the perfect Autumn weather.

This isn't a current news blog by any means, but as I have said often, it is my happy place. And because the news on Saturday made me happy, I can't just ignore it here. I will be even happier on January 20 (and hope we survive until then), but it feels like our country has taken the first step back to sanity.

"We are in a battle for the soul of the nation. It’s a battle to uphold and honor the values that we hold dear, values like empathy, and dignity, and respect for truth. These are our values and they are the values we need for a better future." Joe Biden.

Of course we still have problems and they won't magically go away now or in January. But there is hope. And there are beautiful Autumn colors. The pictures above are all from Saturday at our son-in-law and daughters. Our Covid-pod. And we are more than OK with that.

"Introverts were social distancing before social distancing was cool" - Don Kahle, Register-Guard (Eugene) October 30

In addition to visiting the lovely people in our pod on Saturday, we took a couple of day-drives earlier in the week. The weather really has been perfect and Autumn color is wonderful. Getting out there is something we like to do and my favorite form of stress relief. Fortunately Bill enjoys it just as much.

A random drive-by shot of typical scenery in our part of the world. I love the layered look of the hills.

Oakland Oregon is a small and historic town in the next county to ours. (Historic for this part of this country.) It's only about an hour from home on the freeway, but longer for us because we explored backroads on our way there and back. We are fortunate to have our camper van because public "rest stops" are few and far between these days. We wouldn't be nearly as comfortable on a day drive with just a car (or at least I wouldn't).

Oakland was pretty much completely shut down on the week-day when we were there. The downtown is mostly antique and souvenir stores and wineries that had opened in repurposed historic buildings. I wonder if many of these small businesses will survive Covid.

Leisurely heading back home after our walk around Oakland, we stopped for a while in the even tinier town of Drain. The town wants to make sure people know why it has that odd name.

I remember the days when almost every outing, whether for errands or pleasure, included finding a fun restaurant. Many of our old favorites have re-opened at home (in the Eugene area) , but we haven't patronized any this year except for a few takeout meals. We wouldn't have found much at all on this outing, even if we'd been planning to "eat out."

Things change, but life is good — and hopefully getting better.

Thank you to the hosts of these sharing opportunities:

MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;   TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS ;  OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; TUESDAY TREASURES; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS;

November 8, 2020
INSPIRED BY FALL COLOR

It wasn't a terribly inspiring week. Boring appointments and other routine unbloggable stuff took up a lot of what ought to be all the time in the world, but somehow is not.

The weather cooled down quite suddenly with some sunny days and no rain. Whether gray or sunny though, this time of year there is always glorious color.

There were beautiful Autumn leaves to admire …

… and to shuffle through.

Kicking fallen leaves makes me feel like a child again. I hope no one was watching. I have reached the age where there is a fine line between childlike and one's second childhood.

The usual suspects were still out and about on walks to the river. Great Blue Herons (above), Great Egrets (below), gulls, and Canada Geese are always around. The Winters are usually mild enough here that I don't think they'll migrate.

I hope the mild part is true this year, because we ourselves will not be migrating to our Florida cottage. It's just too far away under the present circumstances. Instead, we will emulate the (other?) geese here in Oregon that migrate only from one field to another. (We hope to take some shorter camping trips.)

Meanwhile, skies last week were not very dramatic. The days were either all blue or all gray. But at least every day wasn't all gray (yet).

I'm always grateful that we live within walking distance of our River. Especially on weeks like this one.

It's not really cold yet – light jacket weather by the time I usually get outside. But it does seem like only yesterday when I walked fast to get to the shaded parts of the path. Now I head quickly for the sunny spots.

I like Autumn!

(Not too crazy about the season that comes next, but we haven't really had Winter for years, so we will try to look at it as a new experience and learn from it.)

Linking this week to the following sharing opportunities. Thank you to all of the hosts.

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

November 1, 2020
SUNDAY SMILES

A collection of smiles — all pictures from last week here in the Willamette Valley.

Happy Halloween ….

Don't Forget to Wear Your Mask

(I'm not lion)

Is this a good buy? Have you ever bought a pound of wine?

(Still trying to figure out exactly how much wine that is. My math skills are poor, but I have the soul of a proof-reader.)

Hot Lips

Funny name for a beautiful plant

Just Hanging on By a Thread

(There's a metaphor in there somewhere.)

And some genuine smiles from out at the country place last week. That's our oldest great-grandson with the new family puppy (a very big puppy). And beautiful blue skies and October sunshine. Thankful for every beautiful Autumn day.

