Lounging

...I think he's in denial about the looming potential power outages. Hasn't started snowing yet, but I cut a conference trip short to be back home ahead of the blizzard.

Also, it's not an apocalypse, it's a blizzard, the suggestion that the world is ending because of 2 feet of snow requires a serious reframing.

On a hot day

A sleepy sunny Saturday afternoon:

First wildfire of the season

...ahead of schedule

Taking in the view

The view from the hotel room

Around this time every year I disappear off to the annual meeting of my discipline to go mix with a whole host of different people. Last year I made my way back from field work via this conference and it was a bit daunting, but a good way to hit the ground running on my dissertation upon my return.

This year it was necessary for me to be there to present work from the dissertation, but I find that being at these meetings is a roller coaster of ego boosts and bruises. What I mostly looked forward to was connecting with my colleagues who I hadn't seen since last year, and possibly drinking in some better weather (not quite literally, but I did enjoy a couple of cold ones at that little green gazebo thing which was conveniently between the convention center and the hotel).  After snow and leaving in freezing weather, Portland (where I made my flight connection) seemed balmy and basically anything that followed became tropical.

It was really quite lovely while we were in Florida and though I am usually a diligent attendee at these conferences, I did find one morning to sneak away...









We had a few perks from holding our meeting at the convention center, which included free trolley rides up and down the main stretch and discounted tickets to local spots. I took advantage of the reduced price of aquarium tickets. It was me and another colleague and about a million school groups, but it was lovely.

As seen in the exhibit hall

Cruise

Trolley to the aquarium

 

The obligatory duck photo for a UO duck

Can you spot the flamingo?

Not exactly sure what this guy was doing in a aquarium...

I love these guys because they always look like they're smiling

Swimming with the sharks

Flamingos again

It was pretty incredible to watch these flamingos take flight and swoop around the enclosure. We also were delighted by the scuba divers (above) swimming with the sharks. The gal in the tank had a microphone and was answering the questions from the kids on the other side of the glass, all the while sharks were swimming around.

Quite possibly my favorite to watch.

Lego surroundings

In case you missed it in the last photo.

Dory amongst the clown fish

total fail.

How I feel after being at the conference

No joke.

This was my first real winter with snow on the west coast (plenty of east coast winters). Last year by the time I returned home from the field (almost May) the tulips and daffodils had already put in their appearance.

04.01.2014 - 6:30am

As a result, I don't have an institutional memory for whether or not snow in April is usual. I was excited for snow having spent the last holiday in a hammock. But it has snowed every day for the past week and somehow, it unnerves me to see the first spring blooms bearing the weight of an inch or more of snow.

03.30.2014 - 4:30pm

Of course it does this overnight and in the early morning and my best guess is that today, per usual, the sun will come out --"fooled you"-- and it will all melt away before midday.

***Update***
3 inches later, I can't help but think to myself that this is a very elaborate joke...

04.01.2014 - 12:00pm

Dusting

Waking up to flurries...

...so it begins.

No need to prepare

I know it's going to rain. I know this. It's the rainy season.
But this just doesn't suit my sensibilities:

The snowline

Broken Top

I'm sure I don't need to explain about all of the crazy weather that we've been having--but we've had an idea to go camping on the holiday and thought we'd check out the snow situation. Since we've been snowed out and lost before we thought a nice day hike up in the mountains (read: get out of the 90+ weather in town) would be lovely for a break and some reconnaissance.

The snow line does not look favorable for our planned camping trip, but it was absolutely beautiful. Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I find it incredibly unfair that there should both be snow and mosquitoes at the same time. Ugh.

The trail--now you see it, now you don't

We actually abandoned our effort to do the loop and check out a moraine lake due to the complete inability to continue on the trail from this point. Instead we headed to a lower elevation to check out a more ambling stroll on this beautiful lake with views of Bachelor. Not the challenging hike we were attempting to put in in preparation for a multi-day camping adventure, in which I will have a cameo (I'm hiking back out to catch a flight next week), but a gorgeous view and a nice moment to catch the early wildflowers.

Another reason to dislike grass

"Today's Worst: Eugene"

I didn't need a map to tell me that; my eyeballs are screaming.

And the upside is....

I feel good about what I'm getting done here. Let that be clear. But I hate being away.
However, today I am reminded there are apparently upsides:

I am still at roughly the same altitude though...

Tomorrow I'm off with the coffee roasters, who are chronicling their longer trip here (sadly I will not be tagging along on the rest--but it is mighty tempting).

Feliz Navidad...

Well, it's definitely not a white one, but perhaps a bright one instead.

I am reminded, as I am every year, that this day means many different things. For me, right now, it's about home, and for a long time it has been about honoring the spirit of something in our hearts all year, and not just on one day.

Yet, these things are especially brought home to me today.

At least we have pumpkins

So, it almost goes without saying that without our cozy spot in the Valley we were not producers of food this season. There is a heavy weight on my heart that comes with this realization--mostly that someone else was enjoying my raspberries and blueberries and such. I also really missed having our own pumpkin patch. We spend a good weekend or two prepping and processing pumpkins each year and I was unwilling to give that up. So we put on our 'kid hats' and headed out to the corn maze/pumpkin patch/petting zoo.

I forgot how much I like pretending to be a kid--but I did remember to allow the kids up front when looking at the piglets and petting the donkeys and such.

We had some folks over for pumpkin carving and shenanigans--I hope the results don't get smashed on the street, because they're quite fun.

I'm especially nostalgic for fall things--apples, pumpkins, cider and so on--as I travel between the valley and the high desert each week and prepare for my journey into the cloud forest (39 days and counting)...

I'm also keen to prolong fall because the snow is nipping at my commute--I met this scene last Monday morning, which meant a beautiful, if slow journey across the mountains.

The close of summer...

...has brought a number of changes.
Finally, and frankly most importantly, Joe and I were reunited under one roof. And it's a newer roof--so we only made a few changes.

Bookshelf wall (before)

Pocket did not eat the paint this time...but he was tempted

Bookshelf wall (drying)

Perhaps you cannot tell that this is bright orange...

Leaky faucet removed.

Finally unloading the fiction!

Bookshelf!

Getting rid of the shocking lime green

White door.

Green door--same as new outside accent color

Outside accent--only half done, we need a taller ladder

Improvisation

View from back porch (before)

New tree!

Smith Rock - and wildfire

We also took some time off to enjoy the close proximity of both of my sets of parents and our beautiful landscape. The landscape had different ideas though and we've sustained more "patchy smoke," over the last 10 days. 

Baby fish!

Trekking through the Obsidian flow (aka Mordor)

 

"Oh Sam!"