The Magic of Frost

 This morning was one of those foggy, frosty situations; temperatures were in the low 20's and there was just enough moisture in the air to create frost. Everything is "hairy" for a couple of hours, including weeds, fences, and trees. 

Teasel is photographic any season, but especially in the frost.

The top of the neighbor's Black Locust Tree....high above rooftops. 

Pine trees take on a mystical look in the frost. 

Shoot from the Car

 When we drive anywhere, I take my camera, along with my phone. My husband likes to tell people that I just yell "Stop!" .... but I'm a little more controlled than that!  Most of the time, I just shoot from the passenger window.  The daytime moon shot below was taken with my phone while we were driving home. 

This little church in Cove, Oregon is one of the most photographed churches in NE Oregon, as you can imagine.  My goal is to photograph it in every season, which I have managed in previous years.  Snow and fall leaves make the best scene. 

New Year, New Post

 For the first time in our married life (44 years), we spent Christmas away from our own home.  It was in the newly purchased home of our youngest son, his wife, and daughter (our only grandchild).  A week away was odd, but time went quickly.  We dealt with Christmas stockings, Santa's "runway" of fairy lights and candy canes, and food for the reindeer.  When we got home, I started cleaning up my craft room and storing two tubs of Christmas stamps and dies, plus the paper. Then I began setting up my still life photo space.  Below are pre-Christmas and pre-New Year's images. 

Winter Again

 Although I really don't like to be cold, I love the look of winter.  I'm lucky enough to live where there are some pretty dramatic winter scenes, and I never tire of photographing them.  We live at the foot of the Blue Mountains and the summit of 5100+ feet is just 20 miles to the west.  It's a quick drive with many photo opportunities.  Such was the day yesterday, December 16, 2022.

Fall Color at Eastern Oregon University

 The EOU campus in La Grande, OR is a beautiful location.  The campus sits on a hill. There's a mix of old traditional buildings and ones that are more modern.  The grounds are planted with a beautiful combination of trees and other plantings; fall season is especially beautiful.  I was delivering some canvases to the administration building (Inlow Hall) and then spent 10 minutes at that corner of the campus.  It is one of my favorite photo locations, particularly in the fall. 

Eighth Street ends at the top of this steep slope; it was once open to vehicle traffic. Downtown La Grande is on the other side of the trees. 

This red dress was one of many displayed to represent Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women

Ackerman Hall, one of the prettiest of the original buildings, was constructed in 1929; in 1935, a laboratory school was added to the campus, designed to train teachers in working classrooms.  The school was closed in 1996, and the hall now houses faculty offices and classrooms. 

At the top of steep 8th street, now open only to foot traffic, one can look north to Mt. Emily, the 6000 ft  peak in the Blue Mountains that border the Grande Ronde Valley. 

Back through the Gorge

 Another quick weekend trip to Hillsboro (the only time we get to spend time with our only grandchild)...and back through the Columbia River Gorge.  Between May and September, travel on Historic Highway 30 through the Gorge is controlled with passes.  The traffic and illegal parking had become a real issue, so we just avoided the "old highway" this summer.  This last visit, however, we took our sweet time from Troutdale to The Dalles.   The parking lots for the individual falls were all full except for Horsetail Falls (there was a wedding there).  

The view of Vista House from Women's Forum near Coburg, Oregon 

  Looking west toward Portland instead of east from The Women's Forum.

I LOVE the historic guard rails that border the Historic Highway. 

The Oneonta Gorge was one of the most beautiful of gorges until the devastating Eagle Creek Fire.  Now the area is behind a high fence. 

The Oneonta Tunnel, built of cedar, was a victim of the Eagle Creek Fire but was rebuilt and reopened to the public.  Oh, the smell of cedar!  

Horsetail Falls was the only falls where there was parking available on the Monday we drove home. 

The Bighorn sheep are in the rut and there was a lot of activity along the freeway.  We are so focused on finding the sheep, and this trip was not a disappointment.  It requires screeching to a stop in the narrow shoulder next to the guardrail, while freeway traffic roars past.  There's enough room for a camera out the window, however. 

Skies of Smoke

It was one of those summers....thousands of acres burning in the Eagle Caps of the Wallowa Mountains. There were four named fires, manned by hundreds of firefighters.  In the wilderness, the policy is to "monitor" the fires; lower down where there are ranches and tiny hamlets, the goal is to suppress.  Unfortunately, the "monitored" fires jump into popular areas, threatening long-established camping areas. 

So the view this summer was smoke. 

On a fairly clear day, the Grande Ronde Valley could see the smoke of the fire(s) in the wilderness.