LINKING this week to these sharing opportunities, with thanks to the hosts:

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

October 25, 2020
EARLY OCTOBER — A COLLECTION

Here in Eugene this year, we have only half as much Fall Color as usual.

The proof is in the picture!

Above is my collection from last week of what color there was. All pictures taken in between much needed rain showers.

Not a lot from last week — partly because of that rain. So the rest of this post is a random selection from past Octobers.

Custer State Park, South Dakota October 2013

Custer State Park is one of our favorite places. The wildlife viewing there is outstanding. In October 2013 we visited when driving from Oregon to Florida. Although you couldn't tell it from this picture, we also saw quite a bit of snow that time. Our youngest son had driven from Colorado to spend some of his vacation time with us. We were glad to take him up on the offer to drive us around on our scenic tours. That way Bill was able to admire the scenery more than usual. We were all even happier that the roads were clear by the time we left the area. (In truth, I was the only one of the three of us who worried about the weather — and I was the only one who was not driving.)

Fern Ridge Lake October 2012

We spent many summer/fall seasons at Fern Ridge Lake here in Lane County Oregon. In early October the Lake, which is really a reservoir, is beginning to recede. That makes it a good month for birding. I have taken tons of pictures of Great Blue Herons from here in Oregon, from Florida and from points in between. This is one of my favorites.

Booth Bay Harbor Maine October 2010

We were looking at a different body of water in October 2010 when we were close to winding up our tour of the Eastern Seaboard States. That whole trip was wonderful, full of new places and new experiences. We had some prior knowledge of Booth Bay Harbor because years earlier our oldest son had been stationed there on his first Coast Guard posting. He liked it very much and we did too.

Fern Ridge Lake October 2014

Back to the Lake for another between-showers picture. In fact "Between Showers" was the title of the October 2014 post where I found this picture. A typical Oregon October. I am thankful for the rain, because we need it so much this year. And thankful that I have this blog to jog my memory because memories are much needed this year too.

Linking this week to the following, with thanks to the hosts:

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

October 11, 2020
THE WEEK THAT WAS ….

What a week! Even in 2020, the one just past stands out as one of the strangest — nationally. Everybody knows that already, so I'll just say that since we are still in semi-isolation, we probably have way too much time to follow the news. Sometimes I think it would be nice to live on a deserted island with no contact with the outside world!

But then I wouldn't be able to blog! This pretty Stellar's Jay showed off for me exactly at the point where the path behind our apartment complex reaches the river path.

Nature walks are, as always, a refuge. These pictures however are from out in the country on our daughter's and son-in-law's acreage. I guess those are nature walks for me. I walk around the edge of their property taking pictures while everybody else in the family is busy working on projects or on-line school. (Then I sit under the big tree watching birds and reading.)

Back to the earlier walk in our own neighborhood. Some days when I walk the River Paths I don't see a single bird. On this walk, I saw the Great Blue Heron standing in the shadows of the trees where the Jay was perched.

After our weeks of smoke, we don't take blue skies for granted. And the weather has been beautiful. Most years, October is a good month here in Oregon. There isn't a lot of color so far — and there may not be. I think it might have been too dry during the summer. But even without vivid Autumn color, it is good to have perfect walking temperatures — and of course blue sky. I am thankful for that.

LINKING THIS WEEK to the following. Thank you to all of the hosts.

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

October 4, 2020
FALL

We had rain off and on and wind last week – the first official week of Fall in the USA. One windy afternoon we were reading quietly when there was a strange and loud noise outside our window. Here's what we saw:

FALL (two definitions) 2020

My first thought was that this poor old tree just gave up on 2020 (because why not? — It really feels as if we're all just waiting for the other shoe to drop.) In reality, saturated ground and sudden wind may have had something to do with the tree's demise. No buildings or people were hurt and we were happy that it was "not our problem." That is the head of maintenance for our complex surveying the damage. I grow fond of trees and it was sad to see whenever I looked out our windows. This weekend a crew came in and chain-sawed it all away.

Below are some more conventional (and happier) pictures of Fall around our neighborhood:

Weekday walks, Eugene — first week of Fall 2020

September is such a nostalgic month — I think because it brings back memories of starting school. My archives don't go back quite as far as those boxes of crayons and new workbooks, but because I didn't have many new pictures for the week I did comb through them.

Fern Ridge Lake Oregon 2012

I looked for September pictures that would work for the sharing sites that I like to join. We spent part of the summer/fall season at the Lake for several years when we were full-time RVers. (We traveled the rest of the year.)

