13 Monday May 2013
Tags
It was raining lightly when I got to the woods last night after an overcast day. That was good after days of beautiful blue sky, as it meant we had the trail to ourselves.
In the rain, under gray skies, the forest was glowing with a light all of its own.
I never remember how it is.
Or maybe I choose not to remember.
So that each shift is fresh wonder.
06 Monday May 2013
03 Friday May 2013
Posted in And Around, Events
Tags
art, Caswell Gallery, First Friday, Troutdale, walk, what to do
I was just in town and it is hummin’! Get on out and enjoy the art and the food and the utterly magnificent evening : )
This month’s basket is worth over 900.00! – so pick up your Passport and have fun tonight.
30 Tuesday Apr 2013
Posted in And Around, Day Trips, News In
Tags
This is entirely cool… Gorge Guide now has an app so you have Gorge Guide to go, even when you left your copy at home! I looked over Steph’s shoulder today when she downloaded it and it’s a great app.
So hie to the App Store or Google play and enjoy thoroughly… this is a great publication, and a valuable addition.
* You’ll notice I said “Gorge Guide On Your Phone”, not “Gorge Guide On My Phone”. Windows version not available at this time, so I’ll just peer over the shoulder of all you cool people with iPhones and Android. : )
Images gorgeguide.com
29 Monday Apr 2013
18 Thursday Apr 2013
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There was a moment just before, when leaves fell to ground and dust, when breath was mist in the air, when all was bared in shades of gray and brown and silver.
Now the river sang through to green and home and long sweet days.
16 Tuesday Apr 2013
MHCC’s Foundation Auction is coming up on May 4th… can’t think of many other opportunities for a (good) shot at a new car for a hundred bucks. : )
300 tickets = great odds : ).
Visit the foundation auction site at
http://www.mhcc.edu/Foundation.aspx?id=3189
14 Sunday Apr 2013
Posted in And Around, Other Side Of The Inside Of The Box, Ramblings
When I was a young girl, what I knew about trilliums was that each one will only bloom once every seven years.
I don’t know if that is true, or if it was something to tell a child who wanted to take the treasure of a perfect flower home for her own, or if, maybe, I am remembering something that never happened at all.
I don’t expect I’ll ever punch the buttons to find out.
Because do you know what happens when you find out that this beautiful, this perfectly white, this immaculately formed, miracle first flower of spring in front of you last bloomed in the year you were born?
It creates a miracle in every next time you see it for the rest of a whole life. Something joyful that is only for you.
The first trillium appeared on my trail to the Sandy River on March 26th. Every day, the first was joined by the next and then more, until there were dozens. Right there and just for me. And for the past twenty days, I have hiked that two miles down, two miles up, with more delight than the everyday peace that place is for me.
They are starting to fade. White petals tingeing to lavender, today’s deluge of rain and hail bowing their heads.
It’s okay. The wild strawberries and the salmon berries are blooming and will soon be a different kind of delight. The ferns are showing new furls, and will fan out to obscure their winter-killed fronds. The cottonwoods are leafing and, once again, the understory will contain no clear paths through.
I hope that when my season is done, I turn gently to lavender before I sink back to ground.
Mama, thank you for teaching me this love of wet and green and mud.
Loree
10 Wednesday Apr 2013
Tags
dogs, gorge, hike, Sandy River, snapshot
The dogs stopped and turned into the last sun through the trees towards the long low growl across the river, and listened.
It faded, and they stood another minute and returned to the trail.
The growl came again, in the distance on the other side of the gorge, and, once again, they turned to the edge of the bluff and waited to know, then continued up the trail.
The third time the growl echoed through the trees, both turned to listen, then one turned to the woman, a clear question in his eyes.
She laughed and said, “Crotch rocket”.
Both dogs turned and continued uphill towards home and dinner, the next growl unheeded.
Trail in the Sandy River Gorge. Max and Ebb listening, King ahead on the trail, being old enough to know better.
Cell phone pics at dusk.
08 Monday Apr 2013
Posted in And Around, Day Trips, Events
Tags
columbia gorge, event, flower, frenzy, friends of the columbia gorge, hike, nature, oregon, walk
Friends of the Columbia Gorge
Flower Frenzy Challenge 2013!
March 1 to July 31, 2013
What a great reason to get boots on the trails, and experience the spring and early summer in our beautiful Columbia Gorge! Every year, I intend to get out to Dog Mountain in the spring, and every year, I miss the window. Rain or shine, I am going this weekend – mark it.
Friends Of The Columbia Gorge has put together a treasure hunt of 25 beautiful flowers that appear briefly in the Gorge in the spring and early summer, and the challenge is to get out there and find as many as you can, with the shyer of the bunch being worth more points. There are prizes, although I would suggest the treasure, in this case, is in the finding more than the winning :). The log has great information on each flower, like:
Bitter Root _ Lewisia rediviva… This flower was found in the Bitter Root Mtns by Lewis & Clark (state flower of Montana). The speciman they brought back had a viable root and bloomed years after the expedition. Hence the scientific name. American Indians valued it highly as a food, and although it is nutritous, it tastes bitter. According to tribal myths, the plant grew from the tears of a starving old woman, and its roots are bitter because of her sorrow. The large, fleshy roots were harvested just as the blossoms began to bud, and, after being boiled, became jellylike and less bitter.
Register at www.gorgefriends.org/flowerfrenzy , print out your log, and go find some beauty you haven’t seen before. Even if you’re not going to play this time, become a member! Memberships start at 35.00, which is a killer deal and gives you access to great inside information and resources. I also see that if you register now, you get a free copy of Ross Jolley’s “Wildflowers Of The Columbia Gorge”!
Some of the early ones will be disappearing soon (or you’ll have to hike up higher to find them), so start this weekend and I’ll see you on the other side of a cluster of Dutchman’s Breeches!
Columbia Gorge Gateway 