Visitors

 Here are some videos of recent animal visitors to our yard.

Bobcat

Bear

Nutria

Lorie and Brian's View

 Recently, we had an afternoon dog walk with Lorie and Brian and then went to their home on the Yaquina Bay for dinner.  It was one of those rare warmish evenings and we dined on their deck.

Willamette River Paddle

 Saturday, we participated in a nine mile paddle down the Willamette River.  We were joined by our friends Bob and Mary.  The paddle was sponsored by Willamette River Keepers and Oregon State Parks.  They provided canoes, paddles, and life jackets and the event was entirely free.  28 people signed up, many bringing their own vessels.

The weather was perfect!  The two rangers in the canoe are transporting a wheel chair for a man with paraplegia who paddled his own kayak.

Ahoy, Bob and Mary!

We made several stops along the way. Here a ranger talks about this primitive campsite.  They have over 90 campsites along the river, but you can also camp on the gravel bars.  It's kind of like backpacking except you can load up your canoe with a lot more stuff.

Here we are beached on a gravel bar.  The rangers and two River Keeper folks shared a lot of information along the way.  We learned about the native mussels, invasive water plants, "secret" swimming holes in abandoned quarries, and other recreational opportunities.

After the paddle from Corvallis to Albany and about 4 hours on the water, we had a picnic before heading home.

🚣

Trail Cam News

 This is the first time we have had a Gray Fox show up on a trail cam here in Oregon. It came by two nights in a row just before dawn.

This bobcat below is holding what looks like a squirrel in its mouth.

🍁

Road Trip!

 On the 4th, we boarded Daisy and headed east for a 6 day road trip to eastern Oregon.  Our first stop was Bend Oregon where we had reservations for the Hampton Inn right on the Deschutes River.  We expected it to be hot there, and it was. Ninety-three degrees, but just right for floating down the river on our tubes.  We floated for almost an hour before going down the rapids of the fish ladder.

As you can see, this is a very popular activity on a hot day in bend.  Photo from internet.

After the float, we walked along the river trail to find a dinner spot in Old Town.

We passed through the Old Mill shopping area where I took a little rest.  I have been shrinking in my old age.

We walked along the river where we had floated earlier.

After dinner, at 8:04 PM, there were still folks floating under the moonlight.

That's the full moon over the stacks of the old lumber mill.

The next day we headed east and drove through the remote Ochoco National Forest where several lightning fires were burning, some right next to the road.  We saw a converted airliner drop a load of orange retardant not too far in front of us.  It was a little spooky with all the smoke.

We finally made it to our destination of Joseph after about 7 hours of driving.  Joseph has many bronze sculptures around town that are made locally.  You can see how smoky it was on this day.  We stayed 3 nights in Joseph.  Joseph is at the base of the Wallowa Mountains and close to Wallowa Lake.  The entire Wallowa Mountain Range is a wilderness area and popular with backpackers.

The next day, we took a long hike going up into the mountains.

It was still smoky, but the scenery was rewarding.

Eagle-eyed Gail spotted this pika in boulders of a rock slide.

Wallowa Lake was naturally formed by glaciers up to 1,500 ft. thick pushing rock and earth down the mountain.  This earth appears like a big man-made dam, but is a natural moraine, one of the best remaining examples in the U.S.  The lake is 283 feet deep.

A rain squall came through the second afternoon, and helped clear out the smoke.

Near the lake is the headstone and monument for Old Chief Joseph.

At the far end of the lake is this building built in 1918.  It was a roller rink and dance hall.  It looks like it is past the point of being saved.

The next day we had clear skies.  This is from a little nature trail a short walk from our lodging.

We took the tramway 4,000 feet up to the top of Mt. Howard.  

The trees and vegetation at the top were stunted by the wind and winter storms.  The trees were mostly white bark pines and some lodgepole pines.

Under the bark of this dead pine were the tracks of bark beetles. I see a moose.

Looking to the east over Wallowa Lake.  This is a premier jumping off point for paragliders.   Some have ridden thermals from here crossing Hell's Canyon and landing in Idaho.

A golden-mantled ground squirrel.  

