Author: leh

rDay One-Hundred-Forty-Four

Some cooler weather afforded a little extra sleep today, so it was not until after nine am on this Sunday that we set off for the MERA (Mount Emily Recreation Area) 3R Trail.  Mostly sticking to trails 700 and 706. we walked past a high-elevation  green-water pond.  Then we  rather abruptly pressed upward to a broad meadow that was astonishingly flanked on its far side with a remote dwelling of several buildings, horses and beehives.  Once across the expanse of the meadow, we made our way uphill once again through densely-wooded ground.  Not pictured here was the sighting of a doe making a rapid-fire crossing of the trail, followed by a bouncing fawn, then another.  Oh, yeah, and on the way out on our return, Kim was stung, once again in less than a week, by a flying something, once again on a finger.  Extreme pain was evidenced by her yowls, but mitigated by holding the finger in ice water for the trip home (which concluded at about 12:30).  Now, the rest of this day (I should say Kim and Ivi’s day) is to be consumed by a major canning operation around the peaches harvested yesterday.  Stay tuned.

rDay One-Hundred-Forty-Three: An Interstate 84 Moment Or Two

Riding with Ivi:
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Typical backdrop (unedited fragment devoid of context) for the peach harvest run Saturday morning …

One of the difficulties (not to mention the obvious concerns of constantly changing camera angles, movement, etc.) involved in the practice of Windshield Photography is the effect of glass — tinted, reflective, dirty, whatever — interposed between subject and camera lens.   Color consistency and fidelity becomes almost impossible to achieve.  But conversion to black & white is one possible response, as shown at top and below:

And while we are at it …

rday One-Hundred-Forty-Three

Today we saddle up to penetrate the state of Washington to visit Ray French Orchards, our favorite purveyor of pick-your-own fruit, particularly peaches.  Two+ hours later, we arrive and fill the back of the Caravan with an hour’s worth of harvested  peaches.  Most of your correspondent’s time was spent talking with Robin, the son of the orchard’s founder (1963), discovering that he is an avid amateur photographer, and — as usual — engaging in “windshield photography” to and from.  Ivi handles the driving chores and also shares producing antics and hilarious banter in league with honorary daughter Olivia.  Picnic lunch at Deadman’s Pass.  Perfect weather today.

rDay One-Hundred-Forty-Two

Up early to beat the heat.  Over three hours took us up Bushnell to the Fifth Gate (a personal record) and back.   The gates, in reverse, return-trip order:

Sun filtered through wildfire haze intensifies the usual post-sunrise glow, but the sky would intermittently darken, seeming to threaten rain.  Now and then some normal blue would pop through (as well as a raindrop or two).  On the way, we tried to mark the area where Kim previously saw the wolf; saw the purported site of an early homestead and orchard; talked to an ATV-er trying to locate cattle; and gave the Atrabilious Animal a good dose of exercise.  For the birder in the family, the highlight surely was seeing a very large owl, well-camouflaged in the deepest, darkest part of the woods off the trail — and, in a sheer spit of luck, shaky-hand Lawrence was somehow able to handhold the camera at max zoom for a 1/6 second (at f5.6) to tease out a record of the sighting before the fowl flew away.  At higher elevations, we smelled and tasted the strong forest fire smoke.  As we returned home, the haze was easily seen above town and around Mt. Emily.

rDay One-Hundred-Forty-One: As the Day Proceeds

Late morning stroll downtown to visit the ISP and wrap up a project.  Fairly warm.  Discussed Windows 10 and computer miscellany with Gary, traded observations on movies and TV series with Lucas.  Jim graciously shared his latest automotive reading material.

Later on, after returning home, we pick up a prescription: