rDay One-Hundred-Sixteen

First, we check on the status of MommaBird (aka Mrs. Robin).  And she’s okay, situation apparently unchanged.  But that’s not all we can see out the kitchen window …
20150719-DSC_0001
Second, we gear up for a Sunday morning trek with the Contemptible Cur, again to “OTEC Ridge” (aka Father’s Day Trail) above the cemetery.  

Let’s set the scene, starting with the view of our destination from the lower maintenance road at the extreme east edge of the cemetery, looking south toward the ridge and showing the rough route that we will hike to circle around the chain link fence surrounding the cemetery and turn uphill, at first along a narrow path above a lower gulch, then onto a steep (despite the photo perspective’s appearance) off-road ATV vehicle-only gravel to the AT&T communications tower.  (That was one paragraph …)
OTEC_ridge_destination-view
Now we have hit the gravel trail, with the AT&T tower behind us, so we can overlook the cemetery (looking west and north to Mt. Emily), along with much of the city and surrounding valley.
OTEC_ridge_looking-over-cemetery
Here are some snapshots of the hike itself.

 

 

Finally, here is a panorama shot of the backside of the ridge, to the south of the communications tower, and leading to Mount Emily in the northwest (you may recall that we displayed a pano shot overlooking the valley in the other direction in a previous post).

Pixel Dimensions: 6917 x 900 (please zoom)
Pixel Dimensions: 6917 x 900 (please zoom)

rDay One-Hundred-Fifteen: Crazy Days Car Show

In appalling conditions of harsh shadows, horrible backgrounds and hot sun, we attempt to document the annual Grande Ronde-A-View car show during the Crazy Days weekend.  This first installment covers mostly close details shot while dodging shadows.  And my friend Saira (see her site at 

http://lagrandemainstreet.org/) was on hand, of course.

As time allows, I will get more of today’s output online, if not here, on my car blog. 

P.S.  If you want to see what I shot last year, go to the last 15 rows (about 20 or so rows from the top) in the gallery at:  http://lagrandemainstreet.org/events/crazy-days/2014-crazy-days-photo-gallery/.

rDay One-Hundred-Fourteen: MommaBird Report and Shopping

Mrs. Robin is now spending a lot of time on the nest.  Is the big event imminent?  

 

 

Then we grab some groceries and discover that (1) my new favorite microbrew name branding has to be “Swill“, and (2) the only available vehicle to us this morning can handle four bags of groceries in the jump seats plus one on the passenger’s lap or at her feet.

 

 

rDay One-Twelve

A final jaunt downtown after the evening news to watch the disappearing light, note the absence of activity along the main drag by 8:30pm, pass by the old library-now-art center, check out the continuing construction of the new court house …

 

 

… and arrive home for a final romp of the day with Evil-Eyed Charlie.
20150715-DSC_0049

Some Changes …

Today I discovered that quite a few of the followers of this blog (I didn’t know that I had more than about three!) primarily use smartphones for access, so it seems time to reprogram the visual design and layout for “responsive” operations (i.e., ability to automatically detect and optimize the display to suit whatever device is being used for viewing, with emphasis on mobile-friendliness — that means the use of the “hamburger” menu icon, for one thing).

In the course of doing this, I think I mucked up some old features a bit, and may have destroyed or injured the list of subscribers who get automatic notice whenever a news item is posted.  If you want to join that list, or are not sure whether you are still on it, just drop your email address into the signup form in the left column.  If you are getting notifications and do NOT want that, please pardon us and use the form to unsubscribe.

May take a little while to shake everything down; thanks for your patience.