Changing Seasons

In Northern Arizona, the fall colors are a bit limited compared to places in the Eastern U.S. where there a lot of different tree species and different moisture conditions. Our predominant color tree is the Aspen, which most often turns yellow. The few reds that we get are from non-native species like Maple that have been planted.

Some autumns the Aspens are brilliantly yellow, other times they just sort of fade to brown. This year was more of the fade type of color experience. I shot this on Monday, the day before a storm was expected to bring wind and moisture which would pretty much end the color season.

This morning we awoke to a dusting of snow. Not much at our house, but the San Francisco Peaks looked like they had been flocked for Christmas.

The prairie dogs are definitely done for this year. No one screeched a warning about me being so close to this burrow.

The afternoon sun really brought the majesty of the mountain.

A New Cookie Jar

To my mind, something you can use for normal stuff is a much better souvenir than something that sits on a shelf. When visiting Happy Knits in Portland, we found this wonderful Tweed Aran yarn in Sapphire. It's soft merino wool and has a great look thanks to the flecks of "nep" in the yarn.

Once we got home, we started looking around for a hat pattern to use the yarn. We chose a pattern called "Cookie Jar" by Joeli Caparco. Linda finished knitting it today and it came out wonderfully. It's snug, without being tight, is soft, has a great shape, and a great overall look.

Every time I wear it this winter, I'll be able to bring back memories of Portland - and smile!

The guy modeling the hat is a bit scary looking, but the hat is great!

Discovery Revisited

A couple of weeks ago, a co-worker mentioned to me that she was going through the photos which had been picked out for the Museum's annual exhibit of Summer Discovery class activities. To her surprise, she discovered that 3 of the photos featured our grand-daughter Ellie. I really expected that they'd go back and choose a couple of other photos, but today I saw the exhibit for the first time, to my surprise, I saw these:

POD: Portland, Oregon - Part 5

Last day in Portland :-(. Wonderful weather to wander about the city.

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry has the USS Blueback (SS-581) on display. This was used in "Hunt for Red October" as a stand-in for the Russian submarine. Besides being one of my favorite books/movies, I was curious to see how small it was compared to the minesweepers that I served on. A lot of the spaces were not much smaller! (Of course we had fresh air, and could see the sun!)

Our guide, Darl, in the officers mess.

It's a little tight in the bridge area.

Torpedo room

Nice "roomy" bunks and storage locker!

Engine room.

Being a VW/Porsche guy, I had no idea that a horizontally opposed engine would not have a crankshaft shared by 2 banks of cylinders.

New MAX light rail bridge being constructed across the Willamette River.

Swirly clouds - and moonrise.

Just for Tay... moonrise over Ikea.

POD: Portland, Oregon - Part 4

Scenes from NE Alberta Ave neighborhood.

The Random Order Pie Bar - love the name! (Haven't tasted the pie.)

 Diagonal bicycle parking.

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Scenes from the Columbia River at the end of the Yellow MAX line.

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It's a Red thing...

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At the Deschutes Brewery Pub.

Now, normally I don't take photos of urinals, but these at the Deschutes Brewery Pub are works of art. My question is, even in the late 1800s when these were probably made, why would someone go to so much trouble for a piece of plumbing equipment???

POD: Portland, Oregon - Part 3

Portland is such a fun place to photograph - I can't help myself!