Weird Weather of '09!! ....... #1

That particular section has been like that for a long time. Down from that is the rocky 'shore' that we usually see. There's about 3 feet of rocks before you get to the river at normal flow. I use that spot because the rocks give me reference point. It's running very hard here too, it looks so calm, but if you watch the branches sticking up out of the water you can see they're taking a beating.

I was gone to long to suit Pookie, so I had to tend to some cat attention when I got home. She prefers my lap.

So, far so good. Thanks for the pics Sally! Ohhh, of all the weekends to be gone.... it was bloody overcast here all day.

The poet Coleman Barks, in conversation with Bill Moyers, asked "What is this longing? What do we need? What do we mean, when we love a river?" Sally, your river photos reminded me of that. I don't know a lot about rivers, and I never thought about watching the branches. I will look at rivers differently now.

I found out what toys Koka likes - she has taken the cats' little stuffed mice and carried them to her bed. The cats don't quite know what to make of it.

Portland.....maybe she has a nurturing nature.LOL

rc.....good news, the river is down almost a foot from yesterday. Still running hard and muddy, but down. I can see the rocks on our 'shoreline' through the water.

Don't know what the fascination is about the river, but it is so calming for me. I love to walk back there and just sit and listen. Depending on the season, the water babbling or tumbling like it is now, the birds change but the chatter is incessant, sometimes frogs or crickets and if I'm really lucky, deer will come to the low spot in summer to cross over and raid our blackberries (or my apple tree). We used to have fresh water seals or otters back there, they were hilarious to watch. Don't know what happened but they disappeared. They've been working across the river in the park land to turn it back to nature and they've run off most of the critters. You can tell I just plain like the place. LOL

Katye......♪♪ Happy Birthday to You ♪♪

Dogs in the wild hunt mice for food, so maybe Koka is remembering her ancestry. LOL That's what I say to Magic when he has "happened upon" a cat toy and takes it to the dog bed to shred.!!

Kate - Happy Birthday!!

Katye...Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear katye..... happy birthday to you!

Thanks for the info Sally. I really and truly appreciate it!! It makes it so much nicer to not have to worry about what's going on there.

That was such a great thought Portland, about that quote.

I don't know what it is about the river. Sometimes i find it calming. But, for me, I think that it's more a source of fascination at times. like when one day it is running a crystal blue color and it's an overcast day. then the next day, still overcast, it hasn't rained, hasn't snowed, temperature's the same, and it's very muddy. I wonder how far away it was that it rained bunches and yet it's affecting Sally and I, forty some miles away. Sometimes the same scenario, but it rises 3 or 4 feet in a day. That usually makes me appreciate being where I am at, and not wherever was getting the weather that actually causes the rise.

Happy Birthday Katie, with my voice I will do you a birthday favor and NOT sing......I only do that to clear a room of living inhabitants!

Shelly, you and I seem to share the same fascination with rivers! I would love to live near the water again!

Funny how nature works it's wonders over all of us!

Happy Birthday, Katye!

Happy Birthday Katye!

See - everyone loves a river! I would like to go to the very source of the Willamette and float along in a little boat and travel to the place where it meets the Columbia. I went riding rapids a few times but I was too occupied trying to stay alive to enjoy the scenery. My friend got bounced right out of the boat and hit his head on a rock and had to get stitches and we had to wake him and ask him what year it was all through the night. What a romantic trip that was.

That's why I don't go riding rapids!! Plus the fact that I can't swim, got scared as a kid and can't shake it. Believe me I've tried. You wouldn't know what it took for me to make sure my boys learned. Had to turn my back a lot. They never knew I was terrified until after they were good swimmers.

We've been on a few paddle boats rides on the Columbia, that was fun. They tell the history as you go and if it's the right time, there's Indians selling fish from their decks or boats and we've seen wind surfers (I think that's what you call it). But if it's cold, it's brutal! Nearly froze one time.

It was a beautiful day today. Not that I got to enjoy it, my cupboards are almost empty.

Katye, Happy Birthday!

