Colors of Rain

...as the Earth moves into winter mode, the sunsets are in a different part of the sky now, my line of sight mostly blocked by a small grove of white oak.  Last night the colors were so breathtaking, I went out to the front deck just to admire the view.  Then I noticed--to the right of the sunset--this beautiful cloud and mauve-pink rain...

Storm in a Puddle

...the sun tried hard to break through the dark, stormy clouds this morning as I walked with the boys.  I love taking photographs in the puddles after it rains.  Because of the gloomy clouds, the stark, bare trees, the flat gray of the road, this image reminds me of an old black and white shot...

Hot Lips

...like an exotic border around the Pottery Studio, a long line of tiles--made by the student potters--are affixed to the outside wall of the building at the Arts Center complex.  This is one of my favorites...

Sunbeam

...the sunset last night was incredible.  Shooting into the clouds, a bright beam of light tinted them in delicate shades of pink.  The contrast between the lush softness of the sky and the stark angles in the barren oaks below was really beautiful...

Contours

...this morning, whilst walking the boys at the VA complex, I was pondering how bleak the landscape gets when all the leaves have fallen and hibernation begins.  Then I saw this tree, standing alone on a small grassy knoll near the parking lot, its bark gnarly and textural.  And starkly beautiful...

A Quandary

...we had the first true icy frost last night.  Woke up to 30 degrees and a frozen bird bath, which seemed to greatly puzzle the doves...

Sentinel

...the chimney that vents the kilns at the Pottery Center caught my eye this morning as I walked the dogs.  Though the trees are mostly bare now, the vivid colors of Fall remain in the lichen on the smokestack...

Sign of Winter

...if the incredible girth of this quail is any indication of what kind of Winter we're going to have, then, holy crap, I'd better start stockpiling food in the event I can't get off the mountain.  Seriously.  This was one very plumb bird perched on the deck rail outside my bathroom window...

The Door

...taking a shortcut between the community center buildings as the boys and I finished our walk this morning, I discovered this amazingly colorful back door to the pottery studio.  A perfect thing to see on October 31st...

View in the Mist

...crossing the narrow little bridge over the river to the soccer field where I walk the boys, I was captivated by the ethereal view upriver...of the mist, the reflections in the water, the tranquil beauty of the scenery.  Though there is nowhere to safely stand on the bridge for this perspective, I just had to risk life and limb to get a photograph.  I parked the car, then walked back and, between dodging vehicles, leaping guardrails, bouncing with the vibrations of each passing car or truck, caught this moment...

Snap

...the very last of the Snapdragons, still beautiful and lush, sprinkled with early morning dew.  I will miss these cheerful, colorful flowers on the back slope, though they're so prolific, I know they'll be back in all their rainbow hues next Spring...

Who Are You?

...I noticed this large bird standing on a rock in the middle of the river this morning while out hiking with the critters.  At first, I thought it was either a crane or heron, but when I got home and really looked at the photo...well, I'm not sure what it is.  I went through my bird book--yeah, I actually have a Nat Geo Oregon/Washington bird book--but of all the birds that live, pass through or drop in for a visit, this isn't one of them.  It remains a mystery...

Jewels

...walking the dogs along the river yesterday on a very beautiful Fall afternoon.  The sun was like diamond light as it flashed and sparkled across the water in this glimpse through a stand of trees...

Rain and Rays

...storms have been rolling across the valley since late Friday night.  I love the fury and the fierceness, the dark entangled with light.  This beam came out of nowhere, spearing through the clouds like a laser in the misty rain...

First Sign

...this morning I took the boys to the county park for the first time since May 15th--the park is closed to dogs from May to September 15th.  It was lovely and peaceful and so blissfully quiet.  Though too soon for the visible signs of change, I took this photo of a small tree across the river that's just beginning to show its Fall colors...

Toil

...it's blazing hot today, temps over 100*.  I saw what I thought was a dust devil down in the valley below my house this afternoon.  It turned out to be a farmer, plowing his fields, on a day neither man nor beast should have been out there.  Clicking on the photo--taken with my telephoto through wavy layers of heat--shows the image with a melting, cartoon-like effect.  Poor tractor man...

Contrast

...meandering at an old (1910) homestead called Doc Bailey's this morning.  Behind me are the mountains and a most fertile expanse called Garden Valley--aptly named as the whole area was farmland in the time of the settlers.  There are still a few farms, though nowadays much of the land has been converted to wineries and vineyards.  I loved this lone tree in a seemingly barren landscape...

 

And yet, turning--with the tree at my back--the contrast is startling, both in the landscape and the weather.  It's one of those light/dark days, clouds rolling like tumbleweed across the sky...

Broken Rainbow

...my view this morning out the living room windows.  It's very warm, humid and suffocating today, I'm thinking because the clouds are pressing the heat down--like a steam iron.  This rainbow was beautiful as it struck one of the hidden valleys, lighting it up like a beacon, but more interesting to me were those odd streaks that broke up the arc...

Two Views

...forest fires continue to rage, the air heavy with smoke, a choking reminder of what's happening out of sight and out of control.

This is a shot I took in late May, across the valley below my mountain...

The smoke-filled valley this afternoon, so thick it completely blocked the sun, making the day seem perilously close to dusk...

La luna

...I was out on the front deck last night looking for shooting stars.  During the height of the Perseids over the weekend, the smoke was so thick from the fires, I couldn't see a thing.  Last night, instead of stars, I was captivated by the moon, half full and beautiful in the sky.

I'll take the moon over the sun any day...

Across the River

...I spotted a perfect little opening in the dense foliage along the river this morning whilst walking the dogs.  Though the underbrush is thick and lush in the fullness of Summer, I was able to capture this quiet moment...

Sunset...

...and the view from my back garden of the last sunset before the valley was filled with smoke from the forest fires raging in southern Oregon.  The air is tainted and harsh.  It has been a brutal Summer of heat, lightning and no rain...

My Back Garden...

...where a beautiful, mysterious bloom has burst out of the soil, wedging itself between a dahlia and a wildflower.  I love the amazing adaptability of nature.