Faces of Small Town Oregon on the 4th of July

 Wallowa, Oregon (pop 837) is my hometown, although I lived 2 miles out in the country on a farm. Now I live in the next county, just about 35 miles away....and have lived here since 1975.  Wallowa has a great 4th of July parade every year, so I said I thought we should go today.  I decided to focus on the faces of the parade. American Legion flag bearers, local politicians, motorcyclists, and kids....all having a great day.  (Don't forget the dogs!)

County Commissioner Candidate

County Commissioner Candidate

He was on stilts...

My Favorite Flower and Time of Year

 It's time for peonies to bloom in NE Oregon...a too-short season.  Three of my siblings and I have "inherited" our late mother's love of and for the peony, and we grow them in a variety of locations at our homes.  One brother has amazing peonies in the "horse pasture."  He and his wife rescued so many of our mother's plants when they were being plowed under after her death.  The quick transplant was in a pasture, where they thrive and bloom like jewels in the grass.  Another brother grows his smaller collection around his house, interspersed with beautiful lupines.  My sister has a more "controlled" planting in her back yard, some against a shed, others in an open garden space, and early bloomers developed by our mother beneath a concrete ledge in the yard.  Mine are along a chain link fence on the east side of our house and in two large flower beds on the west side in open sun.  A family text helps us keep track of each other's flowers because only two of the gardens are in the same town. As of this post, we are halfway through the peony season.  I try hard to spend time with my camera to record each year's beauty. 

An experiment with a photo book of peonies as the background.

The variety of the early blooms. 

 

Joni's Cows

 Joni is a local woman...daughter, sister, aunt, mother, grandmother...who is also a horsewoman who owns cattle. (She was a student of mine in 1977-78.) She has had at least two serious "wrecks" on horses, but it has slowed her down only slightly.  Each spring, she moves her cattle from the "home place" to their summer pasture, miles away.  It's a major operation, requiring cowboys and cow dogs on the trip.  For the locals, the trip is described as "across Cricket Flat, down into the Minam-Wallowa canyon, across the highway bridge, down the railroad tracks and then up a steep grassy hill to the summer range on Smith Mountain." Joni is at the head of the herd.  In the fall, the move is reversed.  She asked me to photograph some of the move, and I agreed.  I decided to focus on Joni. 

Time for Some Color

 I am discovering that I might not be able to maintain this photo blog. I'm really struggling to continue with my card-making blog.  Maybe age is affecting me more than I would like to admit!  I know that I'm not using my camera as I once did; I do photograph with my phone.  However, I recently took my annual trip across the Blue Mountains to Walla Walla, WA to photograph the dogwoods.  They did not disappoint. (My husband is so good to follow me around as I "cruise" the trees in Pioneer Park.)