Happy Belated Birthday Kayte!
Sally, I know how you feel. I did the same thing as a kid. It only took me 50 yrs to learn how to swim and feel comfortable in the water. DH and I are planning on going swimming Sat. since I'm healed now.
How was the Russian dinner?
rc, I know how you feel abut listening to a stream or river. When we used to go horse packing in the Cascades we would ride for about 20 miles from this side over to your side where there is a lot of streams and dense forest. We had a special meadow that we would ride to that had a stream running through it where we would spend a couple of weeks every yr. I would go down and sit next to the stream for an hr and just get lost in my thoughts. One time when we first got there our DD went down to the stream and came face to face with a buck (he was on the other side of the stream). I think she was about 8 or 9. She came running back to camp and told me what had happened, I asked her what the buck did and she said he just stood there and looked at her, then he turned and bounded up the hill. She said it kind of made the hair on the back of her neck stand up because he wasn't really afraid of her. Maybe he didn't realize people come in all sizes. LOL! I really miss those days. We don't have horses anymore, we raise cattle now. That's just another chapter in my life gone by.
It was a beautiful day yesterday, up to 56 degrees, supposed to be that again today. I'm enjoying it, however, when we have a warm spell like this, things start to grow too early and then we have a hard freeze. Kills pretty much everything back and then the poor plants and trees have a hard time getting started again.
Susan

I remember many years ago when I was camping with my kids in the Sierras and my now grown-up sons were so small. They spent all day long on the bank of a stream, making little canals for boats made from leaves. They were so happy.
I wonder if there is a single person who dislikes rivers & streams?

If there is I feel there's something wrong with them! LOL!
Susan

Portland, I don't think so. I grew up next door to a creek and loved that. We played in it constantly. We have vacationed on the McKenzie for the past zillion years and my kids loved the river and also the little creek that is nearby. Now we all just like sitting and watching the river go by. Rafting is fun too tho.

I am also very fond of mountain lakes.

I like the ocean but am less fond of it. I pretend the Sound is a giant lake. :)

We did a bicycle trip through the Canadian Rockies when my son was about three. We were fixing dinner in one of the camp kitchens when my son asked if he could play with that "Teddy Bear"!! Knowing those black bears were in the camp that night did not make Mom a happy camper!!

I like the ocean but not half as much as rivers. The ocean is monotonous to me - in out in out and going nowhere. There is mystique to a river - where have you been and where are you going? Can I come with you?
Rivers connect people, and I can't help but compare rivers & streams to the blood vessels in our own bodies. I also like mountain lakes and spent a lot of time hiking around them in the Sierras when I lived in California.
I was walking past the environmental elementary school (I think I have mentioned this school before) with my dog this morning. The kids had put a few signs in their vegetable plots and one of them caught my eye. It said "The Earth is the thing we all have in common - Megan W" - how true that is, and from a little kid. Wish I had my camera with me.

Thanks all, for the Birthday wishes. I wasn't able to get online yesterday & wish I could report a Happy B, but it was anything but that. However, it was nice getting them today. Not late, just saved for later!

Oh I could just love this 50° warmth. But then, I get to wanting 60° and above.
Sheesh! It's still January!!!!

Here's my favorite little piece of heaven.This is my favorite spot on the river (behind my house) that rc and I talk about all the time. There's bench under the trees that was put there by the family of a friend of mine that passed away a few years ago. I like to go sit and talk to her, or read a book, or just sit and listen. She and I did the newsletter in our park for years, we were known as the 'dynamic duo'. LOL

Another beautiful day today, cupboards are all cleaned out, need to do the counter and I'm done. The carpenter will be here Wednesday. Cooking is going to be a challenge for the next week or so.

This pic was taken last summer, when the river was much lower and clean.

This message was edited Jan 12, 2009 9:14 PM

Beautiful picture...it looks like a couple of places on our bike path along the Deschutes River just outside of town.....I love it out there.

Funny, how we all manage to find 'a place' Aren't we lucky?