He was not timid after hearing me dig into my lunch bag.  We did not feed him.

It was a little disconcerting.  We could not keep him off us or our packs.  

We rode the tram back down and up again for fun, then had a little happy hour at the small restaurant at the top.  The next day we headed back to Bend via the Columbia River route, spent the night there, and drove home the next morning.  It was great to have a change of scenery and a little adventure.

🚡

Daisy Turns Nine!

Happy Birthday, Daisy!

On September 6, Daisy turned 9.  We had a birthday party for her a few days before that, as we were going to be on the road on the 6th.

Gail got things ready for the big event.

Treats for dogs and humans!

Daisy invited her friends. From left to right: Daisy, Millie, Homie, and Rio.  Unfortunately, Juno was on a road trip.

Our human friends Andrea, Susan, and Josh.

🐕

Farm Tour and More River Crossings

 Earlier this month Gail participated in the annual Yachats River Road farm tour, offering items for sale from her collection.  She not only had fun hanging out under the shade of a big apple tree, but sold a lot of special items.  She chose to sell her things at Forks Farm, about a mile down the road, and shared a table with our friend and neighbor Andrea who was selling her earrings.

After awhile, Gail raised the price on her red bike after realizing she didn't want to sell it that much.

Ranger Gail, ready for business.

Catherine, of Forks Farms, raises flowers commercially. 

More River Crossings

Here are a few more videos of animals crossing the river by our big spruce tree.

Black Bear

Great Blue Heron

Extended family of deer 

River Crossing Highlights

 I recently moved one of my two trail cams to the rock shelf on the river below our big spruce tree.  Most of the year this shelf is under water, but now with our drought, the shelf has become a fun place to capture animals crossing the river or crossing to go upstream or downstream.

For a more satisfying viewing experience, I recommend enlarging each video to full screen.

 

This Mountain Lion crossed at 9:09 PM last night.

This Common Merganser family have been going up and down the river all summer.

This American River Otter is taking a break to preen its luxurious fur.

This deer family usually crosses the river at least twice every 24 hours.

Youngsters

I've been doing a lot of posting today, as I have to stay by the phone in the house.  We have a wasp nest above the kitchen ceiling in an enclosed part of the attic.  Early this morning they drilled through the drywall ceiling and were emerging into the house.  We managed to tape over the hole with clear packing tape and kill the wasps loose in the house.  I tried spraying their entry hole on the outside of the house last night with wasp spray, but that just made them mad.  I have been waiting about 8 hours for any of 3 pest control companies to call me back.  Meanwhile, the wasps are enlarging the hole under the tape, and you can hear them chewing at the drywall.  

Sooo, I'm calming myself down by looking at and posting nature pictures. 

This fawn appears to be a wet newborn.

This might be the same fawn 17 days later.

The Common Merganser family of 14 ducklings is really thriving.  They swim so fast when chasing fish!

This and That

Yesterday, we had a friend and his granddaughter from Southern California come to visit.  Mark was a part of the volunteer team that Gail worked with at the Humane Society in Encinitas.  He and his wife bought a house in Eugene to be close to their daughter and help care for their grandchildren.  Piper enjoyed throwing rocks into the river and climbing around the steps on the decks.   Daisy enjoyed cruising around with Lea, their dog.

 

This has been the best year by far for our old blueberry bushes.  Every 3 days I've been getting about this amount.  Some of the branches are so loaded they are almost lying on the ground.

Pale Swallowtail Butterfly on hydrangea plant.

On July 1st, we met Bob and Mary for a hike to the top of Mary's Peak, the highest peak in Oregon's coastal range.  We started fairly far up the mountain.  We could see Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, The Sisters, and the fog on the coast.

Most of the wildflowers had come and gone except for the Columbia Tiger Lilies. 

We had a wonderful picnic after the hike.  Bob made a great orzo salad, and Gail prepared supplementary goodies.

A couple weeks earlier, Bob and Mary had come to visit for a couple days.  We had a morning walk on the Yachats Bay before they left.

Snakes Alive!