Mergansers, Bald Eagles, and a Bear — Haines Alaska 2014

We spent almost four months in Alaska in 2014 — the trip actually ended in mid-September, so these pictures would have been taken earlier in the summer. But I was still blogging about that trip for weeks after it ended. There was so much to see and do there!

Vermont 2001

I used the above picture in the first FullTime-Life blog post I ever made in September 2007 (and have repeated it every few years to mark the start of the season.) But it was taken several years before that on our first RV trip out of the western states. We loved this trip, loved that part of the country, and loved being leaf-peepers.

And here we are back home in the neighborhood in September 2020 – one of the paths we walk along the Willamette River. A lovely place for dreaming of the past and planning for the future! We are grateful for time to do both.

Thank you to the hosts of the following — for the sharing opportunities they provide and also this week for the impetus to do a search through "the olden days" of the blog so that I'd have pictures that would fit all of the themes!

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

September 27, 2020
A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

It rained hard last Thursday night!

The storm cleared the air enough so that on Friday we were able to go grocery shopping, even to the Farm Market. And on Saturday afternoon, the sun came out for a little while and the sky was blue. I even went for a neighborhood walk around the loop. The picture above is from earlier in the summer, but the sky was almost this blue on Saturday. I didn't take pictures because I was too busy appreciating the fact that I could breath fresh air.

River Road near Junction City

In fact, all pictures in today's post are from the archives. The little abandoned outbuilding is on a farm near the market where we shop for produce.

From the archives

I'm so grateful for the rain. I swear I won't ever fuss about gray days again as long as they are caused by rain, not smoke and ash. (Especially if there are rainbows after.)

Delta Ponds Pedestrian Bridge, near our neighborhood

Of course all is not sunshine and lollipops yet — over 700 structures were burned in the Holiday Farm fire which is still only about 10% contained. This fire, the closest one to us, is just one of the climate fires burning in Oregon. This one alone has burned (is burning) over 170,000 acres. The Red Cross has housed evacuees from the area in Eugene/Springfield hotels. (Some had other places to go, so the number of displaced people isn't known.)

And of course even if the skies are smoke-free we still need masks whenever we leave the house.

For that reason — and for many others — we can all use some spots of sunshine. Yellow flowers always brighten my day. Even when they are pictures from the archives. May these spots of sunshine on the ground brighten yours.

RIP, RBG.

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities. Thank you to the hosts:

MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY BLISS

September 20, 2020
OREGON ON FIRE

We are safe at home, but the State of Oregon is burning up. Government authorities have reported over a million acres have burned. It is hard to believe that a week ago today (Sunday) my weekly blog post talked about how dry and hot it was, but we had spent that last week doing our usual things. Usual in the age of Covid anyway — we took walks, we visited outdoors with family, went to the grocery store and Farm Market…. just the normal.

But that was last Sunday and I was blogging about the previous week. On Monday night (September 7), the Holiday Farm Fire started up the McKenzie River — in an area about 50 miles east of us. It has now burned to about 15 miles from us, as well as further north and south. Conditions were hot and dry and there was a strong 40 mph wind (very unusual for here) — it fanned the fire out of control very suddenly. People who lived up the river got no warning — some of them awoke to flames against their house. Several small communities were destroyed. It is not yet known how many lives have been lost. People have been evacuated to high schools in Springfield, the twin city to Eugene where we live. Fire fighting conditions improved Friday, and the fire has slowed, though still is not controlled.

These two pictures were taken from our front door on Tuesday morning, September 8 — the only time all week I've stepped out of the house. We, and our Oregon family, are not near the flames and in no danger of having to evacuate, but air quality is at a dangerous level.

The Holiday Farm Fire is just one of several climate fires that are burning out of control in our State, all caused by the same conditions. But it is the closest one to us. The Upper McKenzie River has been our mountain playground for years. I made the collage below from the last time we camped there.

Memory of Blue River — from last April.

We stayed at the Blue River RV Park on the last night of our trip home from Florida. It is practically certain that this beautiful little RV park has been destroyed. We have so many memories of staying along the River in years back. This was just the latest time. We used to go camping with our kids up there, we often took carloads of Boy Scouts and supplies to camp, and every summer we have taken at least a day trip up the river to walk or hike. It will be a while before anyone is able to do that again — and it will never be the same.

Sun on Tuesday morning

Climate change has come home. It is heartbreaking to think of the people who have lost everything in these fires. We hope for happier times and better days to come… and soon.

LINKING this week to: MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; and SKYWATCH FRIDAY .

Thank you to the hosts.

September 13, 2020