Susan....forgot you asked about the Russian Dinner. Turns out it was a fund raiser for the Slavic Festival they're going to have next month. The food was wonderful and the entertainment was better. The original performers were supposed to be a group from Seattle, who couldn't get here because of the flooding. So the owner of the house performed (very good singer) and they brought in a local group of young people who do Slavic dancing to pitch in. Wonderful, is all I can say. One of the girls was like a fairy princess, danced so gracefully, blushed when people complemented her. They sat and talked to us after and we learned about the countries they came from and how lucky they feel to be able to live here. I've never seen Russian dancing, so it was a treat.

Sally, that Russian Dinner sounds as if it was really interesting. I think that I would've liked the folks who filled in better than the scheduled ones! Your piece of heaven is beautiful!
Thanks for the updates on the river! I really appreciate it. I'm back home now to dwell on it myself again. This is good.

Portland, I love the way that you sum up our attraction to rivers! That's so true. The oceans are very fascinating, but the complexity of an ocean is way to great for me to "dream" or ponder about, it's a science project. Rivers I can think about endlessly, and maybe come up with an answer.

OMG Tricia, what happened with the bear? did it just go away? That's usually the case with the black bears, but you never know.

Gardener, your story is great. Too bad that you can't find your way back to that meadow sometime. I'm sure glad that the buck was freightened by your daughter. But, what a trooper your daughter was!!! And what a story she has to tell now! Our really big, office cat, granted nothing like an elk, is terribly afraid of kids. Adults he's great with, he'll walk up to any adult to be petted. Kids.... holy cow, he runs and cowers in the darkest corner. If you try to pull him out, he comes out fighting! We've never figured out why he doesn't like the ones that are closer to his size.

Gwen, the Mckenzie is beautiful. Any particular area there?

here's a few pics from over in eastern oregon. One day was completely overcast, the other two were clouds off and on, and cold. One evening was a great yellow sunset and another day was a blazing red one. Fortunately most of the snow has melted.

Some of you might recognize these two.

This message was edited Jan 13, 2009 12:13 AM

my nephews

there's an old house and barn there.

close up of the old house and barn. the neighbors still use the barn.... that's just crazy!

the next evening.

Hi rc...you snuck in while I was dozing on the couch. Looks like you had a fun weekend. Those pictures are just beautiful!! The pups have grown!! I've never been to that part of Oregon, so thank you for sharing. Just beautiful! Now I'm going to do the rest of my sleeping in bed.

Hey all, not ignoring you i'm still here and reading along.
Great pics, those where the puppys in the contest?

Thanks Sally and Tilly. Sally, you're allowed to doze whenever you need to! It'a good thing.

Tilly, yep, you got it. Those were the puppy's in the contest. They're only 6 months old now, so they still have some groing to do!

Great shots of the pups. Love the golden colors of the sky and fields and dogs. Those grain fields just seem to go on forever.

Sounds like the fill-ins did a great job at the dinner.

I, too, like the way you put the fascination with rivers, Portland.

Sally, it sounds like you had a wonderful time at the Fund Raiser. That's great!
rc, thank you for the compliment on my story, if we still had horses we'd probably go back to that meadow. Great pic of the pups. I'm sorry to say I'm not familiar with them though. Here's a pic of my boys, Moose (yellow) and Brute. They're litter mates.
Susan

Rc your photos are great as usual, but the one of the 2 puppies is my fav. Everything about is perfect.

The Russian dinner sounds like so much fun. I agree that the "fill in" entertainment was most likely better than the scheduled group. What a treat for you!

Awwww what cute dogs on the thread!

Thanks Portland. They're my constant companions when DH's at work. My walking buddies.
Here's a pic of part of the Deschutes rapids. This one is called Big Eddy as there's a huge eddy just above the rapids that you can stop your raft and walk down to the rapids to scope them out and plan your attack. DH has gone over it and said it was great fun. This was a pic of what they called the Big Eddy Rodeo as there were several rafts that went through.
Susan

Yup - that photo brings back memories. I was pretty scared and I don't scare easily. We were all inexperienced so we had a guide and I'm sure we would have perished had he not been with us. Besides, he was cute.
That's a fun photo!

Yah, these were guided as well. They were fun to watch. Here's another.