 This year we have had a large number of garter snakes emerging from under the concrete patio slab and the hot tub.  For the past few weeks they come out around 9:30 A.M., warm up for awhile and then go off to do their garter snake business.  We have counted up to 15 at one time.  

We have two different species of garter snakes here.  The mostly brown ones are Northwestern Garter Snakes, and the more colorful ones are Common Garter Snakes, subspecies Red-sided.

Morning warm-up

An alligator lizard also takes part in the morning ritual.

Nearby, the Rufous Hummingbirds are doing their own thing.

I have always been fascinated by reptiles since I was in second grade.  Gail and I both look forward to seeing them each day.  Daisy remembers where she has seen the snakes, and stops to look for them on our walks.  She almost always leaves them alone, but is very curious about them.

My Dad

 My dad, Kermit Williams, had a remarkable life.  He was born January 27, 1918, in a cabin in Greer, West Virginia, a tiny Appalachin coal mining community. He grew up in nearby Masontown, the oldest of 5 children in a broken family.  After high school, he began working in the coal mines with pick and shovel before enrolling in Shenandoah Conservatory to study music.  Time there was cut short by WWII, and he joined the army knowing he would be drafted soon.

Kermit and sister Alice Jane, who died of diphtheria at the age of two, a common occurrence before a vaccine was developed. 

Kermit, 4th from the left, and sister Christine, 2nd from right, on a coal cart.

I love this photo as it shows relatives with their most esteemed possessions.  That's Dad, holding his hat,  to the right of what I suppose is a gramophone that he is clutching.  His mom, Lillie, is third from the right, holding Dad's sister Christine.

Dad is on the right, visiting his coal mine buddies before being stationed in Fort Bragg, California, and then sent overseas.  While in Fort Bragg, he met my mom, Ann Clark, who was a school teacher in Laytonville.  They corresponded for the years he was stationed overseas in the Philippines and New Guinea.

In the U.S. Army, he was a Staff Sergeant in the signal corps.  Communications were by Morse code.  When I was about 9 or 10, he taught me morse code and we used the same key he brought back from the war. A neighbor friend in the house behind ours learned Morse code also, and we strung wires from my bedroom to his bedroom.  We could buzz each other and send messages.  This led to me getting a shortwave radio kit, soldering it together, and with only 3 tubes I could listen to ham radio, Radio Moscow, and the Voice of America in the middle of the night when reception was best.  I wanted to get a ham radio license, but the exam at the time was quite difficult and I never did.

Upon returning from the war, Kermit and Ann were married.  I was born the following year.  Coming back from New Guinea on a troop carrier, Dad was reading material on occupations and decided to learn the trade of piano technician and tuner.  He and Mom went to Elkhart, Indiana, where he learned the trade.  That is where I was born.  While waiting to get into the school in Elkhart, he learned musical instrument repair in Cincinnati, Ohio.

After Elkhart, they headed west to California in an old Chevy.  Heading up the coast they were smitten by Santa Barbara, and Dad took a job as piano tuner for a music store.  After a couple years or so he decided to go into business for himself.  He became a very successful tuner/technician for Santa Barbara, tuning 4 pianos a day.  He would sometimes take jobs as far north as Paso Robles and as far south as Oxnard.  He was the tuner/technician for The Music Academy of the West in Montecito.  The work was hard, and being in business for himself, he only allowed himself a couple weeks off a year.  He made good decisions, buying an acre of land in the hills above the Santa Barbara Mission.  He and Mom helped design a house which we moved into in 1958.  They lived there the rest of their lives, over 50 years.  This family photo is from around 1976.  Left to right, are Mom, Dad, Steve, Sarah, me, and Berta.

For decades, Dad had a core group of friends who would get together and play polka music.  Practice was in our garage, and oompah music would echo off the other side of the canyon.  It was a good excuse to drink beer.  Dad is on the left.  John Ogle, with tuba, was one of Dad's best friends, and was leader of the band.  They even played live once on TV's Polka Parade!  

Mom and Dad at the farmer's market in Santa Barbara in 2004.  Dad passed away March 2, 2009, at the age of 91.  His life was truly an American success story, one of smart decisions, hard work, and loyalty to friends and family.